Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940 is the second volume of the outstanding three volume The Last Lion, the ultimate Churchill biography from the award-winning historian, William Manchester. In this triumphant biography, William Manchester, contends that Churchill's lonely battle against appeasement, even more than his leadership in war, was the Last Lion's finest hour. Politically isolated in Parliament, sometimes jeered at and scorned when he warned of the growing Nazi threat, Churchill stood alone, a beacon of hope amid the gathering storm.
“The best Churchill biography [for] this generation . . . Even readers who know the basic story will find much that is new.”—Newsweek In this powerful biography, the middle volume of William Manchester’s critically acclaimed trilogy, Winston Churchill wages his defining campaign: not against Hitler’s war machine but against his own reluctant countrymen. Manchester contends that even more than his leadership in combat, Churchill’s finest hour was the uphill battle against appeasement. As Parliament received with jeers and scorn his warnings against the growing Nazi threat, Churchill stood alone—only to be vindicated by history as a beacon of hope amid the gathering storm. Praise for The Last Lion: Alone “Manchester has such control over a huge and moving narrative, such illumination of character . . . that he can claim the considerable achievement of having assembled enough powerful evidence to support Isaiah Berlin’s judgment of Churchill as ‘the largest human being of our time.’”—The New Yorker “Memorable.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Stirring . . . As Manchester points out several times, it’s as if the age, having produced a Hitler, then summoned Churchill as the only figure equal to the task of vanquishing him. The years Alone are the pivotal years of Churchill’s career.”—The Boston Sunday Globe “A triumph . . . equal in stature to the first volume of the series.”—Newsday “Vivid . . . history in the grand manner.”—The Washington Post “Compelling reading.”—The Times (London)
The long-awaited final volume of William Manchester's legendary biography of Winston Churchill. Spanning the years of 1940-1965, The Last Lion picks up shortly after Winston Churchill became Prime Minister-when his tiny island nation stood alone against the overwhelming might of Nazi Germany. The Churchill conjured up by William Manchester and Paul Reid is a man of indomitable courage, lightning-fast intellect, and an irresistible will to action. The Last Lion brilliantly recounts how Churchill organized his nation's military response and defense, compelled FDR into supporting America's beleaguered cousins, and personified the "never surrender" ethos that helped the Allies win the war, while at the same time adapting himself and his country to the inevitable shift of world power from the British Empire to the United States. More than twenty years in the making, The Last Lion presents a revelatory and unparalleled portrait of this brilliant, flawed, and dynamic leader. This is popular history at its most stirring.
Universally acclaimed for their compelling narrative, their fresh insights, and their objective renderings of Winston Churchill's life, The Last Lion trilogy presents a revelatory and unparalleled portrait of this brilliant, flawed, and dynamic adventurer, aristocrat, soldier, and statesman. Born at the end of the 19th century when Imperial Britain still stood at the splendid pinnacle of her power, Churchill would witness the shift a few years later as the Empire hovered on the brink of a catastrophic new era. One of the greatest wartime leaders of our time, he would go on to stand alone, politically isolated in Parliament, as he took the lead in warning of the growing Nazi threat, and would lead Britain to victory against Nazi Germany and the Axis powers in World War II. Now, celebrated historian William Manchester's landmark biographies are collected together for the first time, along with the eagerly anticipated final installment Churchill's last years in power. More than thirty years in the making, The Last Lion is the definitive work on this remarkable man whose courageous vision guided the destiny of a nation during darkly troubled times-and who looms as one of the greatest figures of our century.
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932 is the first volume in William Manchester's epic three volume The Last Lion - the best-selling and definitive biography of one of Britain's pre-eminent prime ministers. When Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace, Imperial Britain stood at the splendid pinnacle of her power. Yet within a few years, the Empire would hover on the brink of a catastrophic new era. This first volume of the best-selling biography of the adventurer, aristocrat, soldier, and statesman covers the first 58 years of the remarkable man whose courageous vision guided the destiny of those darkly troubled times and who looms today as one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century.
The second volume of William Manchester's masterful account of Winston Churchill's life. Alone is the second volume of William Manchester's brilliant three-volume biography of Winston Churchill. In this volume, we witness the war within, before the colossal war to come. During this period, Churchill was tested as few men are: relentlessly pursued by creditors, disowned by his own party, vociferously dismissed by the press as a warmonger, and twice nearly lost his seat in Parliament. Yet despite his personal and political troubles, Churchill managed to assemble a vast, underground intelligence network-both within the British government and on the continent-which provided him with more complete and accurate information on Germany than the British government. Recognizing the horrifying truth, Churchill stood almost alone against Nazi aggression and the sordid British and French policy of appeasement. Manchester's luminous portrait never loses sight of Churchill the man-a man with limitations, especially his callousness toward others (including his supporters) and his recklessness, which could border on the foolhardy; but also a man whose vision was global and whose courage was boundless. Here is Churchill as a light in the approaching darkness, readying himself for the terrible stand to come.
A riveting history of the daring politicians who challenged the disastrous policies of the British government on the eve of World War II On May 7, 1940, the House of Commons began perhaps the most crucial debate in British parliamentary history. On its outcome hung the future of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government and also of Britain—indeed, perhaps, the world. Troublesome Young Men is Lynne Olson's fascinating account of how a small group of rebellious Tory MPs defied the Chamberlain government's defeatist policies that aimed to appease Europe's tyrants and eventually forced the prime minister's resignation. Some historians dismiss the "phony war" that preceded this turning point—from September 1939, when Britain and France declared war on Germany, to May 1940, when Winston Churchill became prime minister—as a time of waiting and inaction, but Olson makes no such mistake, and describes in dramatic detail the public unrest that spread through Britain then, as people realized how poorly prepared the nation was to confront Hitler, how their basic civil liberties were being jeopardized, and also that there were intrepid politicians willing to risk political suicide to spearhead the opposition to Chamberlain—Harold Macmillan, Robert Boothby, Leo Amery, Ronald Cartland, and Lord Robert Cranborne among them. The political and personal dramas that played out in Parliament and in the nation as Britain faced the threat of fascism virtually on its own are extraordinary—and, in Olson's hands, downright inspiring.
“A richly textured and deeply moving portrait of greatness” (Los Angeles Times). In this masterful book, prize-winning historian and authorized Churchill biographer Martin Gilbert weaves together the research from his eight-volume biography of the elder statesman into one single volume, and includes new information unavailable at the time of the original work’s publication. Spanning Churchill’s youth, education, and early military career, his journalistic work, and the arc of his political leadership, Churchill: A Life details the great man’s indelible contribution to Britain’s foreign policy and internal social reform. With eyewitness accounts and interviews with Churchill’s contemporaries, including friends, family members, and career adversaries, it provides a revealing picture of the personal life, character, ambition, and drive of one of the world’s most remarkable leaders. “A full and rounded examination of Churchill’s life, both in its personal and political aspects . . . Gilbert describes the painful decade of Churchill’s political exile (1929–1939) and shows how it strengthened him and prepared him for his role in the ‘hour of supreme crisis’ as Britain’s wartime leader. A lucid, comprehensive and authoritative life of the man considered by many to have been the outstanding public figure of the 20th century.” —Publishers Weekly “Mr. Gilbert’s job was to bring alive before his readers a man of extraordinary genius and scarcely less extraordinary destiny. He has done so triumphantly.” —The New York Times Book Review
