Mr. Churchill. A Portrait

A life as long and full as Winston Churchill's cannot be captured adequately in one volume. Mr Guedalla reviews events up to 1941, when the world was gripped by peak Winston, and the story still had a quarter of a century to run. Necessarily, he omits a great deal of detail, at times glancing superficially over events and even entire periods. But detail is replaced with insightful depth, an occasional enlightening flash of the biographer's colours, and a great deal of dry, even acerbic, wit. As an introduction to the extraordinary life of Winston Churchill, up to the opening minutes of his finest hour, I do not think a more entertaining book exists.