There are biographies and then there are biographies! This is one of those that belong on that lofty summit above those that try to ascend to such heights but fail miserably because they are either rather dull bios about rather dull people or the biographer is simply not up to the task. Martin Gilbert is most definitely up to the task and more.

This is an abridgment of the eight-volume edition written by Winston Churchill's official biographer Sir Martin Gilbert. I was rather reluctant to buy it because it looked rather daunting being 959 pages long but wanting to know more about Sir Winston Churchill my curiosity finally got the better of me. Not only did this book reveal things about Sir Winston that I did and did not know but also the author's prose and vocabulary made this an absolute pleasure to read. I was very reluctant to finish this book simply because I wanted more to read. If you don't know much about Winston Churchill then this is the book to get. Even if you do know quite a bit about Sir Winston Churchill I'm sure you'll find a few things in here that you may not have known. If you are looking for bios that are well written, or any book that is, then this is one for you. Buy it and enjoy!

Even the most historically illiterate students are familiar with the role Winston Churchill played in the victory over Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, many students of history remain uninformed of the true breadth and scope of his life. This work, a condensation of Martin Gilbert's earlier two volume history, is an excellent antidote for such ignorance.

It is no exaggeration to credit Winston Churchill for the survival of England in the years between the fall of France and the U.S. entry in the conflict with Germany and Japan. Such was the lingering horror of the events of World War I, that Churchill was virtually alone in fighting the appeasement policies of his own government which contributed to the early success of Nazi Germany.

But, it should be noted that Winston Churchill was in his mid-60s when he became Prime Minister of a coalition government formed to prosecute the war with the Axis powers. He already had 40 years of parliamentary service under his belt, stints as First Lord of the Admiralty during World War I (where he presided over the disastrous Gallipoli campaign) and Chancellor of the Exchequer, service in the trenches of World War I as well as the Boer War and the Sudan campaign, time as both a war correspondent and published author.

Despite this nearly unprecedented scope of accomplishments, were it not for the rise of Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler, he would be virtually unknown outside the realm of British historians. For, as great protagonists and great events are required to bring out the greatness of our heroes (Grant needed Lee, Caesar, Pompeii), none is a better example of this than Winston Churchill.

Were it not for Adolph Hitler, Churchill would have likely served out his later parliamentary years as little more than a back bench Conservative crank, labeled as a warmonger and kept on the fringes of party politics. Even in the months preceding the invasion of Poland, Churchill was kept outside of the Cabinet of his own party's government. He was never neatly pigeonholed in the existing English party system. It was only the formation of a coalition government that allowed his ascension to the Prime Ministership. As it was, the perfect combination of personalities and events allowed Churchill to achieve greatness on a historical scale. It is no accident that almost immediately following successful conclusion of the war, Churchill and the Conservative party were bounced from power by the Labour Party, only to be returned to face the Soviet Union in the early stages of the Cold War. Churchill was a "crisis" manager and ill suited for periods of peace and tranquility.

As a man in his late 60s and early 70s, Churchill displayed an endurance and a level of accomplishments nearly unprecedented in human history. Consider that he likely logged more miles of travel (both in the air and on sea, during a time of great danger for each) and wrote and published more works of literature than nearly anyone else alive during a period when he was quite literally standing alone in what was almost a personal fight for the continued existence of the British Empire. The catalog of heart attacks and strokes suffered and recovered from are a source of absolute amazement

Now, it is a common failing of many biographers to enhance the accomplishments and gloss over he failings of their subjects, and I doubt not that Gilbert has done so here. However, the historical record is quite clear and Churchill's life and accomplishments are well documented. His love of the grog is rarely mentioned, though it was obviously a personal vice which he passed on to his children. His relationship with his wife seems quite unusual, though perhaps not so in the context of Victorian and early 20th century upper class English society.

Gilbert's writing style consists almost entirely of reference to and quotation from letters, diary entries and other correspondence to, from and about Churchill. While this would seem to create a work both choppy and halting, it is quite the opposite. Gilbert does a masterful job splicing these observations into historical events and produces a smoothly flowing and captivating narrative which should be required reading for any serious student of modern history.

If you are new to Churchill - this is the book to buy - its in paperback which is a drawback, however the skill Sir Martin has put into this compliation and chronology of his works on Churchill make this one to read, have and use for study.

It has many quotes and not all from Churchill along with some amazing photos.

If you like Churchill and would like to know a on of info about him, more then just clever and witty quotes, then this is the book for you! Great book!!

An excellent biography of a most fantastic life. The book gives a very good outline of all major events in Churchill's life as an officer, a journalist, an author and above all: maybe the most important politician in Western Europe ever.

Churchill's early years, at school and in wars in India, Cuba, Sudan and South Africa are well covered. His career as a Member of Parliament, as well as Cabinet positions up to WWI are also very interesting. Churchill had very modern reflections on the principles of welfare states in 1905, which caused him to leave the Conservatives for the Liberals.

Churchill's finest hour is of course his early (from 1932) and consistent warning about German rearmament before WWII, and his leadership as British Prime Minister from 1940. The book's finest hour, in my opinion, is the last chapters. After the war, Churchill is 70 years old. His health is quite bad. He refuses to give in, and clings to power. From time to time, he decides to quit, but every time changes his mind. Just like the rest of us.

The book has some serious flaws. Churchill made many mistakes during the interwar years, but Gilbert runs to his defence at every one. One example: Churchill took a major stance against Indian independence. According to Gilbert, this was because Churchill was concerned about the minorities of the sub-continent.

Read and enjoy the book, as long as you are aware that Gilbert has done what many other biographers have done before him: fallen in love with his object.

If you are only going to read one book on Sir Winston Churchill this is the one to read. Sir Martin Gilbert is Sir Winston's official biographer and that project took roughly 30 years to complete and produced an eight volume account. Gilbert even wrote a memoir of his experiences writing the biography _In Search of Churchill_, and received a knighthood of his own for his work on this project.

This book is the condensed version of the eight volumes that Gilbert took so long to write. Gilbert's account is authoritative, but the majority of it focuses, understandably, on the 1939-1945 period. Gilbert prefers to write with unrelenting chronological narrative, an approach that works perfectly in biography. Sir Martin is a talented writer and even through this book is over 950 pages long it reads quite well. Gilbert has also quoted a lot from Churchill's own writings and speeches and it is clear the man had mastered the English language.

Many Americans are not that familiar with geography of Churchill's life and Gilbert has included 28 maps that allow the reader to track the great man's life graphically. These maps are particularly interesting because they range from the obvious like political maps of Europe in both World Wars, but also places where Churchill lived in England and a very detailed rendering of Whitehall--the region of London where all the government offices are located.

No book is perfect. In condensing eight volumes into one, Gilbert has skipped a little on developing a full human portrait of his subject. One also gets the impression at times that it was possible to just show up at 10 Downing Street and have a meeting with whoever happened to be the Prime Minister at the time. Gilbert also clearly likes his subject and takes his side in the many disputes he faced. This focus is understandable, but the author never really examines the legitimate points that Churchill critics had to make. As far as the public was concerned, Churchill had been wrong on the abdication crisis, wrong on India, and, yes, wrong on the Nazis. It was only after the Britain came to blows with Germany that people came to reassess his position on Germany. Even during the war his formulation of strategy was suspect on more than one occasion. Gilbert does not avoid these issues, but his coverage of the other point could be better.

All in all, though, these complaints should not blind readers to the fact that this is an exceptionally good book by the foremost authority in the field. Buy it, you will like it.

Overall I really enjoyed Martin Gilbert's Churchill biography, and would recommend it to others. I found it an enjoyable read, and overall I thought it did a good job covering a remarkable man.

I did think there was some room for improvement though:

- The book didn't spend as much time on the WW2 years as I would have liked. I felt Gilbert's chapters here were a little rushed and sparse, and that they mostly recited the basic facts without a lot of new insight. I would have preferred more coverage of the weeks immediately after Churchill took office (when some in the cabinet debated whether to open negotations with the Germans, and which might have come to pass had it been someone other than Churchill in office). I would have also liked to have seen more coverage of Churchill's (at times very complex) relationship with Roosevelt, as well as more about his relationship with Alan Brooke and the rest of his cabinet.

- Churchill's relationship with his family was also not covered in much depth. Clementine seemed to be continually away in Gilbert's text, and her relationship with Winston felt strained. I would have liked to have understood Gilbert's take on this more - since it is a little different from what I have read in other books.

I think I still prefer the William Manchester volumes on Churchill over this book when covering Churchill's early years - they felt a little more textured and deeper. Unfortunately Manchester was unable to complete his third volume before he died, so the WW2 years are not covered there at all.

I would still also recommend this book as well.

The first third of this book is dry as can be and I'm beginning to think, "From this a portrait of the man will never emerge." But those who persevere eventually collect their reward. The dryness begins to evaporate with the advent of the First World War. Churchill was tested to the breaking point with the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. He lost his job with the admiralty. At age 40 Churchill thought we was washed up. By happy accident he discovers painting, a pastime that will see him through even darker days to come (see also "Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Paintings" by David Coombs).

The edge-of-your-seat chapters begin with the emergence of Hitler. Churchill issues Casandra-like warnings, spelling out with remarkable clairvoyance what will happen if the growing menace goes unchallenged. The world reacts with a yawn. And Hitler catches an unprepared world by surprise. Suddenly Churchill is the man of the hour. The wartime chapters drive home just how scarily-close the Nazis came to victory.

Gilbert's biography becomes anti-climatic as it becomes clear that the Good Guys will prevail. But there's still fire left in the old Prime Minister. Churchill recognizes the Hitlerian threat posed by Stalin in Post-WWII Europe. Churchill's final major life contribution comes with his Fulton, Missouri, "Iron Curtain" speech.

What's the most important aspect of this read? Churchill embodies the power of the spoken word. In 1940 words were about all besieged Brits had cling to. Our world would be a very different place (read "barbaric") had the rallying call been voiced by a lesser man. Well, it's been a long review. It was a long book.

Reviewing this book several weeks after finishing it, there are still a number of vivid images from Churchill's life that have stayed with me. A train wreck in South Africa on the run from the Boers. In the trenches under fire with his regiment on the Western Front. Taking principled stands in Parliament against the popular flow. Shuttling to and from Russia by air to negotiate personally with Stalin. These and numerous other images have stayed with me as a result of the excellence of Gilbert's writing. This is a comprehensive but highly readable panorama of an extraordinary man in his extraordinary times.

A good, solid biography although a little dull in parts, especially during the inter-war years. Something about the writing just feels a little stiff; I can't quite put my finger on it. The style is a bit dated, focusing on Churchill the politician and less on Churchill the person. I have to agree with previous critics who note the lack of objectivity; no mention is made of faults or short-comings. I read biographies, however, as much (or more) for the historical context as to learn about the particular person. Given that, I would still give this four stars despite it's serious shortcomings.

No human being alive today knows Britain's legendary lion of a Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, than Martin Gilbert.

No account of Churchill's life is more audaciously complete than Gilbert's massive project called simply 'A Life'.

And what a life! Churchill famously failed at most things to which he put his hand until he became his besieged country's prime minister, just in time to succeed singularly in clawing a future out of nothing but isolation and darkness.

From childhood, through his adventures in the Boer War and on into a political career that was distinguished only by the alleged spectacular failure of the Dardanelles, Gilbert details a doomed life in astonishing detail. Then, the war, and it seemed that all of Churchill's life had prepared him for this dread moment, which Britain somehow alchemized into an exhausted victory.

Gilbert is an unashamed practioner of 'great men' historiography. It would be hard for a Churchill scholar to be otherwise, given its immense subject. Gilbert is the dean and monarch of Churchill scholarship, a point of reference to whom all others who would write on the topic necessarily allude.

Unless you have a large appetite, it might be wise to begin your reading of Winston Churchill elsewhere and with a somewhat slimmer volume. But by all means end up here.

No human being alive today knows Britain's legendary lion of a Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, than Martin Gilbert.

No account of Churchill's life is more audaciously complete than Gilbert's massive project called simply 'A Life'.

And what a life! Churchill famously failed at most things to which he put his hand until he became his besieged country's prime minister, just in time to succeed singularly in clawing a future out of nothing but isolation and darkness.

From childhood, through his adventures in the Boer War and on into a political career that was distinguished only by the alleged spectacular failure of the Dardanelles, Gilbert details a doomed life in astonishing detail. Then, the war, and it seemed that all of Churchill's life had prepared him for this dread moment, which Britain somehow alchemized into an exhausted victory.

Gilbert is an unashamed practioner of 'great men' historiography. It would be hard for a Churchill scholar to be otherwise, given its immense subject. Gilbert is the dean and monarch of Churchill scholarship, a point of reference to whom all others who would write on the topic necessarily allude.

Unless you have a large appetite, it might be wise to begin your reading of Winston Churchill elsewhere and with a somewhat slimmer volume. But by all means end up here.

How many men and women can say at their last breath that they made a difference in this world . Well Winston Churchill certainly was among those people . What amazing and inspiring speeches , what a contribution to the world and espcielly to the british people . I guess they are really proud of their unique past prime minister . Anyway , being such an intersting figure the biography is really fun and fluent to read . I think you can say there were few moments of dollness in his life and so the book is very intersting ( Through out all the 950 pages ) . What was missing to my opinion ( And thats why i am giving 4 stars and not 5 ) is more personal perspective of the auther - More expresses of feelings of the auther and espcielly of the people at the time .
Other then that , I think its a great book and a must read for all history lovers .

Winston Churchill was born in 1874. He died in 1965. To look at this another way, he began his life at a time when most of the world lived more or less exactly as it had for the last 10,000 years. He died at a time when the internet was being built, satellites were being place in orbit, and nuclear weapons threatened world-wide devastation. This alone would make his biography an interesting read.

Winston Churchill was a man of letters. He wrote newspaper articles, books, letters, and gave speeches around the world based on his writings. This alone would make his biography an interesting read.

Winston Churchill was a man of action. He had served in three wars in three different theaters of action by the time he was thirty. Later, he became a Col in World War I. This alone would make his biography an interesting read.

Winston Churchill was a leader of the United Kingdom during two wars, World War II and the Korean War. He was the visionary who foresaw the weakness of the current United Nations (though he hoped for better), the development of NATO, the Cold War after the end of World War II, and the many of the features of the modern warfare such as airplanes, tanks, and modern amphibious warfare. This alone would make his biography an interesting read.

Together these facts mean that a biography of Winston Churchill is an essential read for anyone who wishes to understand the first half of the 21st century. Martin Gilbert is the official biographer of Winston Churchill and you won't read about sexual scandals, alcoholism, or hidden vices. While at times Martin Gilbert seems to be more like a proud parent or doting uncle then a critical historian, he does capture the significant facts of Churchill's life. Indeed, there are many tidbits of Churchill's life that I was unaware of. While there were times when he was out of the cabinet, he never really was out of power - he continued to serve in Parliament until his health failed. He switched parties not once but twice. He was far more liberal then most of the conservatives (U S conservatives, not U K) who quote him probably imagine. He served only a few months in World War I as an infantryman, I was under the impression that he had served far longer.

There are other reviewers who mention that they were inspired by Churchill's success despite his poor academic performance as a young man. To be completely honest, while his determination and energy meant that he became extremely successful; his lineage got his foot in the door and kept him in the door until he became a great writer.

In short, this book provides excellent insight into some of the most important events of the early 20th Century. It should be required reading for all students of World War II.

This book is a fantastic, concise volume of the complete life of Winston Churchill. It shows all of the struggles that he had to deal with along with the achievements that he embraced during his career and personal life. Gilbert does not leave anything out of this book, whether it be positive or negative. Usually I don't recall hearing bad things about his career, such as the ill fated Dardanelles plan in World War I. But this book holds nothing back, this also helps in highlighting some of the great things that he has done, most obviously leading England through some of the toughest days of the Second World War. Another thing that it shows is how stubborn America was in entering into the war and going along with some of Churchill's plans that might have shortened the war. Gilbert also exposes some not so wonderful things about Roosevelt and Truman. They did some foolish things as well and they did not take some wise pieces of advice that Churchill gave. In the end of this book, it became increasingly somber as I read about the deteriorating health of the great man and ultimately his death. I could not believe how tough memebers of his own government would be sometimes yelling for his retirement during the middle of his speeches. It was very disheartening and annoying at the same time. This is still an excellent book that makes me appreciate Churchill all the more to see what he had to deal with and how he perservered.

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.

This is biogrpahy at its worst. Uncritical, subjective and poorly written, the book has conveniently glossed over Churchill's many blunders in politics, his unstable personality, his sexual perversion and his character faults.

The voters told Chutchill, depsite what his admiring biographers wrote, what they thought of him by giving him the boot.

It is difficult to comprehend the enormous challenges faced by Britain in the late 1930's- essentially alone against the Nazi aggression, save for a weakened and demoralized France, with the United States in an inexplicable isolationist phase, content to let Europe burn. In this context, the rise of Winston Churchill to Prime Minister can be seen as something of a miracle- one of those rare instances where the man fit his times perfectly. To that end, without his influence, it is easy to imagine revisionist history, with Europe divided between right-wing German and leftist Soviet spheres. How can one small island establish its force and might into this cause and thus preserve the ideals of freedom and democracy?
The answer, as given by Mr. Gilbert, is Sir Winston Churchill himself, and there is not much which can be argued on this point. If you only read one biography of a 20th century figure, then you should make it this book. Besides Adolph Hitler (to which I recommend Ian Kershaw's excellent two-volume biography), there can be no more influential figure of the last century.
And, besides, what a life! As Gilbert's biography makes clear, Churchill was never one to shun from action. There are multiple instances of Churchill, both young and old, tempting fate, either in battle or in his passion for flying. With bombs and bullets flying it seems Churchill was at peace, secure in the knowledge that God had a greater fate in store for him.
Gilbert, the official biographer of Churchill, has done a masterful job of condensing his multi-volume work into a readable 1,000 pages- it will go very fast, believe me.
All in all, the best in historical biography. Highly recommended.

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).

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 ýdistilled" 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 ýGathering storm" meaning the approaching Nazi danger for the democracies. For Hitler Churchill was the ýgathering storm", a phenomenon which is impossible to ignore and whose ýthunderous" speeches and articles were so ýloud" 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 ýlargest 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).

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.

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.

This is an absolutely outstanding piece of work by Gilbert. I have never before read a biography that I could not put down. Portrays the Churchill that is more than just a great statesman, but a war hero, sucessful author and a man among men. I highly recommend this book about one of the greatest men of the 19th and 20th centuries.

This book is simply outstanding. Gilbert has provided us with an extremely well-researched account of one of history's great figures (and no wonder, since he has virtually dedicated his life to the study of Churchill). While it is full of detailed information, Gilbert's abilities as a writer make the book very easy reading. Despite its length, I breezed through this book in just a few days.

If you can only have one book on Churchill, this should be it.