THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO AMAZON IS TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT WHEN YOU GET YOUR BULK SHIPMENTS OF DVD'S, THAT THEY ARE NOT DEFECTIVE.
OTHER THAN THAT YOU ARE TERRIFIC.

Just excellent! Paul Johnson does a masterful job of illuminting the man who saved western civilization.

This is one of the very best biographies I have ever read. It's got just the right amount of detail, moves briskly, and is incredibly well written. The author brings his personal knowledge of Churchill in with a light hand, and doesn't shy away from advocating why he believes Churchill saved Europe and possibly the world. I loved the Epilog, with the examination of why and how Churchill was such an effective person. Very uplifting and positive. A fitting tribute to the man.

Johnson gives someone unfamiliar with Churchill a wonderful description of the action packed and extraordinay life of possibly the greatest leader of all time, and certainly of World War 2. Churchill was also a prolific author who wrote perhaps the definitive books on both World Wars. Few know that he had more words published than Charles Dickens, and that his Nobel Prize was for Literature. In addition he was a talented painter and a visit to his beloved home "Chartwell" allows the visitor to view hundreds of his works.

Johnson amazingly gives the reader a good view of Churchill the man, the leader, and the icon, all in only 166 pages. There is enough here to give even the most devoted and well read Churchillian new information. A terrific achievement.

Highly recommended

We're pretty North American-centric here in the U.S. Watching the Winter Olympics reminds us that we Yanks are hardly the center of the universe. Plus, I've always felt a tad guilty that my reading list had never included anything on Winston Churchill. No more guilt.

Paul Johnson's 166-page chronicle of Churchill's amazing life and leadership has received excellent reviews. The page count also works. The author's masterful scan of Churchill's 90 years (1874 to 1965) includes insightful detail, laugh-out-loud sidebars and absolutely relevant commentary on leadership and politics, war, success and failure (lots of failure).

If you're under 40, don't skip this book--thinking it irrelevant to our Twitter times. Churchill was a member of Parliament for 55 years, 31 years as a government minister, and almost nine years as prime minister. He served in the trenches of (and reported from) 15 battles, was awarded 14 campaign medals, "had been a prominent figure in the First World War, and a dominant one in the Second."

And get this: he published nearly 10 million words, including his 880-page book, The World Crisis: 1911-1918. His five-volume War Memoirs book deal in 1947 paid him $2.23 million ($50 million in today's dollars). And in his spare time, Churchill painted over 500 canvases. In 1953, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

He overcame family challenges. His cousin noted, "Few fathers had done less for their sons. Few sons had done more for their fathers." Yet the author writes, "Among all the twentieth-century ruling elites, the Churchills must be judged to have had the most successful marriage."

In the epilogue, the author includes five specific ways that leaders can learn from Churchill. Number 2: "There is no substitute for hard work." Yet, this giant of a world leader "also manifestly enjoyed his leisure activities," including his painting, which created a sanctuary-like retreat for his mind and body. He worked 16-hour days (often with full working mornings in bed--to conserve energy). "The balance he maintained between flat-out work and creative restorative leisure is worth study by anyone holding a top position."

He knew the value of face time. He forced himself "to travel long distances, often in acute discomfort and danger, to meet the top statesmen face-to-face where his persuasive charm could work best."

Speaking of charm, the writing enticed me page after page. Churchill's famed oratory: 111 words per minute, "with Gladstone's 100 as the standard." After touring Africa, he wrote My African Journey (completed on his honeymoon): "...full of schemes for industrializing Africa and harnessing the Nile." His politics: "Churchill was carried forward by intellectual conviction, but his reverence for tradition acted as a brake."

He ribbed others, including the Labour Party leader, Clement Attlee. "Yes, he is a modest man, but then he has so much to be modest about." And this: "An empty taxi drew up outside the House of Commons, and Mr. Attlee got out."

He popularized (if not invented) the terms "cold war" and "iron curtain." Dependent on U.S. help to win World War II, he became a student of FDR and wrote more than 1,000 letters to him. With pen and cigar (up to 12 a day) he was a brute force writing factory. He documented all verbal orders in writing, and his results-driven memos began with the famous headline, "Action This Day."

"So did the endless series of brief, urgent queries: `Pray inform me on one half-sheet of paper, why...' Answers had to be given, fast." (This from Johnson's insightful list of 10 ways that Churchill saved Britain. Number 4: "a personal example of furious and productive activity.")

All of this, and more, in just 166 action-packed pages. This is a fantastic book!

Churchill's life is tough to tackle in a short biography, but Paul Johnson seems to hit all of the highlights without getting caught in any particular episode for long. I think the book is successful on the strength of Johnson's strong opinions that thread a narrative through his whole life.

The first such opinion is that the Churchill family itself was a pretty mediocre lot all the way back to his ancestor, Marlborough. Johnson thinks that Winston's brother embodies that part of the family while Winston takes after his American born mother. I don't remember Gilbert (Churchill: A Life) or Manchester (The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940) making that claim and yet it seems obvious once Johnson does.

And contrary to Manchester, Paul Johnson is a firm believer that Churchill was at his best during the war rather than as a lone voice in the 1930s. I suppose either act alone could have made a man's reputation, but Johnson again seems to have a stronger case. Johnson's writing is sharp and a shorter work like this leaves you wanting more which is better than getting bogged down in minutia.

If you're taking a long flight, this is a welcome break from the usual airport bookstore pulp. Paul Johnson has written not so much a biography as a 192-page love letter. He catches the highlights of the great man's career and renders his own, mostly pro-Churchill, verdicts on the controversies. It's good to read the argument that Churchill got a bum rap over the disastrous Dardanelles campaign in World War I. And Johnson gets close to the truth of why Churchill was sacked by the voters at his moment of triumph in World War II, when he says the vote was "against the upper classes, the officer class who spoke in clipped accents, wore calvary breeches and drank port after dinner." My father was a GI stationed in Liverpool, a major port during the war, where he met returning British soldiers. He told me long ago that Churchill's government was voted out because of the broad resentment of the enlisted men at their treatment by the ruling class -- as disposable. (I'm reminded of how Queen Elizabeth I holed up with her court, reveling over the great victory over the Armada, while the sailors who gave her the victory languished in misery back in Plymouth.) Johnson might also have added that many voters didn't think they were actually voting Churchill himself out.

I do think Johnson is a bit disingenuous about blaming the loss of eastern Europe to the Soviets on Eisenhower's "broad front" strategy, which, according to Johnson, slowed the advance of the Western front, allowing the Soviets to "beat" the Anglo-Americans to Berlin. He says Churchill and Montgomery wanted a "full speed drive" to Berlin. In fact, the British got their chance via Operation Market Garden, Montgomery's pet plan to make a dash for Berlin following the Normandy breakout. Market Garden became one of the most notorious fiascoes of World War II.

Most interesting to me is Johnson's take on Churchill's hand in the creation of the modern Middle East. In a nutshell, in the Middle East vacuum left by the fall of the Turks following World War I, Churchill carved out the Gulf States, Transjordan (Jordon) and Iraq, to be ruled by the moderate Hashimites, in order to "pen in" the fanatical and "ferocious" fundamentalist Muslim Wahhabi Arabs, headed by the Saudis. But Britain was competing with the Americans in the region over oil. While Britain's BP (then called Anglo-Persian) and Shell were developing the Persian and Iraqi oil fields, America's Standard Oil sponsored the Saudis. "Thus the Wahhabi fundamentalists became the great power in the Middle East and immune from attack because of U.S. support and provided colossal sums of oil royalties with which to undermine the moderates everywhere and the Hashimites in particular." Because of Churchill's experience with Muslim fanatics in India and the Sudan, he "was painfully aware of the shadows this cast over the future." Of course, other historians don't see Churchill in the same light vis-à-vis the Middle East, particularly Christopher Catherwood in Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq, but I find Johnson's argument persuasive...and depressing.

I have read some books about Winston Churchill. Paul Johnson`s biography is in its way a masterpiece - short, but still very much to the point! The language is crystal clear.

The book sheds new light on Churchill`s personality, eg the way painting became important to him during times of personal and political crisis. Johnson also has a high opinion of his strategy, even though he mentions his mistakes ( they do not overshadow his merits! ). Of course, there are different opinions about his strategy and decisions, but I do not think any other person could have done a better job as British PM during WW2.

Today we need a leader like Churchill, but alas - most politicians are very mediocre.

Do any of us really need to read another book about Winston Churchill? The man himself was so prolific that it could take months (or years) of steady reading to get through his own works. Even so, I highly recommend Paul Johnson's succinct biography titled, Churchill. Johnson hones in on pivotal episodes of Winston's life, reminding us of the many ups and downs in the great man's life. Johnson attempts to balance Churchill's outstanding achievements with his colossal blunders, but it's obvious that Johnson worships Churchill, and the mistakes are dispatched more swiftly than are the successes applauded. Johnson's writing is sharp, the subject always fascinating, and reading Churchill is worth every brief minute spent enjoying it.

Rating: Four-star (Highly Recommended)

This is a superb short biography of Churchill. It is amazing what Paul Johnson packed into only 166 pages. He gives the proper perspective on some of the moves in WWII that Churchill has been criticized for, and reminds me again that had Churchill had his way at Yalta, the post-war world would have likely had a much smaller Iron Curtain, if one at all, than what happened as a result of FDRs capitulation to Stalin.

Looking for an efficient and well written biography of Sir Winston? This is it.

The author is clearly a fan, but he does not hesitate to point out a number of Churchill's flaws including his early opportunism in getting involved in battles, collecting medals from them and using his experiences and credentials to become a renowned correspondent. He also addesses the criticism that Churchill may have overdone the bombing of German cities....Dresden in particular. Finally, he observes that once out of office, Churchill used his wartime documents to spin the history, make millions on the memoires and then donate the papers in a tax advantaged arrangement to generate still more millions for his estate.

Churchill's life is covered as thoroughly as possible in less than 200 very readable pages. Warts and all, Churchill is portrayed (quite correctly) as one of the greatest leaders of all times.

This excellent biography contains more useful information per page that any I have read. It is a perfect starting point for anyone who wants to know about this great man.

Sir Winston Churchill's has to be one of the most well-documented and written-about lives ever lived -- due in no small measure to his own efforts, of course, but new books about the man seem to come out almost monthly, and have been doing so for decades. If nothing else, the man is the subject of the largest single biography ever written, the Official Biography by Randolph Churchill and Martin Gilbert. How much more can there really be to say?

One area where I am most willing to entertain new entries in the field, though, is among the short, capsule biographies. Either as an introduction to people who may not be familiar with the man's life, or as a brief refresher course for those who know him better, a good, popular, brief bio of The Man of the [Twentieth] Century is always in demand. The early years of this century saw two good contenders, Winston Churchill by John Keegan in the Penguin Lives series, and Churchill: Visionary. Statesman. Historian. by John Lukacs. (I didn't think Gretchen Rubin's Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life was nearly so good a book, though others disagree.) I'm willing to argue now, though, that "Churchill" by Paul Johnson surpasses either of those others as the best *recent* short WSC bio ... and possibly, though I'm less familiar with the older material, the best short WSC bio period.

Paul Johnson, an excellent and experienced historian, is no stranger to the weighty volume. The art of the shorter format is in knowing what to include and what to excise. Most people who know the Churchill story at any level will have their favorite facets of the man's life, and it would be easy to fill reviews with complaints about all the things Johnson "should have" included -- more about battles, more about summit diplomacy, more about "the wilderness years" -- or left out. But I think Johnson has done a fine, even excellent, job balancing politics and personality, early life and later years, and much more. I was very impressed at how well he pulled that off, and readers who know their Churchill will I think be pleased by how few of the old, familiar stories are recycled here. I was a bit surprised that several times the author presented his theses or made his arguments in the form of lists. But that's more of an observation than a complaint.

Comparing Johnson's "Churchill" to other works in the field shows why authors keep returning to the topic. Having just finished Lynne Olson's new Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour, in which she argues (and the argument is far from unique to her) that WSC essentially ignored the issue of postwar Europe in order to focus on winning the war, it was interesting to see Johnson argue that, to the contrary, Churchill was closely focused on precisely that issue, at least from 1942 if not before. There are other subjects like that too.

It should be noted that Johnson is a Churchillian partisan. The first sentence of the book reads "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." Yet "Churchill" is far from hagiography, and Johnson is not unwilling to criticize. While I believe "revisionist" critics like Ralph Raico (a historian I much admire) have valuable things to say, I found Johnson's view balanced and insightful, and his book a worthwhile addition to the ongoing discussion of Churchill's relative greatness. I'll still encourage people to read Roy Jenkins or Manchester for a deeper look, Raico for balance, and any number of specialist works for those interested in more focused topics. But for a quick survey biography, Paul Johnson's "Churchill" is, I'm very willing to say, the new standard.

If you know little or nothing about Churchill, then this is a good little book to introduce you to the man. It provides a readable version of the main biographical details and milestones of Churchill's life along with some standard anecdotes. If, however, you are familiar with Churchill's life and are looking for new material (unlikely considered the amount of Churchill scholarship that exists) or an unusual point of view, then this book is best left off your reading list. In fact, a familiarity with the scholarship on the subject will reveal not only the extent to which the author owes his factual research to previous biographers, but also the alacrity with which he has adopted some of the viewpoints of those biographers on various episodes in Churchill's life.

Well written as it is, the book is a skewed paean, not an impartial account. It seems that in his teens, Paul Johnson once met Churchill. It is a tribute to Churchill's personality that Mr. Johnson, now in his eighties, has remained awestruck ever since. Churchill was a great man who influenced the course of history with single-minded determination and fortitude. He was also a man with many flaws - both private and public. Any book that claims to be a biography of Churchill cannot extol Churchill's golden virtues alone. In any case, most of these are linked to his leadership of Britain in the Second World-War. Very little else that Churchill did was imbued with an unselfish, non-pecuniary or messianic motive. He was constantly in debt and always seeking money. As a public man, he switched party loyalties numerous times to suit his political goals. His strategic failures, most significantly, the Dardanelles, are well known. His importance to the war effort is overrated: his speeches did not win the war - it was US arms and Russian blood. His literary position as historian of the Second World-War has also had its doubters. And those familiar with Churchill's writings cannot have escaped the odour of narrow mindedness, imperialism and racism with which they sometimes reek.

But Mr. Johnson appears infatuated: in any case his bar for greatness is doubtless low given how he cites Churchill's marital fidelity as a remarkable feat. As a general rule, Mr. Johnson places Churchill's most egregious lapses at the feet of others and leaves Churchill himself looking the victim of events beyond his control. The Dardanelles incident is one such, where the debacle is attributed to Asquith's defects as a leader. At the same time Churchill is portrayed as a prophet possessed of incredible prescience who was responsible for foreseeing and achieving British prowess in the Middle-East, for foreseeing the Second World-War and rise of Hitler (this does have some merit), for rendering British achievements in military science and operational strategy and for predicting the rise of communism, to list a few. In this, Mr. Johnson is at least in accord with Churchill's own view of himself as espoused in his six volume post-war chronicle of self-aggrandizement disguised as a historical document.

Whilst defending Churchill in matters where Churchill was most criticised, Mr. Johnson no doubt hopes to strike a balance by criticising Churchill about affairs which matter little in a historical context, for instance Churchill's support for Edward VIII during the abdication crisis. Even then Churchill is censured not for his political stance or principles but rather his inability to grasp the prevalent political pulse correctly.

Mr. Johnson likes Mr. Churchill - nay, he idealises him. Conceivably, Churchill represents a last hurrah for the old Empire that conservatives of Mr. Johnson's ilk reminisce about as Britain continues its slide into the ranks of the world's second-rate powers. This book impresses one as a passion project that a starry-eyed 17 year old Paul Johnson, listening to Churchill on the radio, promised himself to undertake one day. It is not a book about Churchill. It is a book about Churchill's greatness by one of his most ardent fans.

The book attempts to be inspirational, but times have changed so greatly, it is easy to see how things so long ago could have been a bit different. I like the idea that Churchill tried to convince FDR to hurry to Berlin and end the war before the Russian army occupied Eastern Europe, but Ike wanted slow and steady progress to keep everything well organized. Paul Johnson gives Churchill credit for an air war against German cities that kept Hitler from using the German air force in Russia so British and American planes played a large part in destroying the Luftwaffe instead of having Stalin's army destroyed from the air. Radio reports of bombing raids were popular in Britain and after the Battle of Britain established that radar and new airplanes gave England an advantage in the air, it made sense to drop an amazingly large percentage of the munitions produced for World War II from airplanes.

The House of Commons is described as a political arena in which Churchill was laughed at when nobody agreed with him as well as a great audience for getting his most significant laughs. I have learned a lot about politics from jokes, so I sympathize greatly with Churchill. People are wrong so frequently that those who are not afraid to point it out ought to be entitled to have a little fun. Churchill made some money just before the big stock market crash in 1929 on some advice that was not entirely clear about what investing on the margin could mean when losses tried to suck up more than Churchill thought his bet was. The monetary mulch of America is likely to get into a few twist and turns that the roller coaster ride of Churchill's life missed, but millions of words are sure to follow, as the legacy of Churchill is sure to continue until the electricy runs out and the lights go off.

No 20th century statesman did more to conserve freedom and democracy than Winston Churchill. The one exception might be Ronald Reagan. So, it goes without saying, that it's hard to read enough about this true giant.

World War 11 might have been very different had Churchill not been responsible for directing England in the right direction against the Nazi Third Reich. Churchill was a man of deep thought and vision. He came to power at just the right time in history.

Certainly there is much to be said about Churchill. But to the overburdened reader who wants to attempt to understand the man and his place in history, this brief book will do the job. Many Americans don't know what a key role Churchill played in the bloody Battle of England. They don't appreciate how his predecessor was a pansy of a man who held Hitler's hand and did little for his own country but lead help put it in harms way.

For the person wanting a short biography of a large man who played a valuable roll in history, this is certainly the right book.

The author uses a less than conventional approach to writing about this giant of a man. He seems to fully understand the complexity of Churchill's character. He allows us to see his faults, his problems, his good side, his bad side and, above all, he makes us see the real person. We learn about his rise and fall from power and his rise again. We learn of his tremendous wit and his numerous kindnesses. Yet we also see his impatience and anger that he often displayed in his 60 years of public life.

Some of the topics the author so successfully deals with include:

* 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 WW11

* His "exile" after the war

* His urgent campaign to awaken the world to Hitler's threat

* His magnificent and successful leadership as Prime Minister during World War II

* His role as an elder statesman prophesying the advent of the Cold War

This is a biography that I highly recommend. It's inspiring and intriguing and one you don't want to miss. But there was another side to Churchill that most biographers either miss or decide to leave out --- the self-serving Churchill. The man who planned events and publicized his part in them with a deliberate PR campaign, carefully crafting his image.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson

No 20th century statesman did more to conserve freedom and democracy than Winston Churchill. The one exception might be Ronald Reagan. So, it goes without saying, that it's hard to read enough about this true giant.

World War 11 might have been very different had Churchill not been responsible for directing England in the right direction against the Nazi Third Reich. Churchill was a man of deep thought and vision. He came to power at just the right time in history.

Certainly there is much to be said about Churchill. But to the overburdened reader who wants to attempt to understand the man and his place in history, this brief book will do the job. Many Americans don't know what a key role Churchill played in the bloody Battle of England. They don't appreciate how his predecessor was a pansy of a man who held Hitler's hand and did little for his own country but lead help put it in harms way.

For the person wanting a short biography of a large man who played a valuable roll in history, this is certainly the right book.

The author uses a less than conventional approach to writing about this giant of a man. He seems to fully understand the complexity of Churchill's character. He allows us to see his faults, his problems, his good side, his bad side and, above all, he makes us see the real person. We learn about his rise and fall from power and his rise again. We learn of his tremendous wit and his numerous kindnesses. Yet we also see his impatience and anger that he often displayed in his 60 years of public life.

Some of the topics the author so successfully deals with include:

* 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 WW11

* His "exile" after the war

* His urgent campaign to awaken the world to Hitler's threat

* His magnificent and successful leadership as Prime Minister during World War II

* His role as an elder statesman prophesying the advent of the Cold War

This is a biography that I highly recommend. It's inspiring and intriguing and one you don't want to miss.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson

This was a great overview of a great leader of the 20th century and it makes you want to read more about/by him !

Excellent overview of Churchill's life. Refereced many contemopary political figures without explaination as to who they were. This made it a little difficult to follow for a thirty something American.

Winston Churchill used his difficult childhood to learn coping skills to surmount difficulties encountered in his political career. He had health, energy, but periods of depression. The principal figure of his childhood was his nurse, Mrs. Everest. Churchill had an historian's mind. He supported the Beveridge Report and the introduction of old-age pensions, thinking of the poverty of his nurse after her discharge from service. Only Churchill and H.G. Wells predicted accurately the horror of World War I. Asquith did not know how to run a war on the scale of World War I. (He had been a good leader in peacetime.) Asquith removed Churchill from the cabinet, the Admiralty, fighting for his own political survival. Afterwards Winston Churchill took up oil painting. In December 1916 Asquith was ousted and replaced by Lloyd George. Churchill became an unofficial advisor. He made an alliance with Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook.

In July 1917 Churchill was made minister of munitions. He made himself an efficient administrator. His ministry was simple and logical. He improved the supply of weapons and munitions, gaining for England a superior position to the Germans, causing them to sue for peace. After the war Lloyd George brought Churchill into the cabinet. He was put in charge of both the army and the air force. Next he moved to the colonial office. Churchill helped negotioate a treaty in Ireland. He left office in 1922. Politics never occupied him completely. He bought Chartwell, (Elizabethan), in Kent. It was distinctive, fasinating. The little estate was a wonderland of creatures. Churchill went back into Parliament and was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1924-1929, by Stanley Baldwin. Baldwin lost the general election held in 1929.

During the 1930's Churchill could not rouse public opinion to consider the dangers posed by Germany. In the abdication crisis Churchill supported Edward VIII's desire to marry Wallis Simpson and retain the throne. At the time of Munich, 1938, only thirteen others were prepared to vote with Churchill against Chamberlain. When war was declared in 1939 Churchill was invited to take up his old post as first lord of the Admiralty. He was given a seat in the war cabinet. In a debate about conditions in Norway, Chamberlain was attacked by all sides. He decided to resign. On May 10, 1940, Churchill got the job as Prime Minister. He held power until July 1945. His orders were in writing and were absolutely clear.

Within a month of taking office, France fell. Churchill got the British forces back, Dunkirk. Morale rose. Churchill used oratory and personal example to pursue victory. He also understood air power. He used German words for his own purposes-- blitz, for example. The German codes were broken. By 1943 Germany had lost the air war. In the elections of 1945 Labour won nearly four hundred seats and Churchill was out of office. He was spared the duty of setting India free. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1953. Churchill remained in the House of Commons for tens years after the end of the war. In 1953 he was made Knight of the Garter. During his final ten years of life, Chruchill became particularly found of Onassis's yacht.

Churchill was buried in the churchyard at Blenheim Palace. His success may be attributed to hard work, courage, and aiming high. Paul Johnson notes several excellent books about Churchill including ones by Roy Jenkins, Lord Moran, and Lady Violet Bonham Carter. This treatment, short, skeletal, is of great interest. It presents, among other things, a decidedly British point of view.

After all these years, the impact of Churchill's many political decisions continues to be felt. Whether you love him or hate him, Churchill was without a doubt the "Man of the 20th Century" and Paul Johnson does a great job of succinctly presenting a life that spanned all the great political events of the 20th Century except for the fall of the Soviet Union. A gifted writer, painter, and politician, the world we live in today would be radically different if not for his brave stand during the lonely desperate days of 1939 and 1940. This is an essential read for young people interested in the lives of the men and women who shaped the modern world in which we strive and struggle daily.

The era of the great man seems to have passed us by. Today's leaders range from venal, grasping politicians to non-entities who seized power through coups to satisfy their own greed and lust. The 20th Century was unique in the number of great men who came to the fore, mostly from ordinary circumstances, to shape and reshape history. Mao murdered 70 million or more Chinese, but brought tough order to a nation that had been in decline for centuries. His successors needed only 50 or so years to blend capitalism with tyranny and bring prosperity to a growing number of its rightless citizens. Stalin killed perhaps 30 million and suffered a war that saw another 30 million dead, created an industrial power that turned out tanks and Kalashnikov by the thousands and never allowed a single citizen to cast a free vote.

The Western democracies turned to politicians like the leaders of France in the 1930s who permitted the rise of Hitler. Likewise, so did many other European nations, including Britain. Once war came, the British turned to Winston S. Churchill as their leader.

Churchill was nearing the age of 65 when his nation called him to power, but he had been in politics and the headlines for decades, for Churchill had already proven that he was far out of the ordinary.

In less than 200 pages, noted historian Paul Johnson summarizes Churchill's life. It is an extraordinary volume befitting an extraordinary man.

Few men can be compared to Churchill. He worshipped democracy while attempting to prolong Britain's imperial rule over India and much the rest of the planet. A survivor of several war battles, Churchill was an incredibly effective war leader. He encouraged scientists to develop new weapons, provided an environment that encouraged audacious initiative on the part of his generals (which was most often not responded to), fully supported a terror bombing campaign that killed about 600,000 Germans and sustained through his oratory alone the nerve of an entire nation through the darkest days of early World War II.

And these were just a few of his achievements between 1940 - 1945.

Prior to that, he was a Parliamentarian of the first rank from early in the 20th Century, a warrior, a war correspondent, a socialite, a governmental minister, the architect of the Middle East (a legacy not without problems), a battler for the working man, a published historian and much more.

The amazing thing is that Johnson is able to cover the major points of Churchill's life, high and low, in a mere 166 pages. Johnson not only describes events, but their import as well. He sets forth ten reasons to support claims of Churchill's singular greatness and why he deserves honor as Britain's indispensable war leader. Of still more interest, especially to younger people, seeking someone to emulate, Johnson provides five theories underlying Churchill's success which could serve as a blueprint for living.

I am doubly biased in my viewpoint. I revere Churchill - and I think Paul Johnson is one of the ablest historians of our era.

Johnson's "Churchill" is recommended to several different audiences. Young people, especially those in the history deprived American public schools. Others to whom World War II is a bunch of vapid slogans like "the greatest generation" and who lack an understanding of what the world was like from 1900 - 1945 and how our modern world came to be. And, of course, history buffs. There are many Churchill biographies out there, including the multi-volume work completed by Martin Gilbert and the thousand plus page short bigography by Roy Jenkins. Those and others require some dedication to get through (which is richly repaid), but the Johnson biography requires only a day or two with the reward being an understanding of someone who can be fairly called the greatest man of the 20th Century.

Jerry

Mr. Johnson's short biography of Churchill is one of my best reads of the year. Clocking in at about 180 pages, Johnson provides a thematic overview of Churchill's life and contributions. (The style reminded me of Joseph Ellis' excellent bio of John Adams.) This slim volume would be a great introduction for people unfamiliar with Churchill, or a nice refresher. Johnson's treatment of the great man is respectful and very personal (Johnson met Churchill, and the meeting made a great impression, as one would expect.). Churchill is a splendid addition to the history of one of the 20th Century's greatest. Highly recommended.

this author actually met Churchill and slept in the same bed...well, not at the same time, silly, later...much later, I believe. And he lived in England during some of Churchill's reign. I actually don't care much for bios or history - boring. And I purchased this one by accident on my kindle. But rather than admit I'd made the mistake and send it back I decided to give it a chance. I'm very glad I did. It's a good read. This guy has a nice flare for words. And kept my interest thoughout. I think I might have to give some of his other works a read. Anyway, if you're thinking about it, I say go ahead. enjoy.

This is, without a doubt, one of the best Churchill bios ever written! And at only 166 pages long! And by Paul Johnson -- Himself! Not exactly known for writing the shortest of tomes.

I had just finished TRYING to read a fictional work by Churchill, something about America, written at the beginning of the last century. Ghastly! The worst of writing. No wonder his mother had to pull strings to get him published. I can't give the title of this volume because I promptly pitched it into my public library donation box, such an impression it made on me!

Then I actually did plow through Churchull's "Gathering Storm", I believe this one was called. It was supposed to have been a biographical account of the events leading up to WW II. I found it to be a dull, dreary litany of Churchill's speeches -- from one speech to the next with just the sketchiest accounts of historical events in between. From this book I got the very strong sense, through Churchill's own words, of what a dull, pompous individual he must have been, full of himself to overflowing. Also, a bigoted snob to the extreme. Of course, this book, too, went into the Library Book Sale pile.

But Paul Johnson's "Churchill" went on my bookshelf, despite the fact that I almost totally disagree with his asessment of the Great Man. At least the physical facts were there and I could learn more about Churchill from this little volume than most of my other reading on Churchill combined. I do wish Johnson had mentioned how and when Churchill's wife, Clementine, died. She just suddenly vanished from the account and an ageing Churchill is portrayed at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo with his "moll" at his side.

Paul Johnson is a wonderful historian and writer, and in this book he has stayed true to that form. I have most of his works, read and kept, on my bookshelf. The fact that he appears to be a bit biased in favor of Winston Churchill is a forgivable weakness, this time, and will not deter me from looking forward to his next literary offering.

This book is a brief biography of Winston Churchill during his political career, with very little focus on his life outside of politics. Churchill's contributions to society--as well as his failures-- are nicely told in broad strokes. There is no great detail with regard to any of the events in Churchill's life; the book is more of a superficial treatment.

The author clearly has 'insider knowledge' of many of the events discussed in the book, and by providing a glimpse of this knowledge, Johnson avoids the dryness that is often inherent in biographies. Clearly the author is a great admirer of Churchill. At times the writing was quite sloppy, but not enough to put the reader off.

I wouldn't recommend the book for those searching for a comprehensive, objective biography. However, if you'd like a brief overview of Churchill and his political contributions, this interesting little book would be perfect.

The vast mountain range of literature about Winston Churchill has sprouted another foothill. Paul Johnson's biography, as you might expect from a Briton, is full of unstinting admiration for Churchill the person as well as the political figure. His faults and failures are duly noted but almost always excused, and there are spots where the amount of credit piled upon him strains credulity a bit. But all in all, the story of his adventurous life is told succinctly and colorfully. We get to know Churchill as a human being, not just as a face on the front page of wartime newspapers. For those unwilling to burrow through the huge Churchill literature, this slim volume will provide a good basic account, albeit from the pen of a fervent admirer and fellow countryman.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965), born to wealth and privilege, was an indifferent student at Harrow, but his energy and boundless ambition carried him easily into Parliament at the age of 26 and kept him there through two world wars, the first of which dealt him a humiliating setback, but the second of which he was a major factor in winning.

Churchill's dogged advocacy of the disastrous Dardanelles campaign in World War I very nearly ended his political career. In typical Churchillian fashion, he first accepted the blame and then got up from the floor, dusted himself off, and went back to the job of keeping British world power in tiptop shape. Johnson gives a workmanlike summary of Churchill's lonely interwar campaign to wake his country up to the menace of Nazism, his assumption of power in the war's darkest hour, and his five brilliant years of leadership. All the famous Churchillian quotes are recycled: "Blood, toil, tears and sweat," "This was their finest hour," "Never before have so many owed so much to so few," "Give us the tools and we will finish the job," and a number of others less celebrated but just as effective. When someone remarked that his defeat in the British election of 1945 might actually be a blessing in disguise, Churchill remarked laconically, "It appears to be very effectively disguised."

Johnson correctly singles out Churchill's mastery of words, both written and spoken, as a major love of his life and a crucial factor in making him famous. He also lets us in on his own personal encounters with Churchill. As a boy of 17, he asked the great man for the secret of his success in life. Churchill responded: "Conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down." Johnson cannot resist adding, "He then got into his limo."

In Johnson's prose, Churchill's political colleague, David Lloyd George, becomes "LG," and Churchill's wife Clementine is "Clemmie." These touches sometimes give his book the air of a series of close-up snapshots taken by a good friend. Churchill is described as a man who never held grudges, had a ready wit, and found peace of mind in his late-in-life hobby of painting, all of which are certainly true. Although mentioned, his drinking habits, long the subject of worldwide gossip, are never emphasized.

Johnson goes so far in his admiration as to give Churchill some of the credit for the success of the Normandy landing in June 1944 and speculates that Churchill "scented victory" in the war as early as the following August. His long and close relationship with Franklin D. Roosevelt is given very short shrift. He faults Roosevelt for his failure to realize the looming danger from postwar Stalinist Russia, adding that Churchill was actually relieved when Harry Truman succeeded to the Presidency upon Roosevelt's death. He feels that Churchill would not have hesitated a moment to use the atomic bomb against Germany had that been necessary. Johnson's only serious charge against Churchill's World War II leadership is his blindness toward the importance of moving strongly against Japan.

Johnson's answer to the basic question, "Did Churchill save Britain in World War II?" is an unequivocal "Yes." No one can quarrel with that. His book is a concise and closely argued brief for the defense of a great man who surely needs no defense even at a historical distance of 44 years. His five years of wartime leadership were most certainly, in his own memorable words, that nation's "finest hour."

--- Reviewed by Robert Finn

A hagiography written from the commanding conservative heights: Winston Churchill, a man of action and character, enjoyed a highly interesting and long life, both public and private, with but a few policy missteps along the way. The unlikely saving of Great Britain in World War II was this great leader's capstone achievement. The impacts of Churchill's decisions still reverberate in today's political world.

I found this book to be a lively introductory essay, albeit one from an unrestrained admirer. Readers seeking depth will undoubtedly want to look to the multitude of books on Churchill for more specific and detailed information on important episodes, such as his early military career, the gold standard issue, or policy work related to Ireland, India, and the Middle East. Not to mention interactions with such leaders as FDR and Stalin.

I've become more and more interested in the life of Churchill. Over the last two months, I've read Winston Churchill, CEO: 25 Lessons for Bold Business Leaders by Axelrod, and started Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945. Johnson's brief tome was a welcome respite from Warlord.

What immediately struck me was the fact that Johnson met and knew Churchill. There aren't many living authors left who can claim that and lucidly share their personal perceptions of the man.

The book s not bogged down in "scholarship". This is not criticism, but rather a compliment for the way Johnson uses fact and analysis to present a detailed "sketch" of Churchill.

Will the reader learn everything he or she can about Churchill in this book. Well, no. Will the reader, however, have a new lens to evaluate and judge the man? Absolutely.

The prose is lively and interesting; like the life of Winston Churchill.

Highly recommended.

if you love history, you love paul johnson.mr. johnsons writing is so outstanding for the last 30 years.pick up any book and you will love history...his new book "churchill" is more a complete analysis than a biography because it has only 192 pages.i always marvel at how mr. johnsons comes up up with his facts ans stories, for example:churchills consumption of liquor was legendary but after he died, the doctors find that his liver was like a young childs. read and enjoy history art its best.

a conventional view but a correct view of churchill as a man and war leader.

Paul Johnson's new book on Churchill is a mini-biography that partakes of the 'character' tradition, so important in the seventeenth century. It covers Churchill's entire life, but in a schematic way. With less than 200 pp. of text there is not much room for detail. For a one-volume life Johnson himself recommends Lord Jenkins' 2001, thousand-page account. Still, Johnson's book is rich in anecdotal detail; it is clear that he could have delivered a much larger book, had he desired to do so. The portrait is highly favorable, as one would expect from Johnson's earlier written comments on Churchill, but it includes a significant number of criticisms. It is admiring, but not fawning.

Most of all it is an enjoyable read, a kind of children's book version of history, but written for adults. For those who have little knowledge of Churchill and the great events with which his life intersected it is a good place to start. It is also a nice 'character' of a political leader. Johnson is not shy in recording his views and this is (as I recently wrote about John Lukacs' LAST RITES) a strength, since we know precisely where Johnson stands and we can agree or disagree with his clearly-articulated point of view.

There is a brief but attractive series of photographs accompanying the text. This is a lovely afternoon read (one that should include whiskey or brandy and soda, fine claret, champagne, tea or some similar beverage of which Sir Winston would approve). It is uplifting without being unrealistic and brings both smiles and tears at various points.

Highly recommended.

Conservative historian Paul Johnson wears his ideology proudly on his sleeve in this often obsequious portrait of Winston Churchill as the immaculate saviour of Western Civilization and all that is good.

It's a standard conservative history: Great Men (and women) control events for the masses who are naught but humble lambs being led to the slaughter by leaders good or bad. People matter little except as fodder; a nation's greatness depends upon great leaders. Like all myths, there's an element of truth to this; like all myths, there's an element of myth.

The Germans in World War I succinctly summed up the British as "lions led by donkeys." True enough. The "lion" part explains why the British went to war in September 1939, despite being led by donkeys; in May 1940, the donkeys called Churchill to office to give the lion's roar to Britain, America and the world. As with Franklin Roosevelt and his "we have nothing to fear but feat itself" reassurance, it was the perfect match of man and people.

Based on that premise, Johnson has done a brief but serviceable job in describing the essential quality of Churchill as "a happy warrior" -- much the same term that fits Roosevelt. The greatness of Churchill and Roosevelt was made possible by the spirit of the people they led.

But he was not brilliant. The Dardanelles fiasco sums up Churchill's limits. In World War II, the British showed how vulnerable battleships are to air-launched torpedoes at Taranto, the Japanese copied this for their attack on Pearl Harbour. But Churchill allowed HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse to sail without air cover; both were promptly sunk by the Japanese. His fixation on the Mediterranean led to the long and costly Italian campaign.

Without Churchill, World War II would have been a Russian/American alliance with Britain in a role similar to France -- noisy, vain but ineffectual. After the war, Harry Truman was as astute as Churchill in summing up the motives and dangers of communism.

In brief, Churchill was simply the right man in the right place with the right ideas at the right time. Johnson sums up this fortunate happenstance with skill and lucidity. Personally, even if had Churchill been absent, I don't believe Britain and America would have succumbed meekly to Hitler. Perhaps I have more faith in the basic qualities of people.

In summary, Johnson presents the usual portrait of Churchill as great in leadership and personal qualities. For anyone interested in the past century, it is a good place to start. Johnson never fails to delight; his words engage anyone's mind but his ideas are too conventional to offer fresh insight.

"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 likable. 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."

That's the opening paragraph of Paul Johnson's "Churchill", and if you appreciate clarity, authority and verve in historical writing, you will understand why I gulped down the next 190 pages and now declare it the most exciting biography I read in 2009.

I've studied Churchill; we all have. But the breadth of the man gets lost in a handful of anecdotes and film clips. Paul Johnson delivers the big picture and the tiny detail. So masterful is his approach, so sharp is his observation, so exacting his sense of detail that it's not hard to agree with his assessment --- Churchill saved the world as we know it.

And not Churchill the God, but Churchill the extremely interesting man. Johnson piles on the detail. Yes, Churchill drank whiskey or brandy all day --- "heavily diluted with water or soda." Yes, he stayed in bed as much as possible, for as he told Johnson (who interviewed him at the tender age of 17), the secret of life is "conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down."

As a young politician, Churchill was asked what he stood for. "Opportunism, mostly," he quipped. In fact, he was a liberal, and very progressive. Raised by a nanny, he helped her when her services were no longer needed, sat at her deathbed, kept her grave maintained. In 1910, he was a leader in the fight for old-age pensions. He saw the merits in prison reform: "The treatment of crime and criminals is one of the unfailing tests of the civilization of any country." He helped end the incarceration of children. He wrote 8 million words. He was under fire 50 times. He saw the need to overhaul the Royal Navy. His mother had more affairs than she could count; after he married Clementine, "he never looked at another woman." He painted so well that professionals couldn't believe he was an amateur. He championed the creation of Israel. He drank Pol Roger champagne at meals and smoked a dozen cigars a day. He played polo until he was 53. He loved building walls of brick.

It's a dizzying life. Eloquence, energy, ambition --- this Churchill was a force of nature. It is Johnson's great achievement in these pages that he also establishes Churchill as a colossal failure, who made serious mistakes and paid for them with long years in the wilderness. This only makes even more dramatic his ascendancy; at 65, with German bombers overhead, he finally became prime minister. "I was conscious of a profound sense of relief," he wrote later. "At last I had authority to give directions over the whole scene. I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.... I slept soundly and had no need for cheering dreams. Facts are better than dreams."

The key fact: If Britain lost the war, it would lose its civilization. So the nation simply couldn't lose. The war years are thus the most thrilling years of all, and we see how Churchill was everywhere. Giving great speeches that roused a people under siege. Working 16 hours a day and inspiring others to do the same. And strategizing all the time --- manipulating Roosevelt, preparing for the battle of Germany, forcing Hitler to deal with Greece and postpone his invasion of Russia until the winter, with disastrous results for the Nazis.

The lessons to be learned couldn't be clearer. Churchill was armed with facts, not ideology. He had the right priorities, and in the right order. He repeatedly interrupted his schedule for well-publicized acts of kindness. He was ruthless in pursuit of victory. He held no grudges. He was, in short, a leader on a level we can hardly imagine now --- a protean figure who really did save the world.

If you have an evening reserved for thrills, here they are.