Of the three revisionist works John Charmley has written about British foreign policy in the mid-twentieth century this is the centrepiece. The author argues that Churchill deserves more credit for 'their finest hour' than has been granted, but just as his virtues were built on the heroic scale, so too were his faults and failures. The statesman who had struggled to destroy Nazism and restore Europe's balance of power ended by allowing Stalin to dominate central and eastern Europe. This is no mere exercise in debunking, in many ways the complex man presented in these pages is more interesting than the more hagiographical portraits. 'This is not instant history run up to cause a sensation, but a meticulously documented reappraisal of Churchill's war leadership and of the career that led up to it. Nor is its tone contemptuous or vindictive. The author accepts that Churchill was a great man. His starting point is that even great men make mistakes.' John Keegan, Daily Telegraph 'Probably the most important revisionist text to be published since the war.' Alan Clark, The Times

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An altogether absorbing popular biography . . . The heroic Churchill is in these pages, but so is the little boy writing forlorn letters to the father who all but ignored him.”—People When Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace in 1874, Imperial Britain stood at the splendid pinnacle of her power. Yet within a few years the Empire would hover on the brink of catastrophe. Against this backdrop, a remarkable man began to build his legacy. From master biographer William Manchester, The Last Lion: Visions of Glory reveals the first fifty-eight years of the life of an adventurer, aristocrat, soldier, and statesman whose courageous leadership guided the destiny of his darkly troubled times—and who is remembered as one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century. Praise for The Last Lion: Visions of Glory “Absolutely magnificent . . . a delight to read . . . one of those books you devour line by line and word by word and finally hate to see end.”—Russell Baker “Bedazzling.”—Newsweek “Manchester has read further, thought harder, and told with considerable verve what is mesmerizing in [Churchill’s] drama. . . . One cannot do better than this book.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “Superb . . . [Manchester] pulls together the multitudinous facets of one of the richest lives ever to be chronicled. . . . Churchill and Manchester were clearly made for each other.”—Chicago Tribune “A vivid, thoroughly detailed biography of the Winston Churchill nobody knows.”—Boston Herald “Adds a grand dimension . . . rich in historical and social contexts.”—Time

Offering dual biographies of the two great World War II leaders, the author follows both as they are shaped by personal, social, and historical events into the men they became. Reprint.

This up-to-date bibliography gathers materials on ten leaders from 20th century Europe. Access is provided via subject and author indexes. Contents: Charles DeGaulle; Winston Churchill; Adolf Hitler; Benito Mussolini; General Francisco Franco; Adenauer Konrad; Margaret Thatcher; Helmut Kohl; Francois Mitterand; Josip Broz Tito.

From an unpromising start, his political career suffering as many reversals as advances, Winston Churchill emerged as a hero of the 20th century by virtue of leading his nation and its Allies in the fight against dictatorship and tyranny. His passionate conviction that the Third Reich and the other Axis powers could not be trusted ensured the alliance against them held strong even when under the greatest pressure; his doogmatic, belligerent stance was crucial.