This second volume in William Manchester's three-volume biography of Winston Churchill challenges the assumption that Churchill's finest hour was as a wartime leader. During the years 1932-1940, he was tested as few men are. Pursued by creditors -- at one point he had to put up his home for sale -- he remained solvent only by writing an extraordinary number of books and magazine articles. He was disowned by his own party, dismissed by the BBC and Fleet Street and the social and political establishments as a warmonger, and twice nearly lost his seat in Parliament. Churchill stood almost alone against Nazi aggression and the British and French pusillanimous policy of appeasement.
Manchester tracks with new insights this complex, fascinating history without ever losing sight of Churchill the man -- a man whose vision was global and whose courage was boundless.
As a biographer, William Manchester is the standard by which all others are measured. And when a writer of his caliber is matched with a subject as colorful as Winston Churchill, look for results that are magisterial. This -- the second in a three-volume biography -- is a momentous piece of work.
One of National Review 's 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Century
Review
''Manchester is not only a master of detail but also of 'the big picture' . . . I daresay most Americans reading The Last Lion will relish it immensely.'' --National Review
''[Manchester] can claim the considerable achievement of having assembled enough powerful evidence to support Isaiah Berlin's judgment of Churchill as the largest human being of our time.'' --Alistair Cooke
About the Author
WILLIAM MANCHESTER (1922-2004) was a professor emeritus of history at Wesleyan University. His best-selling books included The Last Lion , a multi-volume biography of Winston Churchill, and American Caesar , a biography of Douglas MacArthur.