|
Churchill: A Life (平装)
by Martin Gilbert
| Category:
World War II, Statesmanship, Leadership |
| Market price: ¥ 340.00
MSL price:
¥ 298.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
The definitive biography of one of the greatest statesman and leader of the 20th century. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
|
| |
AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 11 items |
|
|
Robbie Lewis (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-22 00:00>
What would Churchill have made of Martin Gilbert's book on his life? For a start, Gilbert did not have to make too many editorial contributions. Churchill loved writing and speaking and much of his own literature has survived. Gilbert uses it to such an extent, that this book has an autobiographical feel about it. Churchill himself, rather than Gilbert, seems to be the narrator.
Gilbert's real job was to bring balance and perspective to the task. This he does well. The distant father, the loving but equally distant mother, the devoted nanny all get parts in this many-act play. Then there's Brighton, Harrow, patriotic songs and cranky old school masters. The army follows leading to stories that seem to fall straight from a Boys Own album. With Queen Victoria still on the throne, there are brushes with death in India, the cavalry charge in the Sudan, that escape from the Boers in South Africa. Had his life ended at this point there would have been plenty for the biography.
But somehow Churchill found time to go on to numerous British cabinet posts and two stints as prime minister. Gilbert's mighty work has it all with good treatment of Churchill's greatest moment as his country's leader with Hitler's forces a goose-step from the front door. From Churchill's naive early years, readers can closely follow the threads of Winston's life as they weave through triumph and setback, reflection and wisdom, culminating in a tapestry of the grandest proportions. The intimacy of the book is such that readers can share the fears, tears and cheers of Churchill's life.
This all sounds a little pompous. Churchill loved plain words and the good life. What would he have made of Gilbert's work? He might have searched for some ringing phrase: "so much written about some one with so little", "this was his finest hour", "he was a modest man but then again he had much to be modest about", or "he was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma". But from Victoria to the Atomic age, Churchill was a man for all seasons. As a lover of life's pleasures, I suspect he would have lit another cigar, reached for a brandy, and considered... a review for Amazon.com
Gilbert has done a marvellous job on a complex and gifted man.
|
|
|
|
1 2 Total 2 pages 11 items |
|
|
|
|
|
|
