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My Early Life: 1874-1904 | 
 enlarge | Author: Winston Churchill
Creator: William Manchester
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $5.99
You Save: $10.01 (63%)
New (31) Used (34) Collectible (1) from $3.67
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 44642
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0684823454
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.084092
EAN: 9780684823454
ASIN: 0684823454
Publication Date: June 6, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: GREAT Bargain Book Deal - like new, some may have small remainder mark - Ships out by NEXT Business Day - Over ONE MILLION Amazon orders filled - 100% Satisfaction Guarantee!
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Amazon.com Review
The voice of a vanished England speaks from the pages of Winston Churchill's evocative memoir of his first 30 years (1874-1904). The young Churchill inhabits a world in which men fight like hell in meaningless colonial wars--India, Egypt, South Africa--soldiering across the imperial map then extending the hand of friendship to their erstwhile enemy as if they were schoolmates at Harrow. Yet Churchill, born into a privileged family, was not an uncritical supporter of the Victorian status quo. He himself loathed Harrow; an especially amusing chapter skewers the school's emphasis on an irrelevant classical education and rote learning. A firm Tory, he considered himself a friend of the working class, and in 1899 campaigned for parliament with a Socialist colleague. Looking back from his vantage point of 1930, Churchill expresses the most attractive values of the English aristocracy--honor, loyalty, fair play--without giving the impression he wants to live in the past. The book's appeal also stems from its magisterial but colloquial prose. Anyone familiar with recordings of Churchill's rousing speeches during Word War II will hear in their minds' ears that growling timbre and unmistakably patrician accent as they read. Though he would have preferred the peace prize, My Early Life offers good evidence that Churchill's 1953 Nobel for literature was aptly awarded. --Wendy Smith
Product Description
Here, in his own words, are the fascinating first thirty years in the life of one of the most provocative and compelling leaders of the twentieth centuryWinston Churchill As a visionary, statesman, and historian, and the most eloquent spokesman against Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill was one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century. In this autobiography, Churchill recalls his childhood, his schooling, his years as a war correspondent in South Africa during the Boer War, and his first forays into politics as a member of Parliament. My Early Life not only gives readers insights into the shaping of a great leader but, as Churchill himself wrote, "a picture of a vanished age." If you want to fully understand Winston Churchill, My Early Life is essential reading.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
The place to start. September 7, 2008
To say it exudes wit, humour, intelligence and charm is a big understatement.
He was 56 at the time he wrote it... so, we have the benefit of experience too...
A MUST READ.
ADB
PS: The film done about it (using the book as the script) is also very good if a bit slow in parts (specially political speeches).
A brilliant first hand account. February 20, 2008
If you want to know about Winston Churchill's early life and just how well he was able to write well then look no further. The prose is rich, his vocabulary is extensive and the phrasing is pure Churchill. This is a great introduction into his life and writing ability and many sayings and phrases Churchill is known for are given in this volume. Few, if any, are willing to risk potential embarrassment by stating as one of their life's accomplishments any book that they have read. However, if one is able to add having read this book among those achievements then at least that part of their life will not have been wasted.
Good gift idea January 27, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I got this for my grandfather for Christmas. He was POW during WWII, and was wanting to read about Churchill's POW experiences. A big hit!! My grandfather couldn't put the book down.
Delightful churchill December 13, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
His writing is great; his stories are told in a refreshing, whimsical tone; and one gets the sense that he loves his life. Even though I was very familiar with the event of his life before reading this, I found it thoroughly engaging and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in this extraordinary man.
Churchill at his most human September 14, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This 372 page long book would be good, but no more, if it wasn't for the first 40-or-so pages, which are a gem. The book covers the first 30 years of Churchill's life and the first forty pages cover his childhood. Although Churchill had a miserable childhood - his father was distant, his mother more interested in lovers than in her son, and he was bullied at boarding school - Churchill narrates his story with unsurpassed wit and without any hard feelings for the ones that failed him. Some passages, like the description of how he was grappling with the beast called maths, are just hilarious. The first forty pages alone make this book a must read. In the rest of the book, the most interesting part is the story of Churchill's capture by the Boers and escape. You don't need to be interested in Churchill, the statesman, to like this book. Here he is at his most human and disarming.
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