Churchill: A Major New Assessment of His Life in Peace and War

by Robert Blake (Editor), William Roger Louis (Editor)

Overview

A look at the life and accomplishments of the former prime minister presents essays by twenty-nine renowned contributors that examine all phases of Churchill's life—from his youth in the aristocracy to his career in Parliament.

Essays examine Churchill's family life, foreign policy, social reforms, economic ideas, views on Zionism, and relationship with the monarchy and fellow statesmen.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393034097
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/17/1993
Edition description:	1st American ed
Pages:	632
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.50(d)

Editorial Reviews

These illuminating essays by British and American historians provide detailed looks at Churchill in varied roles that include his appointed and elected offices, his war leadership and his tenure as political leader of the opposition. His long and turbulent career is assessed in components, some of them relatively minor (for instance, his appearances on radio and in film) but most of large scope, such as the lessons Churchill learned during WW I that were applicable during WW II. Among other topics explored: Norman Rose theorizes that ``few Englishmen have had a better record on behalf of Zionism''; John Keegan compares Churchill's skills as a strategist with those of Abraham Lincoln; Stephen E. Ambrose analyzes Churchill's wartime relationship with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower; Roy Jenkins writes on Churchill's second government (1951-1955), which, he remarks, ``was too much dominated by its chief's stubborn battle for survival to be a splendid affair.'' These 29 pieces bring Churchill into clearer focus. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This excellent collection stems from a 1991 conference at the University of Texas, where 27 distinguished participants offered these distillations of their expertise on topics ranging over Churchill's entire career. Historians Blake and Louis have edited these subsequently rewritten papers and commissioned two more for this stimulating and often insightful volume. There are no bombshells, but Churchill comes into sharp focus as a fallible giant. This work will be valuable to historians and fascinating to any interested reader. Try Warren Kimball on the FDR partnership, Philip Ziegler on monarchy, Donald C. Watt on appeasement, or S. Gopal's well-honed but scrupulously just commentary on India. Essential for academic libraries and highly recommended for any British history collection.-- Nancy C. Cridland, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington

Library Journal

Although the introduction to this estimable, invaluable collection of essays on the life of Winston Churchill says the book will take the "full measure of the man," readers will see that to be a formidable undertaking. These lively and erudite contributions are the result of a symposium of English and American scholars in 1991. The result is impressive. Churchill's energy outlasted his contemporaries. His majestic command of language will last as long as the history of Great Britain's "finest hour" is written in books. Churchill, we see, was headstrong, "forever prodding," a master of parliamentary procedures, courageous, stubborn and foolhardy, a "man of war" who saw it as an adventure, a radical in government who switched from conservative to liberal to conservative. Churchill's family, "a textbook case of declining and degenerate dynasty," would have defeated other men. A monologuist and egotist, he was very difficult to work with. Richard Olland's essay "Churchill and the Navy," in particular, leaves one feeling sorry not just for his enemies but for his friends as well. But these essays sustain his greatness despite flaws.

Eugene Sullivan