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England's greatest living historian, Paul Johnson, on its greatest 20th century man, Winston Churchill
Churchill
by Paul Johnson
With the possible exception of Ronald Reagan, no 20th century
statesman did more to preserve freedom and democracy than Winston
Churchill. None, certainly, provided more public entertainment with his
dramatic ups and downs, his noble oratory, his powerful writings and
sayings, his flashes of rage, and his sunbeams of wit. He took a prominent
place on the public stage of his country and the world for over sixty
years, in an astonishing variety of roles -- soldier, parliamentarian,
Prime Minister, orator, writer, painter, and devoted family man. How did
one man do so much, for so long, and so effectively? Now, in Churchill,
the renowned British historian Paul Johnson -- author of the bestsellers
Modern Times and A History of the American People -- shows how all of the
phases of facets of Churchill's life and character combined to make him
one of the most complex and fascinating men in history.
(continued from above)
With deft narrative skill and keen insight, Johnson masterfully
sketches the phases of Churchill's life:
- His childhood of privilege in a prominent political family
- His early military adventures in South Africa
- His political ambitions and rise through Parliament
- His great service in the Great War
- His "exile" after the war
- His urgent campaign to awaken the world to Hitler's threat
- His monumental leadership as Prime Minister during World War II
- His role as an elder statesman prophesying the advent of the Cold
War
Along the way, Johnson gives us wonderful insights into Churchill's
character -- how his immense adaptability combined with his natural
pugnacity to make him a formidable leader; his brilliant gift for
language; his amazing capacities to aim high, work hard, and not be
distracted by vengeance or recrimination; and above all his great capacity
for joy, expressed intimately in his love of painting and bricklaying, his
lifelong love for his wife and family, and his transcendent love of
Britain.
"Of all the towering figures of the twentieth century, both good and
evil, Winston Churchill was the most valuable to humanity, and also the
most likeable," writes Johnson. "It is a joy to write his life, and to
read about it. None holds more lessons, especially for youth: How to use a
difficult childhood. How to seize eagerly on all opportunities, physical,
moral, and intellectual. How to dare greatly, to reinforce success, and to
put the inevitable failures behind you. And how, while pursuing vaulting
ambition with energy and relish, to cultivate also friendship, generosity,
compassion, and decency."
Rich with anecdote and quotation, Paul Johnson's Churchill
illustrates the man's humor, resilience, courage, and eccentricity as no
other biography before.
"First-rate. . . Biographers in love with their subjects usually
produce mediocre history, but Johnson, always self-assured as well as
scholarly, has written another highly opinionated, entertaining work." --
Publishers Weekly
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