Churchill

If anyone is wondering whether it is worthwhile to spend a day and a half of your life listening to this biography, I would answer resoundingly yes. Whatever your own political affiliations, Churchill remains a fascinating character and his biography is inextricably woven in with the history of the last century. Roy Jenkins is an excellent biographer: this is neither hagiography nor hatchet job.The narrative is clear and constantly interesting , the judgements on people and events are shrewd and judicious. In particular, as might be expected Jenkins is a masterly guide to the workings of the British political system. Robert Whitfield's reading is most competent: his Churchill imitation is only passable, but proves to be valuable as not the least pleasure of the book is the generous quotation of Churchill's own words from letters and speeches. No contemporary politician comes anywhere near his mastery of English. A measure of this biography's success is that it does not seem long or overdetailed despite its length. There are many biographies of Churchill -some even longer, others more concise -but this account of Jenkins impresses me as a fair-minded guide and a work worthy of its subject.

If anyone is wondering whether it is worthwhile to spend a day and a half of your life listening to this biography, I would answer resoundingly yes. Whatever your own political affiliations, Churchill remains a fascinating character and his biography is inextricably woven in with the history of the last century. Roy Jenkins is an excellent biographer: this is neither hagiography nor hatchet job.The narrative is clear and constantly interesting , the judgements on people and events are shrewd and judicious. In particular, as might be expected Jenkins is a masterly guide to the workings of the British political system. Robert Whitfield's reading is most competent: his Churchill imitation is only passable, but proves to be valuable as not the least pleasure of the book is the generous quotation of Churchill's own words from letters and speeches. No contemporary politician comes anywhere near his mastery of English. A measure of this biography's success is that it does not seem long or overdetailed despite its length. There are many biographies of Churchill -some even longer, others more concise -but this account of Jenkins impresses me as a fair-minded guide and a work worthy of its subject.

A fine and measured reading of Jenkins' inpeccable prose. The book may be too long for many, but it makes an excellent summary of British and European history in the first half of the 20th century through the career of Churchill.

I read this book when it was first published and very much enjoyed it and it translates very well to audiobook - narration is excellent, perfectly paced with characters brought vividly to life.

Roy Jenkins presents a very believable and admiring portrait of Churchill - warts as well as genius. What amazed me when I first read the book, and now, is Churchill's indefatigable self confidence and energy. I am not sure that he was blessed with that much greater brains than the rest of us, but his courage, commitment, inexhaustible energy and vision is truly astonishing - it is hard not to compare to the current lot of politicians and find the latter severely wanting. And Roy Jenkins' prose is direct and readable.

I know it's 37 hours long but the journey is well worth the time!

As a single book description of Churchill's life, this is an excellent biography. As a politician himself, Roy Jenkins analysis of Churchill is inciteful and always interesting.

This is a biography that will allow you to better understand one of the 20th Century's most important leaders.

Really interesting. The besy audio book I have bought and worth every penny. Robert Whitfield is a very easy voice to listen to and Roy Jenkins has covered all the angles. I cannot rate it highly enough.

To do justice to the life of one of the Greatest Ever Politicians of our times is a difficult feet but Roy Jenkins in the main achieves this, I am certain that some will feel that perhaps too much attention is given to the art of politics but given the Authors background it is unsurprising. All in all it is an excellent Potrait of a Great Man and the Narrator does a fine job. A bargain and well worth the time.

I have never read/listened to a biography that was so immensely filled with well-written, well-researched and entertaining information as this one.



Be prepared to spend the time on this book - it is a very long biography of a man with a very long and extremely full life that changed the course of history for so many of us.



Jenkins' style of writing is a joy to listen to and expertly read by Robert Whitfield (who is unknown to me) - brimming with helpful and elegant interpretation and ever adding snippets of information setting the tone or background of a particular event, the part played by a side character, or simply filling in to help history-weak readers like myself.



Jenkins is rather ((too?) discrete about the darker moments in Churchill's life, but they are there, as they should be in a proper biography.



Little, often humourous, comments are interspersed thorughout the book - much appreciated.



As I have not read other biographies on Churchill, I am unable to make comparisons. Suffice it to say that I have enjoyed "meeting" Sir Winston in this way (I have been through it two - and partly three - times so far) and can wholeheartedly recommend it. Interested in Churchill? - read it! Interested in history? - read it! Just wanting to be entertained while being inspired by a great statesman? Enjoy!

Roy Jenkins has produced what could well be the definitive biography of Winston Churchill. Others may produce more detailed works on particular aspects of his career, notably the period of his premiership during the Second World War, but this is probably the best covering his whole life.



Jenkins uses his long experience as a politician who held some of the highest offices of state, though he never made it to Number 10, to analyse various aspects of Churchill's political career. Churchill was of course far more than a politician, having also written a number of highly praised histories and biographies, and here too Jenkins has no little experience to add.



This is no hagiography - Churchill was a great, but of course not a perfect, man and Jenkins does not shy away from his faults. But it is also not a revisionist history - the author greatly admires his subject and this is clear throughout the book. I found it to be a very fair account.



The narrator does an excellent job with this lengthy work and I happily listened to the complete audiobook, enjoying the whole experience. Five stars from me for this magisterial work on one of the greatest men to have ever lived.

I was a young schoolboy during Churchill's last administration. His speeches and deeds resonated through my childhood, and the popular culture rang with praise and admiration for him. As I grew up I began to realise that he had not always been the figure of national reverence that he became in later life, but up until his death he remained a largely unquestioned icon of his times.



Roy Jenkins, although a political opponent, and coming from a later generation, nevertheless gives a well-researched and sympathetic account of his life and career. There is sometimes, for me at any rate, a little too much information on political and social facts of the time, but to those who are younger and less well acquainted with the politics and society of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries I'm sure this background would be helpful.



Robert Whitfield's reading, for me, is nigh on perfect. His accent and tone is perhaps to a modern listener a little antique, but it blends well in my ear with the era and habits of the people who are being described. It is always difficult to strike a balance between doing an imitation of Churchill's unique delivery and diction, which can all too easily become a sort of comic parody, and simply reading his words in a normal speaking voice. I think here the balance has been well struck. It is clear when Churchill is being quoted, the words are spoken in a voice approaching his accent and intonation, but the style does not approach mimicry.



All in all, this is an informative, complete, and entertaining account of a long and eventful life of a man who was arguably the greatest British statesman of his generation, if not his century. A life, moreover, which affected British, European and World history to the profound benefit of succeeding generations.