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 enlarge | Author: John Keegan
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 483951
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0670030791
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.084092
EAN: 9780670030798
ASIN: 0670030791
Publication Date: October 14, 2002
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 "Publishers Weekly" is Mistaken November 1, 2005
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
Publisher's Weekly is entirely mistaken, in their comments above, in suggesting that Sir Winston Churchill once belonged to the Labour Party.
He never did, of course.
Churchill did, however, cross the floor to join the Liberal Party, often making common cause there with his Liberal ally David Lloyd George. He left the Liberals and returned to the Conservative Party (at first, as a "Constitutionalist") in the 1920's...
Alan D. Hyde
 Short but sweet - as only Keegan could write it January 6, 2005
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
John Keegan has a flair for bringing order from apparent chaos, for finding unifying themes through events separated vastly in time. Thus, he is a good choice to write this short biography of Churchill. One might legitimately ask, "How can you condense the life of Churchill into such a slim (200 pages) volume?" The answer is here for everyone to see.
Keegan gives a good flavour for the man, touching on his important speeches, his bullying of subordinates, his painting, his variable health. He leaves out what is not important in understanding the man: his membership in the bricklayers' guild is not mentioned, for example. Clearly, Keegan the military historian is mostly interested in Churchill's wartime leadership - in both World Wars. He also makes sure to point out some of Churchill's other policy issues - his support of the working man (Churchill is often, wrongly, believed to be anti-working class) is the most interesting because it's often lost in the detail of larger tomes.
It's ironic that Churchill himself was incapable of writing a history like this - his "biography" of Marlborough was several volumes long. Can the life of a man like Churchill be condensed into 200 pages? Probably not, but Keegan's attempt is very readable and enjoyable, and is recommended even to those that have read heftier biographies. The exercise of working within space constraints forces the writer to get to the core of the subject, and this is what Keegan does in this biography.
 Another Great Keegan book September 2, 2004
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book is extremely timely during our current War on Terrorism. In order to understand the decisions our nation has made after 9/11, you must read the Churchill story. In order to understand why Bush has taken the tack he has, you need to understand the British experience in the years before and during Nazi aggression. The most telling part of this book is the discussion around how some in Britain were contemplating negotiating terms with Germany after seeing the French fall so quickly. Of course, Churchill would have none of it, and being a student of history, he believed immensely in his own people, and he fired up his nation.
Keegan's book is about Churchill as a glory-seeker as a young man, and about Churchill as a master orator. Keegan uses many quotes from Churchill speeches to illustrate the book.
Of course the neatest thing about Churchill is that his mother was American! He also switched political parties twice! In order to understand political leadership in the face of overwhelming adversity, you need to read this fine book. I recommend the audio version, which uses an actor to imitate Churchill for the speech quotes. It sounds cheesy and it is at first, but it adds a further layer of texture that I appreciated.
 Recommended, but with reservations April 7, 2004
9 out of 24 found this review helpful
As usual, the author gives an informative and intelligent perspective of his subject. I've liked his many other books, and I have enjoyed other biographies of Churchill. Alas, I cannot agree with the author's final enthusiasm for Churchill, or for Churchill's being declared the most important figure of the last century. As is stated in the book, Churchill had many significant accomplishments, but I am troubled by the author's lack of discussion of his subject's faults. Churchill gave every indication of being a racist. He was also a strict colonialist whose position lacked foresight of many future and bloody conflicts. These issues, that is the facts supporting these conclusions, are all noted by Keegan, but with no elaboration. Also, why are so many willing to credit Churchill with great courage for his flying in and out of battles? I imagine that many soldiers would be similarly "courageous" if given the option (with mommy's help) to leave the field of battle as they chose. This is what Churchill did in every engagement in which he participated. For me, the courageous are those who remained regardless of the "excitement" level. Churchill was blinded by his racism, elitism, and flighty ideas of warfare. These were not simple idiosyncrasies with no significant repercussions. His lack of respect for fighting abilities of the Asian race and his insistence on colonialism arguably led to the type of policies for which thousands of British soldiers died. Furthermore, his impulsive (and let's face it, ignorant) ideas of warfare directly led to his pushing and approving disastrous campaigns in both world wars. Again, Keegan failed to follow up on any of these issues and if anything he treated them as peculiar traits of the great statesman such as his cigar smoking, and moodiness. Churchill wrote volumes on WWII, all of which conveniently overlooks any of his possible errors, but it received enough acclaim (by many for whom I suspected did not actually read the several volumes), and this shaped how many historians and biographers were to later judge the war and Churchill. I only argue that it is time to honor the man for his accomplishments, but it is not heretical to want a full discussion of him. The British electorate seemed well aware of the dichotomy of the man when they demanded his rise to prime minister, but removed from office him and his party when the times changed.
Exceptional Biography by an Exceptional Scholar March 6, 2004
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
John Keegan is one of the most distinguished military historians of our day. He was an excellent choice to pen this biography of Winston Churchill. Like the other Penguin Lives books, this volume presents an excellent, brief introduction to the life of Britain's WWII Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Keegan begins by telling of his own "immunity" to the Churchillian legend and how that was transmuted into an admiration upon listening to an album of Churchill's war speeches. Keegan describes Churchill's exploits as a young soldier, his writing life, his days as a Member of Parliament, and his years as Prime Minister. Brief, to the point, this is a very nice introduction to Churchill. This is a great book for a layman. To those who have already read lengthier biographies of Churchill, this may be a nice review. Popular, not academic.
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