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Churchill Defiant, by Barbara Leaming
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New York Times bestselling biographer Barbara Leaming has written a riveting political dramaof the last ten years of Winston Churchill's public life.
In Churchill Defiant, Leaming tells the tumultuous behind-the-scenes story of Churchill's refusal to retire after his 1945 electoral defeat, and the bare-knuckled political and personal battles that ensued. Her ground-breaking biography Jack Kennedy: The Education of a Statesman, was the first to detail Churchill's extraordinary influence on Kennedy's thinking. Now in Churchill Defiant, Leaming gives us a vivid and compelling narrative that sheds fresh light on both the human dimension of Winston Churchill and on the struggles and achievements of his final years. At last, in Leaming's eloquent account, we understand the tangled web of personal relationships and rivalries, the intricate interplay of past and present, the looming sense of history that makes the story of these years as fascinating as anything in the extraordinary century-long saga of Winston Churchill's life.
- Sales Rank: #2339571 in Books
- Published on: 2010-10-12
- Released on: 2010-10-12
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 1.18" h x 6.26" w x 9.12" l, 1.20 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 368 pages
From Publishers Weekly
It was the grandest of evenings. On April 4, 1955, the young Queen Elizabeth II paid her prime minister, Winston Churchill, the compliment of coming to dine at 10 Downing Street. The occasion was Churchill's retirement from the pinnacle of power after his second reign as prime minister. Wearing knee breeches and the blue sash of the Order of the Garter, Churchill saw her out just before midnight. He bowed and took her hand. An era seemed to be ending, one generation giving way to another; at last it would be Anthony Eden's turn. Back inside, Churchill sat gloomily on the edge of his bed. "I don't believe Anthony can do it," he mused. The remark was, in a way, the last, private whimper from the man William Manchester indelibly called "The Last Lion." The scene, with its revealing and surprising glimpse of Churchill behind the curtain in his final political chapter, tells us much about the complexities and contradictions of Churchill at the end, and it closes Barbara Leaming's new narrative. Leaming, most recently the author of a fine biography of John F. Kennedy, has given us a concise history of Churchill after the trumpets. Readers who know him only as the hero of 1940 will be surprised to find an all-too-human politician in these pages, a man who lived for power and was driven by a noble dream: the making of peace in a nuclear age. Churchill's is one of the most chronicled lives in history (he himself once remarked that it was already "well-ploughed" in his own lifetime), but Leaming has done a good job of adding details to the familiar story: her account of Churchill's visit to Berlin, including to Hitler's bunker, is particularly strong. Here is her description of him on that day in July 1945, just before the British electorate turned him out: "The man who visited Hitler's bunker had recast himself in just five years as one of history's titans. Had Churchill died before 1940, he might have been remembered as a prodigiously gifted failure. On this day, he was at the apex of his glory. Yet thus far, he had appeared oddly detached and distracted. His bulbous, bloodshot, light blue eyes surveyed the devastation at the Chancellery..." He was old and tired--but he never gave up, as the nation would learn anew in the long decade between the 1945 general election and the dinner with the queen in 1955. From Eden to Harry Truman, the supporting characters are well drawn, and they give the book a sprightly feel. Unfortunately, Leaming's narrative is marred by the occasional cliché and awkward phrasing (bombshells drop, rooms seethe, cold water is doused). Taken all in all, however, the book is a well-told political drama about the greatest figure of an epic century. Not a bad achievement, that. Jon Meacham, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his American Lion in 2009, is at work on a biography of Thomas Jefferson. Reviewed by John Meacham.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Expelled from power in 1945 by the British electorate, Winston Churchill could have retired, written memoirs, and basked in national esteem for his wartime leadership. The Second World War did come out, but Churchill also clung to politics for another decade, frustrating the ambition for the top spot of the Conservative Party’s younger, glamour-boy heir apparent, Anthony Eden. Leaming’s absorbing chronicle depicts Churchill’s conviction of his indispensability and Eden’s exasperations within a sequence of schemes and cabals of Tory factions to replace the former with the latter. Such plots the wily Churchill repeatedly circumvented by reneging on promises to retire and by public speeches that effectively (though deceptively) allayed rumors about his health, diminished by several strokes. Illuminating Churchill’s determination to defy time, Leaming alludes to his previous comebacks and to his belief that he alone could negotiate with Stalin and his successors, a conceit with which the author makes some sport. In the context of Britain’s grim postwar years of austerity and the ascension of Elizabeth II, Leaming produces eminently readable political history. --Gilbert Taylor
Review
“2010 Churchill Book of the Year . . . . Leaming’s insight is extraordinary.” (Richard Langworth, Finest Hour: The Journal of Winston Churchill)
“’Never give in!’ The fighting spirit of Winston Churchill comes alive in Barbara Leaming’s brutal chronicle of the great man’s second premiership.” (Chris Matthews, Host of MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews")
“I knew Winston Churchill in his last years—as well as a callow 18-year-old can know a great man and world leader more than half a century older; and I am astounded at Barbara Leaming’s almost uncanny perception of the workings of his mind.” (John Julius Norwich, author of A History of Venice)
“Sympathetic and highly readable…Leaming takes the reader on an intimate cruise of British politics.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
“The plot, which covers the last 10 years of [Churchill’s] political life, could hardly be more gripping. . . . Barbara Leaming has fashioned a poignant narrative. Like any good storyteller, she focuses sharply on the protagonist and his aspirations. . . . Compelling.” (Sunday Times (London))
“Insightful and highly entertaining…Leaming’s masterfully written and intimate book is a rich insider’s tale of back-stairs palace intrigue. Her superb sources provide wonderful insight into the personalities of the players and Leaming brings them alive in this period as few other authors have done.” (Sarasota Herald Tribune)
“Leaming tells a rousing story. . . . This is exciting historical writing. . . . Churchill was the greatest figure of an epic century. You need to know about the last ten years of his public life.” (Liz Smith)
“Accomplished biographer Leaming tracks Winston Churchill’s masterful postwar comeback. . . . A lively chronicle. . . . Tight, polished and effectively focused on the lesser-known end of Churchill’s career.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“Absorbing. . . . Illuminating. . . . Eminently readable political history.” (Booklist)
“Fascinating. . . . A memorable and very readable portrait of one of the 20th century’s towering figures.” (Roanoke Times)
“Leaming has produced a splendid book about Britain’s last lion. Even in winter, he never lost his roar.” (Washington Times)
“Leaming spins a gripping yarn of epic dimensions….A moving chronicle of one extraordinary man’s determination to overcome seemingly crushing adversity…In the true sense of the word, it is a great story…A fascinating take on momentous events, with a truly human hero at its heart.” (Eastern Daily Press (UK))
“A fascinating new book.” (Daily Express (London))
“A well-written book . . . . Full of interesting details . . . . The manner in which Leaming has captured the essential Winston commands our admiration.” (Church Times (UK))
“Colorful details abound. . . . A beguiling portrait of a leading politician who refuses to acknowledge his waning powers.” (Daily Express (London))
Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Super Read
By DeWitt C Brown III
Great Author - Great Read - The history of Churchill's last years in power does make one wonder if we should allow our leaders that much power. Churchill did not know when to quit for his own good and his country's good. And Leaming tells the story well.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Mediocre biography of the fading Churchill
By Jerry Saperstein
Barbara Leaming is no threat to Martin Gilbert and other well-established Churchill biographers. Her sketchy, erratic biography of Churchill's final decade of political power is ponderous and slow. Part of this is due to the subject matter. Churchill was old (71) when this story begins, suffered increasingly significant health problems in the form of several strokes and, with the war over, was no longer the center of the world's attention.
Still much was going on in the world that Leaming simply omits. India and empire, for example, simply aren't mentioned though the loss of both plagued Britain throughout the period discussed here.
Instead Leaming focuses on Churchill's belief that he could convince the Soviet Union to play nice with the rest of the world. This belief was not shared by Presidents Truman and Eisenhower. The difference of opinion cast something of a pall over Churchill's relationship with the two men, but the reality was that with the end of World War II, Churchill had become something of a fifth wheel on the international scene. Britain was essentially bankrupt, its military might shriveled, its economy vastly reduced in scale and its great Empire a adding memory.
Though I am a great admirer of Churchill, I am also cognizant of the fact that some people simply never want to leave the stage and Churchill was one of them.
So Leaming doesn't have as much to work with as compared to Churchill, the war time leader.
But she doesn't work well with what she has. The book is over laden with the struggle of Anthony Eden and his supporters to gain power and the other petty politics of the era. It doesn't make for very interesting reading and the slow pace of Leaming's narrative doesn't help.
Churchill's declining health - and his efforts to conceal the truth of that condition - take up an inordinate number of pages. There are 28 mentions of Churchill's health in the index.
Oddly enough, despite the many failings of a Leaming as a writer, she is an adequate researcher and the reader willing to slog through her generally leaden prose will be rewarded with some bits of otherwise obscure information. Frankly, I hope no one lacking substantial knowledge of Churchill tries to read this book. Churchill is one of the few men who can be considered historically important. This book, covering his last years in power, conveys none of the strength, dynamism and courage of the Churchill who many consider the savior of democracy.
Jerry
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Holding On
By Loves the View
Author Barbara Leaming portrays the postwar Winston Churchill as adrift until he manipulated himself back into power to which he clung despite its cost to his party, his protégé, his health and his family.
This author selected the issues of relations with Stalin/Russia and the dynamics of the continuous delay of the succession of Anthony Eden book for particular focus. Once "back" Churchill was obsessed with holding high level, three party talks (GB-US-USSR). Neither US President, Truman nor Eisenhower, had interest in such a meeting, and neither did Churchill's Tory party.
Leaming portrays the hope of such a meeting, on which Churchill expends tremendous political capital, as keeping him going, but it could have been personality traits that forced him to soldier on. It is sad to watch him squander his stature and reputation by refusing to pass the torch to younger colleagues.
The chapters are cleverly titled with a quote, often from WC himself, that summarizes that chapter's content or mood. One, "Don't I Live Here?" is WC's remark regarding the trees he want to remove from the grounds of 10 Downing when Anthony Eden reminds him this would be a permanent change. In calling himself "An Obstinate Pig" WC verifies that he does know how his behavior is being perceived.
There is a lot else going on in Britain at the time. There a few other international issues mentioned but they are merely backdrop. There is no mention of any domestic issue other than the price of coal that helped to sweep the Tories into power.
While the work is not definitive for these 10 years of Churchill's life, the author has an engaging writing style and the book is a smooth read.
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