The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940

"The Last Lion: Alone, 1932-1940," the second of William Manchester's projected three-volume biography of Winston Spencer Churchill, continues telling the story of the life of the 20th century's greatest statesman. This volume covers the eight-year period from the beginning of Churchill's longest period in the political "wilderness," to his rise to power as Prime Minister of Great Britain at the beginning of World War II. I think this book is even better than the first volume, "The Last Lion: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932." Manchester contends that the inter-war years, and not his years as Prime Minister, were Churchill's personal "finest hour." Politically ostracized by two successive Prime Ministers - Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain, the main architects of Britain's policy of appeasing Nazi Germany - Churchill was one of only a handful of men in Britain to speak out in favor of increased military preparedness as a means of countering the growing Nazi threat in Europe. Only when it became obvious in the late 1930s that the appeasement of Hitler had failed, did the British nation turn to the one man who had consistently advocated standing up to the Nazi dictator: Winston Spencer Churchill As he did in the first volume of Churchill's life, Manchester provides an insightful historical overview of the times in which Churchill lived. Especially fascinating to me was the account of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's 1938 trip to Munich, where the most infamous act of appeasing Hitler - the sellout of Czechoslovakia - took place, and where Chamberlain believed he had achieved "peace in our times." "The Last Lion: Alone, 1932-1940" once again clearly demonstrates why William Manchester is one of the pre-eminent biographers at work today. The book is written with obviously meticulous scholarship, insightful analysis, and crisp, sparkling prose; I have yet to find a better account of Churchill's life. Since the publication of "The Last Lion: Alone, 1932-1940" 25 years ago, several excellent books about Winston Churchill have been written, including "Warlord" by Carlo d'Este (2008) and "Winston's War" by Max Hastings (2011). As good as these works are (and they are very good indeed), William Manchester's "The Last Lion" remains the finest multi-volume biography of Churchill available today. It is a "must read" for anyone interested in the life of Winston Churchill; Highly recommended! AFTERWORD (November 2012): William Manchester died in 2004 before he could complete the third and final volume of his great triptych on the life of Winston Churchill. Manchester had apparently completed only a small portion of the manuscript for his final volume, which he had tentatively entitled "The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm 1940-1965." He had selected Paul Reid, an excellent writer and close friend, to carry on and complete his work after his death. In November 2012, this 1,200-page volume was published by Little, Brown and Company, the same publisher of the first two "Last Lion" volumes. As of this writing, "The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm 1940-1965" has garnered overwhelmingly positive professional and consumer reviews, much to the satisfaction of those of us who waited patiently for nearly three decades for its release.

As a newspaper reporter for 35 years, I take occasional side trips from the business of newsmakers and newsmaking to read for pleasure. The Last Lion Alone is simply one of the most fascinating, well-crafted books, about one of history's truly great men, by one of the master writers of his generation, William Manchester. Researching his subject and the times the man lived in, Manchester paints a vivid, striking and often horrifying account of a man whose love of his country, his objective, unblinking analysis of the emerging Nazi threat, and the almost abusive opposition he nobly suffered, from men and women in Britain who should have known better. Born in 1947 in the U.S., I had always considered Winston Churchill a great man from my study of history and WWII, along with Dwight Eisenhower and FDR. After reading Last Lion Alone, treasuring every word and passage, I regard this man and what he stood for in absolute awe. I'm not a person who freely indulges in hero worship - with the exception of Winston Churchill.

Churchill was one of the greatest world leaders in the 20th century. And one of the most unlikely. He was what we would say a brat spoiled by privilege, horrible in school, but as a young man joined the military because he thought that would be the fastest way he could gain a position in Parliament. Which it did. He was fearless in battle. I would say even foolhardy, walking upright at the top of the British trenches during WWI to review his troops, despite being constantly shot at by the Germans. He was one of only several men who, during the 1930s, believed that Hitler was secretly violating the Treaty of Versailles which provisioned that Germany must accept "all the loss and damage" it caused during WWI. Churchill, in violation of his own Parliamentary laws, secretly met with a score of civil servants who gathered actual statistics on the secret build up of German war instruments. Throughout the 1930s he warned Parliament over and over again of the danger presented by Hitler's rise to power. He was completely ignored for years. But he held on, and when Hitler finally began his murderous conquest of Europe, at the last minute, Churchill was elected Prime Minister, and the rest, they say, is history. Churchill was a prodigious student of history, compiling *A History of* *the English-Speaking Peoples*. In it, he preserves the rousing speech of Queen Elizabeth to her troops during their war with the superior Spanish armada: "Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts andcgoodwill of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, resolved, in the midst and heat of battle, to live or die amongst you, today down for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain or any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field."

This is volume 2 of a 3 volume series, each one of which is a detailed and objective accounting of Churchill's life and his impact on both world wars. It is also noteworthy that its author, William Manchester, is an American, like myself which is of itself likely a big factor to the book's objectivity. i live in Thailand where I am part of a very large expat community that includes large numbers of Germans and Englishmen. So it is especially enlightening for me to be able to compare Manchester's revelations about both and to compare them to my own observations. For example, roughly 60 percent of the way through volume II Manchester comments "Britain's leaders detested being pushed; one of their chief complaints about Americans was that they always seemed to be in a hurry. Haste was something regarded as Un-British. The ruling class was not called the leisured class for nothing." With this in mind I remember how my dad commented about the pace of the British advance into France after D-Day (Dad was a captain in the U.S. Army stationed in England at the time) "The British would stop their advance to take tea breaks". I also recall how exasperated American soldiers were with the very slow pace of the British relief of the English paratroopers at Arnheim which might have had a lot to do with the slaughter and subsequent surrender of the surrounded British paratroopers. Manchester's detailed coverage of the architects of English appeasement that led to the Second World War gives me a fresh perspective of its causes. What if Neville Chamberlain and his cohorts had been replaced by Churchill and men of his thinking five years earlier than Churchill finally became prime minister? I would think the entire course of the Second World War would have been entirely different. With the first volume of the three book series and now 60 % into its second (Kindle version), I'm sure I will experience fresh and insightful perspectives about the course of the Second World War and its results that I would otherwise never get by reading books of greater brevity by less accomplished writers. There's a lot of real meat in this trio of volumes that will please those who have an unquenchable thirst for World History.

I love the Internet. One can go back to the archives of any newspaper or magazine and read old book reviews and see if the comments have stood the test of time. In the case of Manchester's first 2 volumes on Churchill the critics weren't very nice. A 28 year old and new NYTimes critic Michiko Kakutani called volume one a bore that covered no new ground. She preferred Martin Gilbert's 4,000 pages leading up to 1939 to Manchester's 2,000 pages to mid 1940. Other critics think Manchester was superficial and found some of his superlatives to describe Churchill or generalizations about English society to be grating. Many of the most important comments remain so today; that Manchester did not seriously research and refute criticism of Churchill that was available to him. Gilbert has written over 80 books on a variety of topics. As Churchill's official biographer many have concluded that he tossed is objectivity out and became too much of a fan. Where Manchester's second volume stands up well is it's dramatic depiction of Churchill standing up to issues of German rearmament and English Appeasement policies of MacDonald, Baldwin and Chamberlain. He does an excellent job recounting history and believes he has uncovered countless facts that strung together nearly reflect a conspiracy by the English government to hide the build up. He offers comments and insights at every turn which are welcome as his point is to educate and influence. As in volume one he quotes from a very broad set of diaries and sources that enrich the experience and he introduces many of the essential players of that era in ways that go beyond the biography. There are serious problems however. Manchester really likes Churchill and as a result his failures are recounted but not condemned and often excused. He was in the same camp as the appeasers in seeing Communism as the main threat and as such he held Mussolini and Franco in high regard. As Exchequer he lead England back on to the gold standard in the 1920's which contributed to economic collapse in the 30's. And his actions in Norway are excused as being watered down by Chamberlain's other cabinet ministers rather than the disaster that it was. His disrespect of just about everyone is explained away rather than discussed as a possible reason for his estrangement. Manchester frequently says Chamberlain was against rearmament because it would hurt the economy but Manchester never explains well the condition of England at that time. Given Manchester's earnestness in placing us within English culture at the time sighting the major books, plays and music of the time it's a startling gap particularly given the frequency of comments on Chamberlain's motives. Overall we do get a very strong case for how appeasement went wrong. It's riveting and provocative. We also get a view on Churchill's home life where he struggled to stay out of debt and seemed to have weak relations with his family. Manchester is clear in his view that Churchill was a lone voice that spoke out frequently and courageously and he sees him as a brilliant multi tasker writing books and articles at a furious pace while keeping up with developments in Europe through his own intelligence network. Unfortunately it feels one sided which may unfairly undermine Manchester's credibility. Had he incorporated and discussed some of criticism of Churchill in more detail I think he would still have been successful in depicting Churchill as he saw him but giving the reader a more rounded view, warts and all.

This series in total is the best book I have ever read! If I had the time I would expound forever about the reasons why I say this. Never, ever have I learned so much history, to the tiniest of details, while bringing that history of the life and impact of one man as I did from my reading of The Last Lion. I could see it all happening in front of me and had to reread many passages over and over because they are so profoundly and beautifully well written. At times I used audible and listened to it being read. The author’s way with words is as powerful as Churchill’s himself. Please read all three volumes of The Last Lion. You couldn’t give yourself a more rewarding gift.

There are three magnificent volumes to Manchester's life of Winston Churchill. The first covers his youth, and the third covers his tremendous courage in fighting (and winning) World War II. Although he had to do a deal with the Devil (Stalin) to crush the Nazis, he did indeed crush them. So the second volume ("Alone") -- which deals with just eight years when Churchill was "disgraced" -- might look like the most boring of the three. I say "On the contrary!" This may well be the best of the three, if only because Manchester was at the top of his game. But, more than that, it offers the reader a full look into a time of moral insanity in Britain, when Britons refused to see what was happening in Nazi Germany. Prime Minister (and Prime Fool) Neville Chamberlain pursued a policy of appeasement, and refused to see Nazi Germany re-arming itself. He brayed "Peace in our Time" and was pathetically proud of a piece of paper (!!) he obtained from Adolf Hitler. And, all this time, Churchill stood alone, warning of the Nazi menace. He was ostracized, shut out, and condemned as a warmonger. But he was right. The relevance to our times is obvious. There are several countries, led by Iran, which have sworn "Death to America." And yet our government, followed by millions of Americans, is following a policy of appeasement. "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it" -- Santayana

Churchill warts and all, great good humor and brilliant mind. He was the first to see the benefits of aircraft carriers (World War I) but he wanted to break off a large piece of Northern Atlantic ice and pull it down to where needed. Naturally, everyone thought he was crazy, but that didn't stop Aircraft carrier from being a major weapon in the Allies' success. He also was responsible for the development of the tank, again, before the world was ready for it in WWI. But we know what a success they were in WWII. A brilliant, delightful and a bit full of himself, but we now know he had a right to be!!! I've waiting about 20 years for Volume three of this brilliant biography. It was well worth the wait! Another Kindle available set of books - very reasonably priced. Same with Harry Potter. At first KJ Rowling wasn't interested in ebooks. Somewhere along the way she understood how much people love their Kindles and the Nooks, and reserved the rights to her books, but she sells them on her web site (Pottermore) for only $7.99 per book. If you buy all at one time you get a 10% discount - mine was a gift from my daughter!!! The Churchill biography is still one of the very best books I've ever read. William Manchester took the whole genre to a new level with this three book series.