Rating: 
Summary: Almost purely a political biography
Review: What most reviews don't tell you is that Roy Jenkins, himself a politician, has created an almost purely political biography of Churchill. Even more narrowly, it is a focused on the House of Commons and Churchill's role in it over a span of some 50 years.
In more than 900 pages, Jenkins barely touches on Churchill's personal life, his relationship with "Clemmie," his children or with anyone outside the closeted world of British politics. The little details of daily life, which provide density and color -- what brand of cigars he smoked, what books he read for pleasure, what he ate for breakfast -- are almost entirely missing. A greater fault, in my view, is that Jenkins fails to adequately explore and explain Churchill's place in the decline and fall of the British Empire, which took place in great part during Churchill's watches. This is a story, as Jenkins tells it, mostly of the Old Boy's club, of Asquith and Lloyd George and Chamberlain and all the rest. Reading Jenkins, you would hardly know that during the course of Churchill's life one of the world's greatest powers and greatest empires became an also ran on the world's stage. Granted, Jenkins is a masterful writer with a great grasp of the politics of 20th century Britain. If politics, in great detail, is all you demand of a biography, then Roy Jenkins' Churchill will suit you very adequately. --Lan Sluder
Rating: 
Summary: Churchill as a Politician Knows Him
Review: Churchill died at 90. Roy Jenkins, now well into his 80's, seems determined to match him not only for age, but for literary merit. "Churchill" is his most ambitious biography to date, and certainly his best. A prominent cabinet minister of the Wilson Labour government, Jenkins brings to this book a particularly insightful take on Churchill the politician. ("It takes one to know one!") Perhaps most surprising for a past member of a (once) leftist (and now centrist) party, he seems to bring no rigid ideological bias to his interpretation of the greatest parliamentarian of all time, and assesses him in a decidedly pragmatic, even-handed fashion. Appropriately, he does so in a very "English" English, which initially strikes the North American ear as being overly complex and needlessly wordy; but as you become used to his majesterial cadence, its richness and depth of content become apparent, and begin to match that of Churchill himself. Jenkin's Churchill the man is displayed "warts and all", but his conclusion with respect to his subject is somewhat different from the revisionist view of such recent (and predominantly critical) biographers as John Charmley ("Churchill: The End of Glory"); in his own words: "I now put Churchill...as the greatest human being ever to occupy 10 Downing Street." And he should know; as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he once lived just next door at number 11!
Rating:
Summary: Sir Winston As He Was
Review: We Americans tend to see Winston Churchill through the prism of a few months during the Battle of Britain when he stood alone in the world against the Nazis and fascism. As fascinating and dramatic as that period was, a full length biography of Winston Churchill gives the reader the proper context to appreciate Winston Churchill as the leading political figure of the 20th century. Roy Jenkins has authored an extraordinary book that only he as former M.P. and minister could write. The nuances of 10 Downing, Westminister, and Whitehall might elude other historians, but Jenkins knows all the slights and symbolisms of parliamentary politics. Jenkins concludes that Churchill was the greatest British prime minister of all. That's not an easy judgment from Labourite Jenkins who also wrote the award-winning biography of Gladstone. This book is a neccesary addition to the Churchill bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest man of the century
Review: A wonderful book about a wonderful man. At a time when stark moral choices must be made, how refreshing it is to read this fantastic account of Churchill. A comprehensive book, well paced, but particularly well written regarding the events of 1940 when the basis of western civilisation stood on those broad shoulders.
A biography of the greatest man of the century that lives up to his greatness. Enough said.
A must read !!!!!
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE GREATEST LEADERS OF OUR TIME
Review: While I have encountered many historical facts surrounding Churchill's leadership, this is actually the first biography I have read on the man. The book was informative and factual and made for enjoyable reading from a political standpoint; however, the book was primarily based on his acclaimed polital career rather than his personal life. It did touch briefly on his marriage and a few of his quirks and idiosyncrasies but did not provide detail on the psychological elements of the man or what really "made him tick" as an individual. Overall, the book is worth reading, and readers will no doubt agree that Churchill, as one of Britain's most infamous prime ministers, was considered in his day a man ahead of his time.
Rating:
Summary: His Finest Biography
Review: We American anglophiles tend to view Winston Churchill through the single prism of the 1939-1945 period of WW II. Such a limited perspective tends to distort the long and distinguished career of the man that the author concludes was the best Prime Minister ever in England (and that comes from a Labourite). Roy Jenkins has given us a magnificant book that only another member of Parliament could write. He appreciates the political nuances and the verbal swordplay of Whitehall,Westminister and #10 Downing. Winston's strengths as well as his weaknesses are on full display here as you'd expect from a biography of a great man with all the flaws of a human being. This is a must read for anyone interested in the life of Winston Churchill.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite readable, nicely done
Review: Jenkins, a history professor and Member of Parliament himself as well as the author of an acclaimed bio of Gladstone, presents a fine biography of Britain's greatest 20th century figure. His own experiences uniquely qualify him to describe Churchill's political fortunes and maneuverings, although the American reader may find the Teens and Twenties either slow going or not sufficiently illuminating of Britain's odd political system, wherein politicians regularly shopped around for a district to represent, even after being defeated in another. This is a fairly traditional public and political bio, not a psychoanalysis (not to imply that Churchill HAD much of a personal life to expose), and moves along at a surprisingly good clip despite its 900-plus pages. Jenkins fully reminds us that Churchill basically earned his living as a writer -- the contracts, writing schedules, and royalties are carefully recorded -- though politics was his avocation. The author writes cleanly and engagingly, though he seems inordinately fond of unnecessarily unusual words like "psephological" and "rumbustious." On the other hand, his wit is dry and regularly in evidence. The U.S. hardcover edition by Farrar, Straus & Giroux is clean until about the halfway point, whereupon one begins to encounter "Feburary" (436), "replies hardly every being allowed" (553) "shore up the the" (706), "dimayed" (721), "The opposition could chose when to relax" (837-8), and similar infelicities. All in all, Jenkins seems to strike a nice balance between a healthy respect for his subject and a clear eye for Churchill's weaknesses, changes of direction, and occasional seizures of dishonesty. Well illustrated with more than 90 b&w photos.
Rating:
Summary: Strong one volume bio
Review: Roy Jenkins brand new biography of Sir Winston Churchill is an entertaining and informative read for both old Churchillians and those who have never entered the Great Man's fascinating world before. Jenkins, an old veteran of Parliament, here uses his many years of political experience to good advantage as he tells of Churchill's life from a secure but lonely childhood to the summit of political affairs during the Second World War. Serious scholars of Churchill will find little that is new here (his main source is the companion volumes to the official biography) but what is here is presented in an entertaining way that makes many of the most familiar episodes of Churchill's life seem fresh. In this post-September 11th world, many of us find ourselves turning to Winston Churchill for inspiration and guidance. Whether you are coming to Churchill for the first time or instead returning to an old friend, Jenkins does well in reminding us eloquence in the cause of justice is timeless.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent biography by a magnificent writer.
Review: Every decade or so a new biography emerges on Winston Churchill, usually not of quality, or containing new substance. I am a big fan of William Manchester's multivolume 'Last Lion' study, and was happily surprised to find new and interesting content presented here in a very readable manner. Roy Jenkins has incorporated some revisionist views, and wonderful prose in what may be the most accessible single volume biography of Britain's most often quoted politician. It is a magnificent piece of work and is highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Avoid This Book Like The Plague
Review: Jenkins is a fine writer and deeply knowledgable about England, parliament in particular and Churchill but this is a perverse biography which is of use for only one group of people: those readers whose main interest is Churchill's parliamentary career as written by an insider. For the rest of us this book tantalizes and then frustrates. It jumps over (or omits) the most dramatic episodes of the story to give us nauseating detail about parliamentary debates that only a super-specialist would want to know about. This would be fine if we got such detail about everything else but no- only about parliamentary debates. I mean he describes who spoke first, second third and what their history in parliament was. But about Churchill's childhood and its influence - hardly a word and the word is dismissive. About his marriage to his wife - glimpses. We are told she was always away on trips but Jenkins refuses to venture an opinion as to why or even what Churchill's reaction was. It is almost as if his manners are too good to do anything other than talk about what happens in the public arena. I would strongly recommend this book only to academics(or amateurs) who have an interest in the history of the British House of Commons and Churchill's place in it. Don't let some of these previous reviews fool you. These reviewers are justly impressed with Jenkins gravitas and his age (he died before the book came out)and his political career and don't want to tell you the truth.
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