Rating: 
Summary: A Man For All Times
Review: A man of outstanding letters, a combat experienced soldier, an accomplished painter, a diplomate of unparalled skill, a speaker with undeniable wit and a rapier tounge...a strong case can be made for the nomination of Sir Winston Churchill as the Person of the 20th Century. In his biography, Churchill; A Life, distinguished historian and biographer Martin Gilbert presents a fascinating account of the great man's life. The author knows his subject well, having worked starting in 1962 as a junior research team member of the Churchill family's undertaking to write a multi-volume biography. He continued in that capacity until Churchill's death in 1968. This masterful work is a scholarly study that the author backs up with research from orginal source documents. There are in today's world, a plethora of celebrities. There are, though, few heores. Winston Churchill was a hero; not just for his own generation, but for all those who followed. This one volume life story provides the reader with an intimate glimpse behind the facade and the glitter and the stories (real or contrived) about one of Great Britain's most memorable contributions to humanity. From his childhood on to his involvement in the Boear War in South Africa to his ups and downs as a politician through the courage he inspired by confronting the evil of National Socialism as practiced by Hitler to identifying the scourge of Communism and defining it's boundaries as an Iron Curtain, the biographer details the Prime Minister's thoughts and attitudes in an inspiring manner. Those who know little about all of this will do well to consider the biography as a worthwhile reading project. The Crimea, the assassination of the Arch Duke Ferdinand and the meaning of Malta have, still today, significant (though largely unrecognized) influence in our lives. Those who do know the story will benefit from refreshing the memory of it all. Truly this book is worthy of owning and reading.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Biography
Review: After reading this book, it leaves no doubt that Churchill is one of the towering figures in 20th Century history, if not world history. Gilbert gives a clear, concise account of Churchill's amazing life. Although Churchill was born into a privlieged family, his early life was not without adversity. One common thing in Churchill's life was they he always fought for what he believed in.
While Gilbert clearly admires Curchill, he stays objective and writes of him as a human being, not a legend. Many of the book's passages are from Churchill's speeches and letters. In these passages Churchill's clear mastery of the English language comes out. In the book, Gilert writes about many of Churchill's other pursuits in painting, writing, and flying. I would agree with Mr. Gilbert that Churchill's greatest triumph was leading the world against Hitler. He fought the good fight and gave hope to the future of the world.
In his long lifespan he saw the British Empire go from a vast colonial power, to a declining one after WWII. Gilbert gives a good account of Winston's second stint as PM, when he fought for peace in the Cold War. Although Churchill was warrior at heart, no one fought harder to keep the peace in a nuclear world. After reading this book, one will feel like they lost a personal friend.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Man, A Wonderful Book
Review: Gilbert's one volume biography 'Churhcill: A Life' is a remarkable study of the man who contributed so much to the cause of liberty and to the world of literature. Churchill's life is traced with all the power, wit, and determination that marked Britain's famed war and peacetime Prime Minister. Gilbert's account succeeds on many levels, but perhaps the most illuminating are the portraits he gives us of Churchill during the First World War and in his second Priemership. Churchill's frustration with the government over their unwillingness to clear his name after the Dardenelles fiasco makes for riviting reading and the old man's stubborn refusal to resign from the Prime Ministership in the early fifies gives a unique glimpse into the heart of this great man. Gilbert also gives us a wonderful look at Chruchill the writer as his process of creating his wonderful histories and biographies is examined. Throughtout this work, Gilbert presents Churchill objectivly, but still with a real, personal warmness. Reading the accounts of Chruchill's death at the end of the book make one feel as though they have lost a friend. Winston Churchill was undoubtedly one of the century's most critical figures- he was the man who beat Hitler- but for a personal, deeply moving account Gilbert's work is one that is not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: A Splendid Work
Review: Here is a biography worthy of its subject. Gilbert receives the highest possible marks for scholarship and organization of an overwhelming mass of detailed information. This is not casual history. Gilbert sticks to the facts and avoids the biographical temptation to conduct posthumous psychoanalysis. Gilbert stays out of the way and allows Churchill and his contemporaries to tell the story. Yet, one wishes that Gilbert had shared more of his own views of Churchill especially on the areas of greatest controversy.
Rating:
Summary: Probably the Best Biography of Him...At Least Thus Far
Review: I agree with Francis McInerney on two counts: This is the best single-volume biography of Churchill, and, no single biography of Churchill can possibly accommodate his scope and depth. I also think highly of the Manchester and Jenkins biographies. Perhaps (just perhaps) those who wish to understand the life, career, and impact of Churchill should read several different books about the man and his times. Gilbert combines the narrative skills of a Dickens with the precision of a neurosurgeon. He has probably come as close as anyone can (or at least has thus far) to explaining, especially to those under 50 years of age, why Churchill was and remains among history's greatest leaders, orators, and writers of non-fiction. (I defer to others better qualified to evaluate his talent as a painter.) He comes to life in this book, to the extent a book can bring anyone to life. If you are interested in Churchill and wish to read only one book about him, this is it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent... just excellent
Review: I could not put this book down. I am not old enough to remember Winstin Churchill in office. I knew little of his life. While it seems that he would have had it all, being born to a title and wealth, he had much to overcome. His parents treated him badly, his teachers thought him less than brillant. Being born to wealth could have turned him to mush, as it does to so many affluent children. I believe this book should be required reading in prep schools, as well as low income, inner city schools. It would help our children to understand that hardships can be overcome, and that a life of wealth should not mean a life of sloth. I read this book with ever increasing desire to do better, to work harder, to accomplish more. I have sent this book through the family circle, and recommend it to any who will listen. It has earned a place on my Favorite Books shelve. If you have already read this book, try The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt... It is VERY good as well.
Rating: 
Summary: save your money
Review: I guess the price Gilbert paid for 'total' access was 'total' Churchillian myth building. Glosses over ANYTHING negative--refusing to even acknowledge the subject's alcoholism. A giant of a man, no doubt, but all men have faults and it is not a good biography that glosses over them.
Rating:
Summary: Great Work
Review: I have not read any other works on Churchill before this but I think Gilbert has done an excellent job. I learned a great deal from this work. I had no idea of how well connected young Churchill was nor how well he had used those connections. Also I have long been an admirer of WSC because of his strong stance in WWII and his anti communism. I did not have any idea as to how liberal (in the modern sense) he was in other ways. I knew that he had served in combat but knew no details. I also learned a great deal about the up and downs and ins and outs of his political career. Churchill was an extraordinary man and Gilbert does a good job of cataloging the triumphs, defeats and the setbacks. What I would have liked to see more of was the witticisms and "great moments". WSC is attributed with many interesting quips and stories. I would have enjoyed a biography that dealt with more of these. I found the chapters on the interwar years of particular interest in light of current events. I would recommend the book to anyone considering a biography of Churchill.
Rating:
Summary: Compared to William Manchester's...
Review: I liked much better this book than those of William Manchester. The story is linear and one feels the author's absolute knowledge of the life of Churchill. Gilbert's admiration of Churchill is apparent. I heard he has written an eight volume (official) biography of which this book is a very comprehensive and very-very well written abridgement, in other words the eight volumes are „distilled" into one. I also think the quotations are much better selected, Churchill's often very long speeches are very well compressed (my favourite is the speech after Munich). This gives the impression - at least to me - of having read a whole speech, whereas in Manchester's book it never really happens and the speeches are usually followed or preceded by the author's comments. I felt Gilbert keeps a greater distance from his subject, the book is more like a frame and lets the reader build up Churchill's personality with his imagination. Also this might be important to some (like myself) that Gilbert's language is easier to understand.
The Manchester books are of a very different character, not linear, much more personal, the author presents a lot of insight, and tells his opinion or judgement on a variety of subjects and choses the right quotations to underline these. These two volumes of Manchester contain a lot more information and interesting details. I usually agreed with his judgements but i sometimes felt he was forcing and repeating them too strong and too often. A great advantage though is that we learn a lot more about the outside world. Churchill's book on WWII has a part which is called the „Gathering storm" meaning the approaching Nazi danger for the democracies. For Hitler Churchill was the „gathering storm", a phenomenon which is impossible to ignore and whose „thunderous" speeches and articles were so „loud" and powerful. It was nothing else but the power and truth in his speeches that made him so menacing to the Nazis as he was distrusted by all parties of parliament and indeed by the whole population.This was the reason why he was attacked publicly as a simple MP by Hitler in the late thirties when Hitler was the all powerful leader of Germany and Churchill only a political outcast. I heard people describing Churchill as a born leader. I disagree. I don't think he was a born leader. He was a genius, the „largest human being of our time" but I think these were not the traditonal leadership qualities that made him emerge to become a strong man and a very powerful leader but his courage and his very deep comprehension of history and the power of justice on his side. Without the truth being on his side i think he would never have been a great leader (unlike Stalin or Chamberlain or Hitler). After reading it one gives credit to the British people and also to their parlamentary system for being so rubust and being able to defend itself in times of great danger. After this book it seems that no attempt were made to bypass it even when it seemed that the present rulers (Baldwin and Chamberlain) were leading it to certain destruction. Very good idea and makes it much easier to find something in the book afterwards is that on the top of each page the year of the actual story is shown. Although the author avoids making many personal comments, the book is so well built up and the story itself is so full of drama that it is hard to put down. I am looking forward to reading other works of Gilbert, who really became my favourite historian (I hope they'll be translated into Hungarian soon).
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent although Somewhat Unbalanced
Review: I rate this book alongside such outstanding biographical works as PATTON by Carlo D'Este, EISENHOWER by Stephen Ambrose, and TITAN (John D. Rockefeller) by Ron Chernow. It is very long, befitting its subject, but immensely readable. Like all great biographies, I was somewhat disappointed when I finished! My only reason for assigning 4 stars rather than the maximum 5 is that Gilbert is somewhat unbalanced. For instance, if you weren't well informed about WWII strategy, and took Gilbert's account at face value, you would come away thinking that Churchill's strategic genius was frequently offset by stubborn US leaders like Marshall and Ike. Yet in other biographies, like Ed Cray's masterpiece on Marshall, you get a good understanding of how Churchill's ideas for the Aegean and Balkans, while certainly having potential, could have been costly sideshows that distracted the Allies from the main effort in France and Germany. So in this respect, I give Gilbert low marks since he never credits the possible reasons for American strategic reasoning. All things considered, a superb book about a remarkable man. For all his much-deserved WWII glory, Churchill's career before 1940 was truly extraordinary.
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