What an incredible book, you can't see it here but it is very long, in other words it's a BIG book, so take that into account on whether or not to read it at home or on the go. It is definitely a sit-down-at-home book. It is very detailed, and I must admit I was going to give up on it, because at the beginning I thought (wrongly so I must admit) that it was just boring. But I said I was going to give it 100 pages after that if it didn't get interesting I would toss it. Well all that the author presents at the beginning I found later on to be very necessary to understand all that would come later on. The author really enthralls you with details that would later help you in understanding the man and his decisions in the future, be them wise or unwise. I find that it helped me understand his thinking and see where he was coming from as a man of that past century, I think that's very important. Sometimes you can read a biography and think how wrong and bigoted a person can be, but you are thinking of the way things are now, not with the mentality of a man of that particular time.
So yes it's an incredible read if you give it a chance.

I have to say it's a great book. I had read THE GLORY AND THE DREAM, so I was already familiar with Manchester's narrative style. However, he has a few facts wrong regarding Ireland, paraphrases below of which can be checked in three books by the author Tim Pat Coogan, as well as other sources.

[...]

First of all, the map on page 735 clearly labels the six north-east counties of Ireland as Ulster. This is clearly wrong. A better nomenclature, and far more accurate, would be "Northern Ireland," or to those with an Irish Republican bias, "Carsonia." So-called British Ulster is merely composed of six of the nine counties of the traditional Irish province of Ulster.

Second: At no time was the Irish Parliamentary Party ever considered more than "parlor" Nationalist. Yet the impression one gets from reading TLL v1 is that the Irish Party was arguably the only organized effort to reverse the Act of Union in the political sphere, therefore wholly "Nationalist."

Third: Prof. Manchester's use of the term "Eire" to refer to the southern 26-county Irish Free State before its inception as such, is simply annoying to anyone who knows that the term appears first, in a political context, in article 1 of the Irish Constitution, commissioned by Eamon DeValera (whom Manchester ignorantly anoints, in or around 1933, "President" on page 735, when DeValera did not hold that office until some time after 1940) in 1936-7.

Fourth: Said DeValera did not escape execution due to his birth in the states, as Manchester (and others before and since have) asserted. The fact is that the military officer in charge of Kilmainham Jail, under pressure from UK Prime Minister Arthur Balfour to 'put a better face on the whole business' of execution for public consumption, decided to stop shooting the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising after Joseph Connolly was shot.

There are a few more minor points he misses, ignores, or insists by bold statement or insinuation to promulgate popular misconceptions on, but I believe that the "rule of four" in topic outlining is sufficient for this review and will end here.

The Last Lion; Winston Spencer Churchill - Visions of Glory 1874 to 1932 is a segment of the life of an active politician that encompasses the Raj, the First World War, and the interim between World Wars. Among the outstand parts of this well researched book are the role played by Churchill in the attempted management of India by Great Brittan, and in the tragedy at Gallipoli during the Turkish Campaign. The book gives insight to details of important historical events that influenced the course of British history - written in a manner that earns it five stars.

yeas the most popular book on sir winston but mistakes are in it and volume three will appear after a 20 years break .

The finest biography of Churchill (and one of the best biographies of anyone else) ever written. Manchester is unequaled in providing a balanced, thorough and readable product. Only down side is that he died before completing the third and final book on Churchill.

This is a very good analysis of Churchill, a thorough and colorfull portrait of a man I consider to be the greatest man of the 20th century. I have only two complaints, first I would have liked to have known more about his life with his wife and children. I also would have liked to have known what he thought of the Lusitania sinking. Not only does Manchester say nothing about Churchill's role in this business but the word Lusitania is not mentioned at all in nearly 2000 pages. Very strange. The letters of Churchill point out the chivalrousness and romantic nature that the public has not seen. All in all - very good and well worth a good read.

William Manchester is a tremendous writer. A man like Churchill deserved to have his biography writted by a writer as gifted as him.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting, not only to learn much about the great man Churchill, but also to have their mind expanded and stretched by excellent literature like this. There are not many people writing like this today, sadly enough.

This is not an easy read, in fact most people will do well to have a dictionary near by - but it is worth it. Drink deeply and you will learn so much more than you would have thought possible about the world from the late 19th century up through WWII.

Drink it up! 6 stars.

William Manchester is a tremendous writer. A man like Churchill deserved to have his biography writted by a writer as gifted as him.
I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting, not only to learn much about the great man Churchill, but also to have their mind expanded and stretched by excellent literature like this. There are not many people writing like this today, sadly enough.
This is not an easy read, in fact most people will do well to have a dictionary near by - but it is worth it. Drink deeply and you will learn so much more than you would have thought possible about the world from the late 19th century up through WWII.
Drink it up! 6 stars.

This fully lives up to its reputation as perhaps the best biography ever written. Manchester does a peerless, masterful job filling in the background colors and giving a complete picture of Churchill from a young man into his early fifties. As Manchester emphasizes, this background was essentially the decline and fall of the British Empire and the aristocracy who ran it. Manchester's main point, that Churchill was a Victorian who also lived in the twentieth century, is brilliantly made. Churchill himself is presented in all his perplexing, influriating splendor: an impetuous, charming, ambitious genius who all too often jumped out of the plane without a parachute. If you wish to know why he was rejected by the British people at the polls just after his greatest triumph (and job done) this fascinating volume of his early triumphs and memorable failures is indispensible (answer: they needed his boistrous energy in war but they didn't trust him in peace

Best biography of the person who really should have been the " greatest person of the 20th century". He, more than anyone else, stood alone against Nazism, which, no matter how you feel about the present state of Western civilization, kept it from being completely unrecognizable today. He pushed Roosevelt into joining Britain against the Nazis, and was willing to push Britain to keep on fighting alone, down to the last person ; at suicidal odds for many months. He had vision, and was fearless. And, prior to WW2, his exploits in the Boer War and in WW1 make his entire life fascinating. The fact that he was very "aristocratic" in his background has probably made his image diminish in our time. That sort of reverse discrimination is very unfair, I feel. He was also witty, not the least bit warm and cuddly (!) and a pretty good painter.

This is an excellent book on the first half of the life of a truly exceptional man. Mr Manchester's book deals with Winston's early life and his rise to power and fame. I particularly liked the vignettes about life at the turn of the century; the social situation, the class struggle, the morals of the upper and the working classes.

Just reading it makes you feel somehow inadequate against the intellectual brilliance, courage and sheer energy of the subject.

It would have merited a full five star rating but for two faults. It should have been shorter. It as if every single little titbit of information had to be written out in full, rather than filtered through the critical intellect that Mr Manchester undoubtedly possesses. Instead, he quotes too many letters, reports and speeches in full when his job as a biographer was to summarise them.

The second fault was Mr Manchester's tendency to lionise his subject. Brilliant he may have been, but a bit more acknowledgement of Winston's faults would have made him more human and reachable.

But this is nitpicking. Overall the book is a good read on a subject well worth reading about.

Manchester has written a masterpiece. His intimate portrayal of Winston Churchill, one of the most charismatic figures of the 20th century, reads like a classic novel and is filled with more information than many history books. Born as the grandson of a duke at a time when the British Empire was at its height, Churchill's youth is full of adventure as well as adversity. His parents are absent throughout most of his childhood and he is largely brought up by his nanny. He attended Harrow during his high school days and then went on to Sandhurt, which is the equivalent to England's WestPoint. Churchill was never popular among his classmates but excelled at fencing and was a truly great polo player.

After Churchill graduated from Sandhurst he was assigned to the Fourth Hussiers Calvary Regiment as a second lieutenant. He begins his tour in India and would go on to fight in the Boer Wars in Africa, where he was captured as a P.O.W. His dramatic escape would help make him a household name. Manchester then navigates the reader through Winston's time as a young war correspondent, his first failed attempt to run for Parliament, and his engagement to Clemintine. Churchill is victorious in his second attempt at Parliament and through his great ability and oratory, becomes a member of the cabinet by his early 30s. His tenure as First Lord of the Admiralty during WWI is a highlight of this volume. He would hold six different cabinet positions before 1925. He would change political parties twice. At moments he had penetrating insight and incredible vision, his mind could juggle multiple ideas at once, and his work ethic is legendary. But make no mistake; his blunders were nearly as big as his triumphs.

This is a beautiful story and a fascinating history. Manchester portrays Churchill as an original. Churchill would entertain guests while he was taking a bath. Once a lady of social standing was appalled at Churchill's behavior and said, "Winston, you're drunk." Churchill's reply: "Yes, and you are ugly...but I shall be sober tomorrow."

I highly recommend this book as well as the second volume. Excellent reading!

I've now read four of Mr. Manchester's works and all have been excellent. This is one of the two best biographies, or framents thereof, that I have ever read. Mr. Manchester has a style of writing that belongs in the hands of a novelist, not a historian or biographer. He can make 900 pages fly by without you noticing. I've read the two first parts of his Churchill biography and am completely devastated that the last one will probably never be completed. I mourn for the loss of Mr. Manchester's wife but history will truly mourn the loss of the concluding piece of this opus.