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  • Churchill

  • Walking with Destiny
  • By: Andrew Roberts
  • Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
  • Length: 50 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (1,014 ratings)
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Churchill cover art

Churchill

By: Andrew Roberts
Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin. 

Winston Churchill towers over every other figure in 20th-century British history. By the time of his death at the age of 90 in 1965, many thought him to be the greatest man in the world. 

There have been over a thousand previous biographies of Churchill. Andrew Roberts now draws on over 40 new sources, including the private diaries of King George VI, used in no previous Churchill biography, to depict him more intimately and persuasively than any of its predecessors. Masterfully narrated by Stephen Thorne, this audiobook in no way conceals Churchill's faults, and it allows the listener to appreciate his virtues and character in full: his titanic capacity for work (and drink), his ability see the big picture, his willingness to take risks and insistence on being where the action was, his good humour even in the most desperate circumstances, the breadth and strength of his friendships and his extraordinary propensity to burst into tears at unexpected moments. Above all, it shows us the wellsprings of his personality - his lifelong desire to please his father (even long after his father's death) but aristocratic disdain for the opinions of almost everyone else, his love of the British Empire, his sense of history and its connection to the present.

During the Second World War, Churchill summoned a particular scientist to see him several times for technical advice. 'It was the same whenever we met', wrote the young man. 'I had a feeling of being recharged by a source of living power.' Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's emissary, wrote, 'Wherever he was, there was a battlefront.' Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Churchill's essential partner in strategy and most severe critic in private, wrote in his diary, 'I thank God I was given such an opportunity of working alongside such a man, and of having my eyes opened to the fact that occasionally such supermen exist on this earth.'

©2018 Andrew Roberts (P)2018 Penguin Audio

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GLORIOUS! ROBERT'S SPECTACULAR LIFE OF CHURCHILL

Well this was always going to be great book, and among the many who are already fans of the substantial body of work by Andrew Roberts, expectations ran high. After his fabulous & most decidedly definitive biography of Napoleon Bonaparte the pressure to do justice to the 20th Centuries Giant among leaders. This reader was prepared to be entertained, enchanted, maddened by turns at Churchill's incredible power to gather a following, his imaginative attempts to 'try something different' which, as with all efforts to risk a new idea, are not always successful. In one particular case Churchill's initiative led to the Dardanelles debâcle which should be seem as a perfectly legitimate effort at breaking the horrific stalemate along the 500 miles of a barely budging Western Front, he chose the wrong commanding officer for the offensive, and the whole enterprise was undermined by those whom he had put in charge on the ground. Churchill himself would not tolerate ex-post-facto-rationalisation. amd did the decent thing. He fought in the trenches on that Hellish Battlefield in the West. There are few who can match the lyrical though spacious prose, Roberts produces his best writing without losing any of the narrative drive needed to keep this epic to one volume. I have bought this book in every format and enjoy listening to it on audible despite having read it twice. Pick any page and even a reader with little or no knowledge of Churchill will almost certainly become absorbed and drawn in to this beautifully written, well-paced, and for me flawless work. I have read many biographies on Churchill, and a large number of these were excellent. Andrew Roberts has achieved a near miracle by writing a life of Churchill that feels as though it were my first introduction to the Great Man and Walking with Destiny. Enjoy! This is the biography of 2018/19

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13 people found this helpful

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Brilliantly Told

As a 93 year old and former soldier in the 14th Army I found the details of what took place in the corridors of power during my time I the Far East fascinating. The reader using a fairly close imitation of Churchill’s voice and manner of speaking one could almost hear the man himself.

Brilliant and very enjoyable.

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9 people found this helpful

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Churchill, warts and all.

This is a well researched and beautifully written book. The author is obviously a fan of Churchill and unfortunately this shows through too strongly at times.
The book is particularly good on Churchill ‘s early life and we get a deep insight into Churchill ‘a character some of which is unpleasant.
A worthwhile read for anyone who wants to understand what made Churchill tick but not quite up to the objective standard of the Jenkins biography

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7 people found this helpful

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A Truly Remarkable Book

Not the eulogy I was expecting. A real warts and all examination of one of the most extraordinary men of the 20th Century. This book is a belter, a barnstormer, a really magnificent work of scholarship and presentation

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6 people found this helpful

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I was surprised, were you surprised?

I was shocked as to how Sir Winston behaved throughout his life, however it takes nothing away from the fact that he single handily against all odds and the rest of the world at some points, saved our little island. He’d be horrified to see it today.

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Chapter headings one out

The chapter listing is one out of sync with the narrator , really annoying and didn’t realise until 10 mins in , thinking I’ve listened to this. I.e shows chapter 4 , and narrator says 3 and so on .

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4 people found this helpful

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Detailed account of Churchill's life but long

When I purchased this I missed it was 50 hours of listening and with the same narrator!
After 2 to 3 hours I nearly gave up to be honest. But a bit like Churchill I persisted and set myself a challenge to finish it.
Due to the length and every little detail talked about you end up missing the important parts due to zoning out which was a shame. It could easily be condensed to 10 hours or less.
However it is very informative and once you commit to the 50 hours you learn a lot of British history. Balanced account of Churchill and I was sad when it finished.

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50 hours and 160,000 cigars later...

An extraordinary achievement. I loved the summing up that included the stat that of 3,000 students polled in 2008 20% thought that Churchill was a fictitious character. That he has descended into myth already is a testament to the remarkable span of his life.

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50+ hours of pure pleasure

A stunning book. The reader impersonates the characters perfectly too. The book has great references from different sources and gives a brilliant overview of Churchills life. I will be listening to this again soon.

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Wonderful, just wonderful.

On the 30th of January 1965, at the age of 9, I witnessed my coal man father weep uncontrollably for the only time in his life as we watched Churchills funeral on our black and white television; now, at last, I fully understand why.
Lovingly narrated by Stephen Thorne and beautifully written by Andrew Roberts; thank you gentlemen, so very, very much.

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