CHURCHILL

No man in the 20th century did more to preserve freedom and democracy than Winston Churchill and none provided more public entertainment and inspiration for over sixty years.

Paul Johnson's insightful appreciation of Churchill's life opens with the great question: how did one man do so much, for so long, and so effectively? Johnson sketches the phases of Churchill's life his childhood of privilege in a prominent political family; his early military adventures in South Africa; his political ambitions and rise through Parliament; his great service in the Great War; his "exile" after the war; his urgent campaign to waken the world to Hitler's threat; and his monumental leadership as Prime Minister during World War II. There are wonderful insights into Churchill's character his generosity as well as his ego; his brilliant gift for language; his amazing capacities to aim high, work hard, and not be distracted by vengeance or recrimination; and above all his great capacity for joy, expressed intimately in his love of painting and bricklaying, his lifelong love for his wife and family, and his transcendent love for Britain. Paul Johnson is an acclaimed historian whose many best-selling books have been translated into dozens of languages. He writes a weekly essay for The Spectator and a monthly column for Forbes, and has also written for The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and many other publications.