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Zusatztext Praise for Churchill “From Roy Jenkins's masterly biography! we emerge marveling at the manifold gifts that informed Churchill's genius for leadership...Jenkins proves equal to the daunting scale of his subject.”— Harold Evans! New York Times Book Review “One might wonder whether anything fresh remains to be said about Winston Churchill! but Roy Jenkins uniquely combines the skills of a master biographer with the insights of a practical politician and draws a fresh portrait of the great Englishman with authority! elegance! and wit. This is far and away Churchill's best one-volume biography.”— Arthur Schlesinger! Jr. “This is a splendid addition to Churchillian lore! a chronicle full of revealing personal anecdotes! delightful wartime vignettes! and fascinating new insights into the critical 1939-1945 years.”— Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel “Wryly astute...shrewd.”— The Washington Post “Jenkins catches Churchill’s studied self-inspection with the sure-shot sharpness of an expert portraitist.”— Simon Schama! The New York Review of Books “Churchill stands forth with Shakespearean bravura as the necessary hero for the most testing moment of national (and world) crisis. A satisfying summation of an unsurpassed life.”— The San Diego Union-Tribune “Lord Jenkins of Hillhead is an outstanding biographer...it has the narrative power! sweep and sparkle of the author in his prime.” — The Times Informationen zum Autor Roy Jenkins Klappentext Acclaimed historian Roy Jenkins presents a comprehensive biography of Winston Churchill! an icon of modern history! from his childhood to the critical World War II period and beyond-a New York Times bestseller. "This is a first class! well-sustained work of history and a masterpiece of biography… It will be a brave! not to say foolhardy! author who attempts to write another life of Churchill for at least a decade! perhaps longer."-Andrew Roberts! Sunday Telegraph Roy Jenkins combines unparalleled command of British political history and his own high-level government experience in a narrative account of Churchill's astounding career that is unmatched in its shrewd insights! its unforgettable anecdotes! the clarity of its overarching themes! and the author's nuanced appreciation of his extraordinary subject. Exceptional in its breadth of knowledge and distinguished in its stylish wit and penetrating intelligence! Churchill is one of the finest political biographies of our time. Chapter One A Doubtful Provenance * * * Churchill's provenance was aristocratic, indeed ducal, and some have seen this as the most important key to his whole career. That is unconvincing. Churchill was far too many faceted, idiosyncratic and unpredictable a character to allow himself to be imprisoned by the circumstances of his birth. His devotion to his career and his conviction that he was a man of destiny were far stronger than any class or tribal loyalty. There have been politicians of high duty and honour — Edward Halifax and Alec Douglas-Home immediately spring to mind — who did see life through spectacles much bounded by their landed background. But Churchill was emphatically not among them. Apart from anything else, he never had any land beyond his shaky ownership (and later only occupation) of the 300 acres surrounding Chartwell, the West Kent house only twenty-four miles from London which he bought in 1922 and just managed, with financial subventions from friends, to cling on to for the remaining four decades of his life. The second reason was that the Marlborough heritage was not one which stood very high in esteem, record of public service or secure affluence. The family had a memorable swashbuckling founder in John Churchill, the ...
