His Father's Son: The Life of Randolph Churchill

Rating:
Summary: Carries on the family biographical tradition
Review: This book carries on the family tradition of sons writing about fathers. The author's grandfather, the famous Prime Minister, had much earlier written a biography of his father, also named Randolph, which was generally poorly reviewed at the time and essentially constituted a glorification of the subject. The current work, which purports to be objective, reveals a startingly adventurous life, lived always within the shadow of the famous father. I think that objectivity is achieved (the author's father could be difficult, to way the least but was also generous to a fault and loyal regardless of consequences). The reader will be surprised at the many intellectual and other accomplishments of the subject of this biohgraphy. Toward the end of his life, Randolph was commissioned to write the Great Biography (about his famous father), and the period when he completed the first two volumes of this undertaking (Martin Gilbert finished the task) is particularly interesting.! ! The author's earliest recollections come into play in the second half of the book, which include a large number of historically significant individuals (of course, his famous grandfather, but many other British political luminaries as well). Churchill buffs will very much enjoy this book.