“Masterful . . . The collaboration completes the Churchill portrait in a seamless manner, combining the detailed research, sharp analysis and sparkling prose that readers of the first two volumes have come to expect.” – Associated PressSpanning the years 1940 to 1965, The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965 begins shortly after Winston Churchill became prime minister-when Great Britain … Great Britain stood alone against the overwhelming might of Nazi Germany. In brilliant prose and informed by decades of research, William Manchester and Paul Reid recount how Churchill organized his nation’s military response and defence, convinced FDR to support the cause, and personified the “never surrender” ethos that helped win the war. We witness Churchill, driven from office, warning the world of the coming Soviet menace. And after his triumphant return to 10 Downing Street, we follow him as he pursues his final policy goal: a summit with President Dwight Eisenhower and Soviet leaders. In conclusion, we experience Churchill’s last years, when he faces the end of his life with the same courage he brought to every battle he ever fought.
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William Manchester, the author, is an able and interesting writer and a competent researcher. This biography can be a great source of inspiration for young persons on the threshold of their careers. Readers who do not ordinarily read “dry” history will likely find Mr. Manchester’s writing readable and very interesting. This is a biography of Winston Churchill from birth to his first election to Parliament. Winston Churchill was the son of Randolph Churchill, a prominent member of Parliament in the elite group of MPs from which prime ministers arise. William Manchester describes Winston’s struggle to please his father and his father’s disappointment with Winston’s scholastic performance and lack of great expectations. Today we know of Randolph Churchill as the father of England’s greatest prime minister. The book describes Winston’s experiences in the Boer war, including his months as an escaped POW. Winston writes a book about his experiences in the Boer War. The book is well received by his countrymen and makes young Winston a celebrity. He is elected to Parliament.
The entire trilogy on the life of Winston Churchill is an inspiring read about Great Britain’s famous war time leader who inspired a nation and led his people to victory.
Paul Reid had an unenviable task trying to write in the footsteps of a great master biographer. William Manchester had the ability to transport the reader back to a period of history with the lust and vigor of great fiction. Unfortunately, due to Manchester’s untimely death–and despite his already in-depth research on Churchill, in the hands of journalist Paul Reid this third volume of “The Last Lion” is merely dry and factual. I’ve never been overwhelmed by the size of large tomes, but this book has been difficult to navigate due to the fact that it seems to be “just about the facts” and fails to bring these larger than life characters that dominated the WWII stage back to life.
I still give it four stars because these same facts are meticulously documented, and for the sake of history this facet of a most momentous task—documenting Winston Churchill’s war years was well accomplished. Alas, the presentation is sterile and uninspired–unlike the two previous volumes in the trilogy.
To be fair there was but one William Manchester. And it is only fair to acknowledge that Paul Reid had an unenviable task trying to write in the footsteps of a great master; this he failed to do with the élan and grace of Manchester, but in the end I would rather have read this less-than-stellar book than had no Volume 3 at all. Finally, to have had Churchill’s war years neglected due to the mortality of a great author would have been a sad loss; my gratitude to Paul Reid for leaping into the breach and endeavoring to do his best to set the record straight.
Excellent biography of Winston Churchill from 1940 until his death. Masterly research and well organized. Highly recommended!
Volume III gives a truly fascinating insight into the tremendous inner stress Churchill faced in the darkest hours of World War II and how the entire world owes him more than they are probably aware of. One of the best biographies I have ever had the privilege of reading of a flawed and imperfect man who somehow rose to truly heroic proportions when the fate of the world hung on the very narrow edge of destruction.