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12 Best Winston Churchill Biography (2022 Updated)
Winston Churchill was one of the most influential and prominent political leaders of the 20th century. He served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, and again from 1951 to 1955.
He was also a prominent statesman and historian. Churchill was born into a wealthy and aristocratic family in 1874, and he was educated at the prestigious Harrow School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
He embarked on a military career, serving in India and Sudan, and he also fought in the Second Boer War. Churchill first entered politics in 1900, and he served in a number of different government roles in the years leading up to the First World War.
He became a prominent critic of the government’s handling of the war, and he was one of the key figures in the formation of the Conservative Party.
Churchill was a passionate advocate of Britain’s involvement in the First World War, and he served as the First Lord of the Admiralty during the conflict. He was widely criticized for his role in the Gallipoli Campaign, and he resigned from the government in 1915.
Churchill returned to the government in 1917, and he played a key role in the formation of the Allied coalition that defeated the Central Powers in 1918. He served as the Secretary of State for War and Air from 1919 to 1921, and he was a key figure in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Versailles.
Churchill remained a prominent figure in British politics in the 1920s and 1930s, and he was a vocal opponent of the appeasement policy pursued by the government in the lead-up to the Second World War.
He served as the Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945, leading Britain through some of its darkest days. Churchill was a key figure in the Allied victory in the Second World War, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953.
He remained Prime Minister until 1955, when he was succeeded by Anthony Eden. Churchill retired from politics in 1964, and he died in 1965 at the age of 90.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEROne of The Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Books of 2018One of The Economist’s Best Books of 2018One of The New York Times’s Notable Books of 2018“Unarguably the best single-volume biography of Churchill.
A brilliant feat of storytelling, monumental in scope, yet put together with tenderness for a man who had always believed that he would be Britain’s savior. ” —Wall Street Journal – In this landmark biography of Winston Churchill based on extensive new material, the true genius of the man, statesman and leader can finally be fully seen and understood–by the bestselling, award-winning author of Napoleon and The Last King of America.
But how did young Winston become Churchill? What gave him the strength to take on the superior force of Nazi Germany when bombs rained on London and so many others had caved? In Churchill, Andrew Roberts gives readers the full and definitive Winston Churchill, from birth to lasting legacy, as personally revealing as it is compulsively readable.
– Roberts gained exclusive access to extensive new material: transcripts of War Cabinet meetings, diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs from Churchill’s contemporaries. The Royal Family permitted Roberts–in a first for a Churchill biographer–to read the detailed notes taken by King George VI in his diary after his weekly meetings with Churchill during World War II.
This treasure trove of access allows Roberts to understand the man in revelatory new ways, and to identify the hidden forces fueling Churchill’s legendary drive.
I found it just as easy to read this biography as I do to read an essay by George Orwell because it is written with striking clarity and in a straightforward manner. I am not suggesting for one moment that it is not scholarly but that it is thoroughly palatable and enjoyable to read.
The book also reaches deep into your emotions in unexpected ways. Churchill had a puckish sense of humour and so has Andrew Roberts. Such a figure of Falstaffian early Elizabethan Regency Victorian and Edwardian proportions fully warrants over one thousand biographies but this latest one is streets ahead of the others because the author has a palpable feel for his subject.
It is no hagiography however, and Professor Roberts deals at length with the many mistakes Churchill inevitably made in his long political career. When making judgments on Churchill I feel that the author takes me into his confidence and appeals to my sense of justice truth and fair play.
There is much new material that simply does not appear in the biographies by Roy Jenkins and Boris Johnson because Professor Roberts has accessed recently released archival material such as the Ivan Maisky and Mary Soames diaries plus those of King George V1 cabinet minutes and civil servant’s memoranda.
He also quotes extensively from Hansard. This is not thematic history but good old fashioned linear history ie a story with a beginning middle and end which is what most readers want. The joy of this publication is that it should appeal to the teacher and student the political pundit and to what quaintly used to be called in Churchillian language the Man on the Clapham Omnibus.
It has worldwide interest and it is no coincidence that the first thirty three purchasers of the biography were from Iceland who jetted over from Keflavik especially to receive their signed copies. I found much in the book which deals with the purpose of life and the extent to which we are not fully in control of events.
The idea of destiny can of course be a delusion and and illusion as it was when Hitler escaped virtually unscathed from the 1944 Bomb Plot only to carry on making egregious mistakes that eventually led to allied victory.
It calls to mind what Lord Hailsham said on Desert Island Discs that the only occasion in history that he could discern the finger of God in action was when Churchill took over the premiership on 10 May 1940.
The book being over one thousand pages long deals with all the controversies in his career that you would expect. There are many occasions when Professor Roberts says that Churchill’s conduct is not hisfinest hour.
However nothing can detract from the ultimate conclusion that Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a very great man without whom humane civilisation would not have been saved during those stern days of the Second World War.
Winston Churchill was a genius. Statesman, accomplished watercolorist, man of letters, politician, soldier(and most likely a quiet tyrant)among other good attributes that made up Churchill. Like Dante(of Divine Comedy fame), he left his legacy after he died.
One feels a little puny and insignificant in the company of such greatness as these two men. Andrew Roberts’ large volume “Churchill” lends a breadth to his subject not often seen. It is forcefully detailed and analytical in its scope and breathtaking as Roberts’ proceeds without hesitation into the brilliant life that was Winston Churchill.
It is a gritty look at one of our best known and varied life of this man who led Britain out of the Hell and Purgatory of the Second World War blitzes. Churchill, like Dante was an intellectual clear thinker of many talents.
Both men were loquacious orators. Both men wrote profusely and productively and whose works remain today as guides to a better way of life, spiritually and intellectually. Decades ago Penguin Books did a series of biographies(Penguin or Pelican Biographies) that surpassed anything at that time, however this tome outstrips them all.
I am in awe of his greatness. Every so often the human race produces these “anomalies” from the general run -of- the- mill population. These are giants of men. They inspire us to be better in dark times.
The books writing is very exclusive and had me looking up new words I had never heard before which I thought was awesome. The story flips back from childhood to adulthood helping you understand the kind of man Winston Churchill was and why.
It’s not a fast read, as there is a lot of language and story to take in as his life back then seems to be quite complex. I really like this book.
In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Steve Jobs, shows how the most fascinating of America’s founders helped define our national character.
Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders.
He explores the wit behind Poor Richard’s Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.
In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin’s amazing life, showing how he helped to forge the American national identity and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.
This book caught my eye shortly after I read an article that mentioned Benjamin Franklin’s many facets. He wasn’t just a shaggy-haired, chubby fellow who helped get the USA started. Franklin was extremely intelligent, had very broad interests and vocations, and was rather racy.
He fathered an illegitimate son, who fathered an illegitimate son. Although he often maintained a placid facade, Franklin had strong feelings about people and beliefs that guided his decisions, including those made while working on behalf of the colonies.
I haven’t finished reading it, but like other books like this author it is very thorouogh and I’m learning many new things about this important founding father. It is very well written and not dry like some biographies are.
Distilled from years of meticulous research and documentation, filled with material unavailable when the earliest books of the official biography’s eight volumes went to press, Churchill is a brilliant marriage of the hard facts of the public life and the intimate details of the private man.
The result is a vital portrait of one of the most remarkable men of any age as well as a revealing depiction of a man of extraordinary courage and imagination.
This is the official biographer approved by the Churchills. The Churchills knew the author and picked him as their preferred biographer. The photos are extensive, better than in most biographies of this English politician.
Ask me if this is a truthful biography, you got me. Some biographers want you to reveal the real Churchill, all bull aside. It really is an art to reveal the flaws of an admired person. Some biographers would lay it on thick with no regard for the feelings of those who do not wish to see weakness or dark side of a loved one.
Sometimes it takes a long time to bring out into the light of day failings of beloved heroes. It is possible some individuals are close to flawless living but I haven’t found anyone like that.
Churchill was a major force in the group which made up the Allies. He had secrets from other Allies but remained a positive factor. His lack of transparency was one reason that the Allies’ combined strength lasted as long as it did and worked so well.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – The author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake delivers an intimate chronicle of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz—an inspiring portrait of courage and leadership in a time of unprecedented crisis “One of [Erik Larson’s] best books yet.
perfectly timed for the moment. ”—Time – “A bravura performance by one of America’s greatest storytellers. ”—NPR NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review – Time – Vogue – NPR – The Washington Post – Chicago Tribune – The Globe & Mail – Fortune – Bloomberg – New York Post – The New York Public Library – Kirkus Reviews – LibraryReads – PopMattersOn Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium.
Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally—and willing to fight to the end.
In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people “the art of being fearless. ” It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it’s also an intimate domestic drama, set against the backdrop of Churchill’s prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and of course 10 Downing Street in London.
Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports—some released only recently—Larson provides a new lens on London’s darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their youngest daughter, Mary, who chafes against her parents’ wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela’s illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the advisers in Churchill’s “Secret Circle,” to whom he turns in the hardest moments.
The Splendid and the Vile takes readers out of today’s political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership, when, in the face of unrelenting horror, Churchill’s eloquence, courage, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together.
historical-places-events, historical-research, history, nonfiction, Great Britain I wouldn’t normally read a book about Churchill because of his causing the Anzac massacre at Gallipoli, but this author is known for meticulous research and crediting.
This intense scrutiny of the man, his aides and allies, family, and the people of Great Britain during a time for the space of a year when they were under fire in every sense of the word. Hitler and his minions were going about their murderous business, France fell, and the Americans had their heads in the sand.
This book humanizes not only Churchill but those around him as well. I was surprised to find myself reading on for long periods of time. It’s that well written. I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crown Publishing via NetGalley.
Erik Larson writes of one year in London, and though non fiction it reads as the most gripping thriller. Churchill comes alive in all his eccentricities, brilliance, courage and human emotions. I giggled, I sighed, I gripped hands until my knuckles were white, I cried , and I rejoiced, Larson draws these emotions forth as one feels they are living in the moment of the Blitz.
Scenes shift swiftly from the War Cabinet rooms in London to Goering and Hitler in their evil planning and strategies meetings. It is a great chunk of history in a most delicious presentation. I could not wait for the next chapter.
This is history with a secret camera , a classic in the making. Cannot recommend enough strongly for those who love history. I felt at the end, that I loved WSC more ,and was grateful that he was there at that time and in that place.
Erik Larson’s newest book, The Splendid and the Vile, is a wonderful look inside Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister during WW II. Prior to this book I had a general idea of Churchill through documentaries and videos of speeches he made.
This book however makes you feel like you get to know the Churchill’s on a more personal level. You can’t help but care and love both Churchill as well as those closest to him. Larson is able to take a lot of information and make it interesting and readable.
I love the short chapters as well, they made me feel like I was reading one of Churchill’s minutes. I would absolutely recommend not only this book, but all of Larson’s books.
The National Book Award–winning biography that tells the story of how young Teddy Roosevelt transformed himself from a sickly boy into the vigorous man who would become a war hero and ultimately president of the United States, told by master historian David McCullough.
Mornings on Horseback is the brilliant biography of the young Theodore Roosevelt. Hailed as “a masterpiece” (John A. Gable, Newsday), it is the winner of the Los Angeles Times 1981 Book Prize for Biography and the National Book Award for Biography.
Written by David McCullough, the author of Truman, this is the story of a remarkable little boy, seriously handicapped by recurrent and almost fatal asthma attacks, and his struggle to manhood: an amazing metamorphosis seen in the context of the very uncommon household in which he was raised.
The father is the first Theodore Roosevelt, a figure of unbounded energy, enormously attractive and selfless, a god in the eyes of his small, frail namesake. The mother, Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt, is a Southerner and a celebrated beauty, but also considerably more, which the book makes clear as never before.
There are sisters Anna and Corinne, brother Elliott (who becomes the father of Eleanor Roosevelt), and the lovely, tragic Alice Lee, TR’s first love. All are brought to life to make “a beautifully told story, filled with fresh detail” (The New York Times Book Review).
A book to be read on many levels, it is at once an enthralling story, a brilliant social history and a work of important scholarship which does away with several old myths and breaks entirely new ground.
It is a book about life intensely lived, about family love and loyalty, about grief and courage, about “blessed” mornings on horseback beneath the wide blue skies of the Badlands.
This book is an excellent introduction to the early life of the 26th US President, Theodore Roosevelt. It paints a powerful look at the influences of family, health, environment and culture on the development of the president who almost single-handedly invented the modern presidency.
There is a little too much on all the ins and ours of Roosevelt’s childhood asthma but the author wants you to understand the terrible toll that this illness took on young Teedie as he was called and how it shaped his perception of life, death and permanence.
As a card-carrying member of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, www. theodoreroosevelt. org, I can vouch for the author’s ability to put you into the day-to-day life of this man who did more in 59 short years than any 10 other people do in 80 years.
Highly recommend. See the wikipedia. org article on Theodore Roosevelt which is one of the best single sources on TR. Keith Simon Major USMCR (Ret).
I am attempting to read all 46 Presidential biographies in order. This one had a lot of insight of Teddys childhood. Which made it more fun and interesting to me.
If there was any one man who articulated the anger the struggle and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s that man was Malxolm X. His autobiography is now an established classic of modern America a book that expresses like none other the crucial truth about our times.
Extraordinary. A brilliant painful important book.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Al Hajj Malik Shabazz; is straight forward book. This book shows the power of the human spirit, and the good that is in everyone, to transcend negative and demeaning life circumstances, and to attain a righteous, and worthwhile life living in fear of the Creator.
This is whether you call that Creator God, or Allah SWT. Malcolm X, came from a disastrous family history, that not only destroyed his family, his faith, and his belief in the possibility of goodness in life.
Not withstanding, all of this eliminated his hope for better in his future. He was told, he could only hope to live a marginal life, so he did. That was until he heard the message from someone who helped, him establish feelings of goodness and potential in himself.
And don’t many need this encouragement to begin a new life. Read this book objectively, listening to your heart, and not just this man’s early actions. He was a man who loved, loved his people and wanted the very best for them.
After a long journey and much soul searching, Malcolm learned that indeed all men are brothers in humanity, to be judged by their actions and not preconceived notions. If he could change, anyone can.
Read this boo with an open heart, and it will change your heart.
The story vividly describes how Malcom powered through adversity and overcame all the social prejudices to fight for his cause, and free his people from the mental enslavement they were living. The book has valuable tips on social reform, business, economics, history, self development and much more.
It is indeed the inspiring to follow the journey of a man as he escapes from the lowest levels of self respect and climbs up the social ladder to become and unsung hero and a agent of change for generations to follow.
A truth seeker who was assassinated just as he landed on truth. A genuinely captivating read, would highly recommend.
Being penned by a skilled author, from countless hours of interviews, it reads like an exiting novel. So, no risk of history being boring. In fact, it is a little bit shocking. But most of all, the understanding and insight we can gain from this book should be mandatory for all who have not lived such a frightening life themselves.
Sir Winston Churchill remains a British hero, lauded for his oratorical skill. He wrote histories, biographies, memoirs, and even a novel, while his journalism, speeches and broadcasts run to millions of words.
From 1940 he inspired and united the British people and guided their war effort. Behind the public figure, however, was a man of vast humanity and enormous wit. His most famous speeches and sayings have passed into history but many of his aphorisms, puns and jokes are less well known.
This enchanting collection brings together hundreds of his wittiest remarks as a record of all that was best about this endearing, conceited, talented and wildly funny Englishman. Also available in the series:(9781782433651) The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II(9781782435426) The Wicked Wit of Oscar Wilde(9781782435662) The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen.
I loved this book about the wit of Winston Churchill. He was a very witty and amusing person. The kind of book that you can pick up and put down at any time. I will keep on re-reading it. The book was not new but excellent value and in fabulous condition.
I would recommend to anyone with an interest in this great wartime leader.
Gives an insight into Winston S Churchill”s clever and resourceful brain at the same time revealing the splendid character he was. The book is in excellent condition.Very pleased with it.
Raised by unconventional Irish Catholics who knew “how to drink, how to dance, how to talk, and how to stir up the devil,” Kate Mulgrew grew up with poetry and drama in her bones. But in her mother, a would-be artist burdened by the endless arrival of new babies, young Kate saw the consequences of a dream deferred.
Determined to pursue her own no matter the cost, at 18 she left her small Midwestern town for New York, where, studying with the legendary Stella Adler, she learned the lesson that would define her as an actress: “Use it,” Adler told her.
Whatever disappointment, pain, or anger life throws in your path, channel it into the work. It was a lesson she would need. At twenty-two, just as her career was taking off, she became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter.
Having already signed the adoption papers, she was allowed only a fleeting glimpse of her child. As her star continued to rise, her life became increasingly demanding and fulfilling, a whirlwind of passionate love affairs, life-saving friendships, and bone-crunching work.
By turns irreverent and soulful, laugh-out-loud funny and heart-piercingly sad, BORN WITH TEETH is the breathtaking memoir of a woman who dares to live life to the fullest, on her own terms.
I first saw Kate Mulgrew in a soap called Ryan’s Hope when I was 16 and have followed her thru Star Trek Voyager and more recently Orange is the New Black on Netflex. The story of her life gives insight to her struggles, how she overcame them and how she achieved some of her many accomplishments.
This is an interesting and honest account of the life of a young actress in the late 20th century. Her desire to find the daughter she gave up for adoption is something that touches the reader’s heart.
Two Pulitzer-finalist Wall Street Journal reporters document the true story of how a young social climber orchestrated one of history’s biggest financial heists, exposing the secret nexus of elite wealth, banking, Hollywood, and politics.
Dont trust nobody squire! A fiscal catastrophe but who was guarding the guards? Internal audit, external audit, governmental probity checks … all rubbish … or worse!
Well written & easy to follow what was going on – and so much does. Even though I’ve been following the 1MBD fiasco all along, I had no idea how sly Joh Low really is. Or that people believed him! Stories like this really can’t be made up.
For me it was a page-turner. Now, we have to wait for Joh Low to be caught for the sequel.
Overall a great book that provided an in-depth story of Jho-Low. It did have many characters which made it hard to follow but considering the size of the scheme it is understandable. I would recommend to a friend.
In his most extraordinary book, the bestselling author of Awakenings and “poet laureate of medicine” (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients inhabiting the compelling world of neurological disorders, from those who are no longer able to recognize common objects to those who gain extraordinary new skills.
Featuring a new preface, Oliver Sacks’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat tells the stories of individuals afflicted with perceptual and intellectual disorders: patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; whose limbs seem alien to them; who lack some skills yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents.
In Dr. Sacks’s splendid and sympathetic telling, his patients are deeply human and his tales are studies of struggles against incredible adversity. A great healer, Sacks never loses sight of medicine’s ultimate responsibility: “the suffering, afflicted, fighting human subject.
This is a compelling series of stories of people with neurological issues beautifully described by their doctor, Oliver Sacks, who sadly passed away recently. Some of the stories are beyond belief and Sacks descriptions of some of his encounters is as amazing to him as it is to the reader.
This is not necessarily a reference book; it can be read by anyone; it just shows some of the quirks of human nature – how they present themselves, how they develop and how (in some cases) they can be cured.
This is a very interesting book. My father kept mentioning it, and wanted to give it to me to read, but I finally found it in a second-hand bookstore and was able to purchase it for myself. It’s a good, easy quick read, but I found myself getting disappointed at times.
It’s outdated in parts, and I think it would be worthwhile if it was updated a little with newer information, or if Sacks went and wrote a second novel with the same theme. Furthermore, so many of the stories were brushed over quickly and I didn’t quite grasp what was happening in each case.
I would have also liked some follow up to each story- what happened to the patients, maybe where they are now if they’re still alive, how they dealt with society, that sort of thing. A good read, but lacking in some parts.
The short, anecdotal, chapters allow for very easy reading. Each chapter consists of a different case and while the cases featured are very comprehensive, the prose isn’t oversaturated in medical jargon.
The “engrossing” (Los Angeles Times) biography of one of the greatest fighter pilots in American history is the perfect book for every lover of military history. “It should be required reading for every American citizen.
” –Washington Post John Boyd may be the most remarkable unsung hero in all of American military history. Some remember him as the greatest U. S. fighter pilot ever — the man who, in simulated air-to-air combat, defeated every challenger in less than forty seconds.
Some recall him as the father of our country’s most legendary fighter aircraft — the F-15 and F-16. Still others think of Boyd as the most influential military theorist since Sun Tzu. They know only half the story.
Boyd, more than any other person, saved fighter aviation from the predations of the Strategic Air Command. His manual of fighter tactics changed the way every air force in the world flies and fights.
He discovered a physical theory that forever altered the way fighter planes were designed. Later in life, he developed a theory of military strategy that has been adopted throughout the world and even applied to business models for maximizing efficiency.
And in one of the most startling and unknown stories of modern military history, the Air Force fighter pilot taught the U. S. Marine Corps how to fight war on the ground. His ideas led to America’s swift and decisive victory in the Gulf War and foretold the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
On a personal level, Boyd rarely met a general he couldn’t offend. He was loud, abrasive, and profane. A man of daring, ferocious passion and intractable stubbornness, he was that most American of heroes — a rebel who cared not for his reputation or fortune but for his country.
He was a true patriot, a man who made a career of challenging the shortsighted and self-serving Pentagon bureaucracy. America owes Boyd and his disciples — the six men known as the “Acolytes” — a great debt.
Robert Coram finally brings to light the remarkable story of a man who polarized all who knew him, but who left a legacy that will influence the military — and all of America — for decades to come.
Col John R Boyd is the most significant American, you have never heard of. A favorite paraphrase “you will come to a point in your life where you must decide to be somebody or make a difference. He always choose to make a difference.
He is a bookend to Sun Tzu. He would be very comfortable talking to T. Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Da Vinci, Clausowitz, Wright Brothers. Inventor of the OODA Loop, ME theory. Responsible for the Fighter Mafia in the Pentagon which gave design criteria for the F16.
That led to the F18, F22, F35 by extension. Together with a Marine Col. the changed the maneuver strategy of our ground forces in Gulf War I and all that followed. His OODA loop is taught at all major universities across the USA.
Not a scholar, he didn’t write for journals. But the universities use his ideas. He taught himself calculus. Wrote the book on fighter tactics. Was never defeated in the air in dogfights. He gave 3 day briefing about the OODA Loop.
Those discussions are still ongoing today. Many books are written about him and his ideas. This is long, but an easy fun introduction to Col Boyd. He died in 1997. Was buried at Arlington. The AF sent 1 general to his funeral.
The Marines sent an armed platoon. His collective works are storied and honor at the MarineCorps University, in Quantico VA. Not at the Air University at Maxwell AFB Alabama. Boyd is a great read about a great American.
I have given away copies of this book to friends. He made a difference. A huge difference.
tary with his revolution Reviews John Boyd (1927-1997) was a brilliant and blazingly eccentric person. He was a crackerjack jet fighter pilot, a visionary scholar and an innovative military strategist.
Among other things, Boyd wrote the first manual on jet aerial combat, was primarily responsible for designing the F-15 and the F-16 jet fighters, was a leading voice in the post-Vietnam War military reform movement and shaped the smashingly successful U.
S. military strategy in the Persian Gulf War. His writings and theories on military strategy remain influential today, particularly his concept of the “OODA (Observation, Orientation, Decision, Action) Loop,” which all the military services-and many business strategists-use to this day.
Boyd also was a brash, combative, iconoclastic man, not above insulting his superiors at the Pentagon (both military and civilian); he made enemies (and fiercely loyal acolytes) everywhere he went. His strange, mercurial personality did not mesh with a military career, making his 24 years in the Air Force (1951-1975) difficult professionally and causing serious emotional problems for Boyd’s wife and children.
Coram’s worthy biography is deeply researched and detailed, down to describing the fine technical points of some of Boyd’s theories. A Boyd advocate (he “contributed as much to fighter aviation as any man in the history of the Ai.
From London’s inimitable mayor, Boris Johnson, the New York Times–bestselling story of how Churchill’s eccentric genius shaped not only his world but our own. On the fiftieth anniversary of Churchill’s death, Boris Johnson celebrates the singular brilliance of one of the most important leaders of the twentieth century.
Taking on the myths and misconceptions along with the outsized reality, he portrays—with characteristic wit and passion—a man of contagious bravery, breathtaking eloquence, matchless strategizing, and deep humanity.
Fearless on the battlefield, Churchill had to be ordered by the king to stay out of action on D-day; he pioneered aerial bombing and few could match his experience in organizing violence on a colossal scale, yet he hated war and scorned politicians who had not experienced its horrors.
He was the most famous journalist of his time and perhaps the greatest orator of all time, despite a lisp and the chronic depression he kept at bay by painting. His maneuvering positioned America for entry into World War II, even as it ushered in England’s postwar decline.
His open-mindedness made him a trailblazer in health care, education, and social welfare, though he remained incorrigibly politically incorrect. Most of all, he was a rebuttal to the idea that history is the story of vast and impersonal forces; he is proof that one person—intrepid, ingenious, determined—can make all the difference.
Churchill was a brave and inspirational leader and this book does full justice to his many talents and noble qualities. The book is clearly well researched and this is a very comprehensive account of a great life.
Only one complaint, Boris uses so many pretentious and unusual words, you cannot read it without a dictionary constantly by your side.
Whilst I found the book interesting, I needed a dictionary alongside me to understand a lot of the words. I think that I have a very good grasp and understanding of the English language but there were so many words that I had no idea of what they meant.
I got the feeling that Boris was trying to impress readers with his command of the English language. I found the book interesting but I would not recommend it to anyone.
This book keeps the reader totally enthralled because the the clever way the author writes. It is clear Boris models himself on Churchill and who can blame him, this makes the book so much more interesting especially with Boris about to become PM.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a British statesman, army officer, and writer. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, when he led Britain to victory in the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955.
Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, and a writer (as Winston S. Churchill). He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall body of work.
Churchill was born into the aristocratic family of the Dukes of Marlborough, a branch of the Spencer family. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a charismatic politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer; his mother, Jennie Jerome, was an American socialite.
As a young officer, he saw the Second Boer War and gained fame as a war correspondent and historian. He served in the first years of the First World War, but was removed from command after the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign.
He returned to government service in the First World War, and served as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Air. After the war, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative government from 1924 to 1929, when he was forced to resign due to his opposition to the Keynesian economic policies of the Labour Government.
Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 10 May 1940, eight months after the outbreak of World War II in Europe. He led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured.
After the Conservative Party lost the 1945 general election, he became Leader of the Opposition to the Labour Government. After winning the 1951 general election, he again became Prime Minister, before retiring in 1955.
Churchill is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the twentieth century, and as a key figure in the history of the United Kingdom. Upon his death in 1965, Queen Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of world statesmen in history.
