Rating: 
Summary: Truly Exceptional.
Review: I've now read four of Mr. Manchester's works and all have been excellent. This is one of the two best biographies, or framents thereof, that I have ever read. Mr. Manchester has a style of writing that belongs in the hands of a novelist, not a historian or biographer. He can make 900 pages fly by without you noticing. I've read the two first parts of his Churchill biography and am completely devastated that the last one will probably never be completed. I mourn for the loss of Mr. Manchester's wife but history will truly mourn the loss of the concluding piece of this opus.
Rating:
Summary: This is the real thing
Review: There are many good biographies out there, but a great one is rare. This is one of the great ones; William Manchester has taken the art of biography to a new level. Most biographies are merely "interesting," rarely making any effort to give the reader a sense of what it would have been like to be or know the subject. Manchester does just that. Rather than write a narrative story of Winston Churchill's life, he has chosen instead to give us a rich tapestry of Chrchill's life as it was woven. Many biographers are simply idolizers of their subjects; this is not so with Manchester. He reserves no harsh judgment, just as he reserves no due praise; when he is reporting something negative that Winston did he says it was negative, and explains why.But The Last Lion is more than just a biography. In attempting to capture the essence of Churchill Manchester has written some of the best material about World War I and the appeasement crisis. It is rare that historical events can be made to feel like the present, but Manchester has done this. Both volumes of this work are well worth your money, your time, and your attention. Indeed, the only bad part of Manchester's biography is that he will not be able to finish it. It is not known how much of the third volume he was able to put together before Alzheimer's made work impossible for him, but it can be hoped that whatever he was able to do will someday be published, no matter how unpolished it may be.
Rating:
Summary: Magisterial
Review: William Manchester's first Churchill volume is one of those books that makes you just love to read. This clearly isn't a book for all those who are fascinated by the mediocre and skeptical of the possibilities for true greatness. This is an unreconstructed and unapologetic look at a leader whose instincts often cut against the grain of the 20th century, but who would emerge as one of the great heroes of it, just when extraordinary leadership was needed the most. Manchester is the rare gifted writer who has mastered the biographical craft as well as the sweeping narrative needed to succinctly encapsulate the mores and habits of an entire nation at a particular moment in time. He does this brilliantly in his introduction, about one hundred pages long, which sets the stage with a lavish description of Victorian England. This is one of the best parts of the book. Early on, it is clear that the ambitious young Winston is headed for big things. This wasn't only because he came from one of Britain's most prominent families -- his father rose to become the second most powerful man in the government, and his mother was romantically linked to the Prince of Wales. Despite this, Manchester convinces us, successfully, that Churchill was the best of his generation, that he would have risen even from less auspicious circumstances (admittedly, this interpretation has its limits, since entire social classes were excluded from Parliament at the time). Churchill made his career as a political maverick, changing parties not once, but twice, consistently taking positions that brought him close to political death. Yet Churchill survived -- and what's more, he turned out to be one of the most enduring political presences any democracy has ever seen. What is striking about Churchill's career is that it didn't simply culminate in 1940 after a plodding journey up the political ladder. No -- Churchill had first been elected to Parliament forty years earlier, and he rose quickly within a few years of his election. But then his career plateaud for about a quarter of a century. Here you had a man who was considered a future Prime Minister at age 30, who was in a position to be considered the heir apparent in governments of two different parties at various points from World War I until the late 1920s, and yet didn't take the next step. What happened? The Great War and its aftermath, more than anything, foreordained Churchill's postponed "rendezvous with destiny." It was here where Churchill was the most out of step with prevailing political attitudes. Churchill held close to his heart a heroic vision of Britain, and believed deeply in the nobility of a war fought for a just cause. He also believed in the Empire, and did not think that Britain should relinquish what was already hers, even in a time of relative decline vis a vis the United States. Where most saw senseless slaughter in the trenches of France, he saw selfless heroism, a nation at its best. The nation, or at least the political classes, did not agree with this interpretation. In a time that Walter Lippman proclaimed was "tired of greatness" and where the great fear was that Britain had overextended herself, Churchill defended greatness and Empire. In his view, strength in the service of democracy, and not blind disarmament, would prevent future wars. This view, ascendant in World War II, and in many ways, ascendant again in America today, was seen as discredited at the time, and Churchill in the 1920's repeatedly butted heads with a Conservative leadership over disarmament and withdrawal from India. The trend was so strong in the other direction that Churchill was effectively cast out of his party by the end of the 20's, and looked destined to repeat the fate of his iconoclastic father, who was cast permanently out into the political wilderness for his own apostasies. But with this son, there would always be a second act.
Rating:
Summary: Publisher - Shame On You
Review: Now in the twilight of his years Manchester has revealed he lacks the mental focus necessary to complete his trilogy on the life of Winston Churchill (while heroically fending off his publisher's suggestion that he graft on a co-author to complete it). In its zeal to conjure some way to make more money off the Manchester name, is it perhaps time for this publisher to ponder why one of the greatest biographers and historians in memory can only be read by combing the bins of used bookstalls or grasping the dog-eared library tome? The Arms of Krupp (out of print), American Caesar (out of print), The Last Lion (v.I) (out of print), and many others of the canon are seminal works with a devoted readership. Perhaps the right marketing opportunity simply has yet to strike. Making a movie (and a bad one at that) about Pearl Harbor popped even the questionable Gordon Prange back into prominence. Clearly, in these days when book publishers are conveniently tied into the entertainment world as a matter of corporate domain, the lonely vigil of the Manchester devotee must await the serendipity of Hollywood. Until then, Mr. Manchester I laud you with the words of one still in print:
"To me fair friend you can never be old,
For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still."
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Summary: A Real Beauty- The Best Churchill Volume I've Read
Review: Anything and everything with Mr Manchester's name on it is superior. But this 2nd WSC volume may surpass all his other work . He shows in fine detail how this eccentric,brilliant,pushy,bulldog of a man manipilated,charmed and bullied his way,and what a rough time he had in convincing the smug British establishment in the mid 30's of the dangers brewing in Germany.At the time WSC was "out in the cold".It's an old story,but the sheer drive of Mr. Churchill, and the ostrich-like ability of his compatriots to look the other way,here amounts to a fresh,mesmorizing account. WSC's days in exile are described in minute detail, even his habit of walking around Chartwell in his birthday suit,and the reaction of his female secretary.All the players are here,and Mr Manchester's method in exploring motives and personalities will keep the pages turning...I suggest giving the TV a rest for a couple of weeks to make an effort to read this.It may be more interesting now with the parallels in the post 9/11 world.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest biographies ever written
Review: A great biography of a great man! I couldn't put this book down and was sad to have it end. What a life Churchhill led. What would the West have done without his leadership. I am so sad that William Manchester could not finish this trilogy as he is one of the finest biographers I have ever read. His biography on MacArthur was fabulous also
Rating:
Summary: It couldn't be better
Review: There may be other biographies of Churchill, but NO ONE writes like William Manchester. His account of the evacuation at Dunkirk (also known as The Miracle!) gives me the chills every time I read it. His deft handling of a tremendous amount of material (Churchill was involved in nearly every major international political event of the first half of the twentieth century) is impressive as well. I only pray that Mr. Manchester will complete the projected 3-volume biography.
Rating:
Summary: GRIPPING PRELUDE TO WWII
Review: Winston Churchill was one of the most dynamic leaders of the 20th century and Mr. Manchester does not disappoint in his gripping follow-up to Vol. 1 of THE LAST LION. We're told in sometimes too much detail Churchill's activities at home and at his desk between the two world wars: painting, fixing up his beloved Chartwell, writing endlessly to pay for his lavish lifestyle during a world depression and keeping tabs on those bullies across the Channel. In his "wilderness years" when he was a political pariah, he boldly warned over and over the threat to world peace but was laughed at and ultimately ignored. The gripping finale leads up to Churchill's restored to power as the world teeters on the edge. The beautiful characterizations of the main players in this drama are just one of the many attributes to be gained from this wonderful bio. Sadly, it's an incomplete story because Mr. Manchester, due to poor health, cannot complete this series and refuses to let someone help him --- I cannot blame him as the writing is very singular and a monumental job would face his (in effect) ghostwriter. We must therefore satisfy ourselves with what we have and rue the writer who thinks he's got all the time in the world to finish what he started.
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Summary: A thorough and detailed account of a great man's early life.
Review: What a fascinating journey the reader takes with Manchester at the helm! It is so interesting to read of the real man Winston Churchill, not merely the legend. His trials and tribulations would eventually lead to greatness, but this is how that great man was made. The political party switching, the Great War and his exile after an unsuccessful stint as Chancellor of the Exchequer all make up important segments of this book. If you like good biography, politics and/or history, this is for you.
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: Churchill, in his own memoirs, wouldn't tell you that he loved hot baths so much he would do sommersaults in the tub; or that he watched movies at home with his little dog on his lap and covered her eyes during the scary parts; or that he cried at the end of a sentimental movie about a boy saving his beloved donkey. This book -- actually both book of this unfinished trilogy -- portray the human side of the man who's powerful will marshalled a prostrate England to its succesful, life-or-death defense against Hitler. It also imparts the greatness of this amazing man -- his toughness, his brilliance, his eloquence. Reader's of Churchill's fine memoirs of the Second World War will enjoy, I think, seeing his pluck and ingenuity exhibited in his early life, in this book. Churchill suffered defeats, but never was defeated, and this quality shows in this book. Like other reviewers, I look foreward to the third instalment of Manchester's biography of Churchill.
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