Churchill : An Unruly Life

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) is often proclaimed as the greatest Briton in history and one of the world's eminent leaders. Born into a dazzling political family, Churchill was awkward and eccentric as a young man but flourished in the army, where he served in the North West Frontier, Sudan and during the Second Boer War as a successful war correspondent. As a politician he was brash and petulant, but succeeded in holding most of the major offices of state, acting as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer as well as First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for War. On the resignation of Neville Chamberlain in 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister and led Britain through one of its darkest moments. Charismatic and adventurous, egotistical, visionary and unconventional, Churchill was an enigma. Achild of his time, his paradoxical lifespanned two world wars and the rise and fall of the Victorian British Empire. His death marked the end of a British era. In this, the definitive biography, Norman Rose brilliantly illuminates the man behind the myth, producing a fresh, balanced, and incisive portrait of an extraordinary life and the legacy that remains undimmed to this day.

Review(s):

"A comprehensive and readable biography . . . it is fair, presenting positive assessments together with significant criticism." - Henry Kissinger, The New York Review of Books

"A thorough, analytical, readable one-volume biography of a "great man" is an uncommon thing, much to be treasured. Norman Rose . . . has done it with grace and style, in a voice of quiet reason and with acute characterization." - David Meaghan, Boston Globe

"This balance and breadth, this combination of sympathy and detachment, and this wide-ranging historical vision, mark out this book as the best one-volume life yet written." - David Cannadine, Observer (UK)

"Norman Rose's straight narrative of Churchill's life is.. a minor masterpiece. It tells a colourful story vividly and elegantly. It is probably the best one-volume biography available." - Anthony Howard, Sunday Times (UK)

"Admirably written, shrewd and perceptive.. It is difficult to think of a better single-volume biography than this." - Robert Blake, Times Literary Supplement (UK)

"If one wants the life with the benefit of the most modern scholarship, delivered briskly and well, one would be hard pressed to do better than Norman Rose's volume." - National Review

"Professor Rose's Churchill is the best to date.. Although Rose does ample justice to his subject's manifest weaknesses, he never loses sight of Churchill's grandeur.. This biography, though sometimes harsh, is notably fair." - Philip Ziegler, Daily Telegraph

"A well written narrative with warmth and life to it.. Norman Rose shows us through the dark woods and the open landscape of an extraordinary life." - Hugo Barnacle, Independent

"Rose presents the story of Churchill's career in a refreshing and objective way." - Andrew Roberts, The Times (UK)

"In our opinion the best single-volume interpretive study biography, judicious and wise with many new angles." - Finest Hour, The Journal of International Churchill Studies

"Once picked up you won`t put the book down; I agree with David Cannadine, possibly 'the best one-volume life'" - Stewart Rayment, Liberator





ISBN:  9781845118631