Finest biography on Churchill ever written. A pity Manchester died before completing the third book of the trilogy.

The Last Lion, Alone covers the history of Europe from the time Hitler first came to power in Germany to the time that Hitler invaded the Low Countries and World War II began. During this period Churchill, who continually fought against the appeasement policies of Chamberlain, rose from Back Bench irrelevance to become Brittan's Prime Minister.

The history of this period is a gripping saga of one man's malicious attempt to dominate Europe and another man's noble efforts to stop him - a classical case of good vs evil - told as an almost unbelievable story in the words of a master story teller.

William Manchester informs and entertains in this excellent historical account of the critical years leading up to WWII, juxtaposing the appeasement practices of predecessors Baldwin and Chamberlain with the unwavering belief in the principles of freedom held by Churchill. The book (along with Manchester's first volume) gives terrific insight into the transition from the glory days of the British Empire to the Post WWI apathy that beset the British public. As well, the work provides delightful commentary on the characters surrounding Churhill's life including his colorful mother Jennie, his wife Clementine and his nemesis Adolf Hitler.

After the fall of France in June 1940, Winston Churchill was begging USA President Roosevelt for military aid (in fact, all sorts of support was then needed) as no one knew what would the 'fate' of the French fleet was going to be.
Churchill kept reminding the American president that Britain would not surrender even if left alone.
Churchill was defiant despite the fact that the two 'key' American ambassadors, in France and Great Britain, were pro Hitler (or at least they were not anti-Nazi).
Joseph Kennedy (USA Ambassador to GB) openly cautioned his fellow Americans against entering the war because the 'allies' would soon be beaten.
However, I would have liked to see more comments about the position and reaction of the king - king George VI.
Was he indifferent?
We should remember that Hitler had been addressing the King as the man whom the British Government circles have loathed, and as the only 'hope' for a reconciliation between the Third Reich and GB.
In this context it is true that Churchill was indeed ALONE

After the fall of France in June 1940, Winston Churchill was begging USA President Roosevelt for military aid (in fact, all sorts of support was then needed) as no one knew what would the 'fate' of the French fleet was going to be.
Churchill kept reminding the American president that Britain would not surrender even if left alone.
Churchill was defiant despite the fact that the two 'key' American ambassadors, in France and Great Britain, were pro Hitler (or at least they were not anti-Nazi).
Joseph Kennedy (USA Ambassador to GB) openly cautioned his fellow Americans against entering the war because the 'allies' would soon be beaten.
However, I would have liked to see more comments about the position and reaction of the king - king George VI.
Was he indifferent?
We should remember that Hitler had been addressing the King as the man whom the British Government circles have loathed, and as the only 'hope' for a reconciliation between the Third Reich and GB.
In this context it is true that Churchill was indeed ALONE

I was adrift when I finished this volume.
grasping at pathetic things to read for a while - nothing satisfied - Manchester can set the stage, his historical background is so rich that you'll find yourself spouting about it to your friends.

You'll learn more from this book than a two semester course in 20th century history.

Churchill himself is the lead player in a panapoly of exciting elements. But manchester never lets the reader forget the place in history - the man was a masterful writer.

No better profile of Churchill 1932-40 exists. Whetted with acrimony and disdain, Churchill is ultimately proved right (and his real task commences).

This is a work of the first order. `The Last Lion' (1874-1932) is also worthy.

Gilbert (worth reading) pales in comparison.

One of the best books, I have ever read about Sir Winston & especially about his wilderness years. Manchester has done a hell of good job on I think was THE Man of the 20th Century.
The man was so far ahead of his time its just scary to consider.
He in a way was the Cassandra of the 20th Century.

Winston Churchill, it can be argued, did more than any other single person to save the free world from Hitler. This book does more than any other to demonstrate what set Churchill apart from others in this monumental task.

In covering Churchill's years of political exhile between WWI and WWII, Manchester captures the man who was willing to assess the world order for himself and stand completely alone with every force imaginable opposing him. In the end, he was right and the world was wrong. This book captures that wonderfully.

William Manchester is one of our finest writers, and "Alone" is the best book I have read about Churchill. Manchester's brilliant opening chapter about a Churchillian day at Chartwell, his country home, establishes quickly in the reader's mind the virtues and foibles of a man who described himself as "great" and never suffered from false modesty.

I have a couple of quibbles about the book. First, I thought Manchester's admiration for his subject was occasionally a bit cloying. Secondly, and more seriously, I don't think Manchester did a very good job detailing the ideological currents of the 1930s. Manchester portrays Britain's leaders during that era as clueless, weak, and something close to wicked. I would tend to regard them as people who thought that Communism was a greater threat than Fascism and reacted accordingly in the spirit of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." They were nearly right. But Churchill, unencumbered by an attraction to foreign ideologies, despised both Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, and early on correctly identified the Nazis as the immediate and most serious menace to his beloved Isle.

That Churchill was right and had the courage to stand isolated and steadfast in his convictions is the basis of his greatness. Manchester has written a masterpiece biography about the essential man of the 20th century.

Smallchief

I cannot praise this book in any better fashion than those before me. However, I must plead with Mr. Manchester's heirs to bring together the material gathered for volume three. Following his wife's death in 1998, Manchester had a stroke, and announced he wouldn't be able to finish volume three. On June 1st of this year, he passed away. Just as Martin Gilbert took over Randolph Churchill's task of writing his father's official biography, surely the Manchester heirs could find an author who could do justice to the research this great author had done on the third volume.

As Hitler was gaining power in Germany, Churchill was warning his fellow countrymen of the dangers thatlurked. He did not receive a listening hear. At a speech before a University audience in Oxford when he told the crowd it was "essential for us to be safe in our island home," the audience burst into laughter. The laughter grew so raucous that Churchill could not continue. These are the sort of snapshots that Manchester captures that makes this book such a delightful read.

Churchill was written off more than once. This second snapshot describes what happened:
"Joseph Stalin, receiving a British delegation headed by Nancy and George Bernard Shaw, had bluntly asked her about Winston's political prospects.Her eyes widened. 'Churchill?' she had said. She gave a scornful little laugh and replied, 'Oh, he's finished.'" These are just two examples of the thoroughness of this well-written book. The author takes a complicated era and makes it understandable.

I liked this treatise on the life of Churchill. His wilderness years when those who treated him with disdain thought of him as a wash up.

This was his time to bide his time, in order to gain his composure for his future use.

Anyone in the oxbow of life can gain insights on how to use time rightly until the attainment of a goal.

Churchill did not just bide his time, he used it to his advantage.

One day I hope Manchester finishes volume III.....

As the crisis in Iraq developed in the post-911 days, I found myself thinking more and more about this second volume of the life of Winston Churchill. I was reminded of the essential differences between appeasement and the need to take agressive measures to stop agression. William Manchester does an outstanding job of spelling out the state of the world at this time leading up to World War II. He details, from a British perspective, every move as we watch disappointedly from an historical vantage point. Churchill's eventual elevation to Prime Minister comes not as a triumph, but more like an act of desperation. All along the way, knowing who the bad guy is (and just how bad he really is) we are disappointed (or is it disgusted) at each step of retreat.

I am in the midst of reading Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" and, while I can sing it's praises, it does not do as impressive job on this subject as Manchester's "Alone". Someting about Manchester's writing makes you feel that you're in the midst of everything that's happening.

I can think of no better a time to read this book than in the present world political situation. I'll leave it to the reader to decided how similar the Iraq situation is to that of Nazi Germany. However, the various ways the world and this country react to the situation brings Europe of the 1930's to mind.

I've read a lot of books in my life, but I guess I had to wait to find one of the best books I've ever read. It is hard to believe that a "history book" could be a page-turner, but I literally could not put the first volume down. Or the second. Manchester is a fantastic writer and his admiration and enthusiasm for the Last Lion is evident. Do yourself a very big favor and read these books, Vol. 1 and 2. I sure hope there's a Vol. 3 in the works.

This is a great book of historical writing. For those who question the role history has in our lives I suggest you read this book and look at the world anew. Its focus is Churchill's fight against the appeasers in 1930s English politics. The staggering stupidity and the relentless badgering of Churchill as he stood his ground is an amazing story. Many people have described the Battle of Britain as Churchill's finest hour, but it was these long years with fascism growing in Europe that really mark him with distinction. Manchester is a brilliant historian and this is his masterwork. A dreadful pity that the third volume was never printed due his ill health.