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Churchill |  | Author: Paul Johnson
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 7574
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 0.9
ISBN: 0670021059
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.084092
EAN: 9780670021055
ASIN: 0670021059
Publication Date: November 3, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
An acclaimed historian presents a revelatory look at the greatest statesman of the twentieth century
For eminent historian Paul Johnson, Winston Churchill remains an enigma in need of unraveling. Soldier, parliamentarian, Prime Minister, orator, painter, writer, husband, and leader-all of these facets combine to make Churchill one of the most complex and fascinating personalities in history.
In Churchill, Johnson applies a wide lens and an unconventional approach to illuminate the various phases of Churchill's career. From his adventures as a young cavalry officer in the service of the Empire to his role as an elder statesman prophesying the advent of the Cold War, Johnson shows how Churchill's immense adaptability combined with his natural pugnacity to make him a formidable leader for the better part of a century. Johnson's narration of Churchill's many triumphs and setbacks, rich with anecdote and quotation, illustrates the man's humor, resilience, courage, and eccentricity as no other biography before.
Winston Churchill's hold on contemporary readers has never slackened, and Paul Johnson's lively, concise biography will appeal to historians and general nonfiction readers alike.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 37
 Winston unexamined July 26, 2010
Faye Reader
The Washington Post review is on target. This adoring biography subjects Churchill's policies to uncritical scrutiny, excusing every blunder as the fault of others. Most egregious--he blames the success of Nazism on the unwillingness of Churchill's colleagues to support intervention in the Russian civil war following the Bolshevik takeover. According to this interpretation, if Britain had sent more troops, the Communists would have been defeated, Stalin would never have happened, and fascism would not have succeeded. The causal link there is not spelled out but evidently in his view Europeans supported fascism to escape Communism.
 Short, solid and (mostly) to the point May 19, 2010
Christopher Barat (Owings Mills, MD, USA)
Johnson, the "great explainer" of modern times and expert dissector of the pretensions of modern intellectuals, has been coasting on his reputation of late. ART: A NEW HISTORY was robust (and colorful) enough, but I wasn't particularly taken with either CREATORS or HEROES. With this engaging "quick sketch" of the life of Winston Churchill, the author is back on form. Some snarky reviews to the contrary, this is not a hagiography, though it certainly gives Churchill the benefit of the doubt more often than not. Its simple goal is to explain why Churchill must be regarded as a major historical figure, regardless of what one thinks of the man and his policies.
The book divides neatly into two sections. Part one is a more or less straightforward biography which takes us up to the point at which Churchill first became Prime Minister in 1940. Johnson avoids the cliche of saddling Churchill with all the responsibility for the failure of the Gallipoli campaign of 1915-16, instead focusing on other, rather less dramatic examples of Churchill's tendency for occasional lapses in judgment. Foremost among the latter is Churchill's bull-headed defense of King Edward VIII during the 1936 Abdication Crisis. This stand had severe consequences for Britain, as Churchill became so unpopular that his (increasingly heeded) warnings of the menace of a rearming Germany were tossed aside as a result.
Johnson then devotes the bulk of the remainder of the volume to an analysis of Churchill's record as a war leader. Johnson sees Churchill as the "indispensable man," the key to Britain's survival, and lays out the reasons why. These reasons are generally convincing, though I wish that even more was made of the salient fact that Churchill regarded both forms of 2oth century totalitarian tyranny -- Fascism and Communism -- as equally evil. While always willing to "jaw-jaw" to preserve peace whenever practicable, he did not fall into the trap of "pas d'ennemis a gauche (ou a droit)" that hinders a sense of moral clarity. One wonders how history would have been altered had Britain and the U.S. heeded Churchill's advice and met the Red Army as far to the East as possible.
The book's ending is its weakest point. Johnson skims over Churchill's second premiership (1951-54) with indecent haste and concludes with a list of "lessons Churchill teaches us today." The latter has the tone of a particularly uninspired business seminar, while it is telling that Johnson prefers to tell us what Churchill did not do during his second turn at the top. (A.N. Wilson's OUR TIMES treats the second Churchill government in a considerably harsher manner, and, given the state of the war-ravaged country and Churchill's own age and weariness, Wilson's treatment rings a bit truer to me.) Happily, in an afterword, Johnson is generous enough to recommend more in-depth treatments of Churchill and his times. If CHURCHILL encourages the reader to forge ahead to these other works, then it will have done its job.
 Breezy, Worshipful Essay April 29, 2010
Todd and In Charge (Miami, FL)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I liked this breezy essay by Paul Johnson on just how great Churchill really was, but was left wondering what exactly was the point of the exercise?
Johnson's praise for all things Churchill is so lavish I'm not certain "worshipful" really captures it. Johnson speaks of his own childhood remembrances of Churchill's speeches and deeds, and at times the book indeed feels like an intellectual fan letter, steeped in nostalgia and memories of youth.
I'm not taking anything away from as titanic and large a figure as Churchill -- he looms over the 20th century, deservedly so.
But Johnson's short look adds little to the historical record and remains the kind of thing you would like best if you were both a Churchill and Johnson fan.
light but enjoyable biography April 13, 2010
Professor Michael Krauss (Arlington, VA)
I am a Paul Johnsom fan and for me 3 stars is a disappointment. this book was brief but thrilling. I fear Johnson may have researched and written it in haste.
A Slim Biography Worth Reading March 24, 2010
Ron Coia (Portland, OR United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Winston Churchill has been on my mind lately for no apparent reason. I thought it was time I read something about him.
This slim book was a nice introduction to this great man, even though most of it read more like an encyclopedia than a passionate account of one of the greatest personalities of the 20th century. When the timeline reaches World War II, the narrative begins to sparkle and offers more dimensions to this mythical, larger-than-life statesman.
Here are a few interesting facts that I've learned from this book:
* Churchill hated the movie Citizen Kane. (Strangely enough, I couldn't stop making comparisons between these two men.)
* Churchill's son-in-law was a stand-up comedian.
* He became a prolific painter later in life, amassing over 500 pieces.
* He has little tolerance for whistling and those who did it. Coincidentally, Hitler was a notorious whistler.
* His famous pseudo-angry blurb regarding the prepositions at the end of sentences: "Up with this I will not put!"
* Churchill is often cited as the source of the V-sign (for victory) and the terms "iron curtain" and "cold war."
Winston Churchill is a politician to be admired, especially during wartime. He provided his countrymen leadership, determination, pride, and hope in the face of Hitler's terrorism throughout Europe. In the current milieu of pandering and appeasement with our current American president, a biography of Churchill is a refreshing read.
The world needs fewer Chamberlains and more Churchills.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 37
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