★★★★☆ Tales of derring-do

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932

William Manchester

I read Volumes One and Two of William Manchester's biography of Winston S. Churchill not long after the second was published on 1988. Why not Volume Three? It was not published until 2012 -- Manchester became too ill to complete it -- Volume Three was completed by Paul Reid and published after Manchester's death. Unfortunately, I was not paying attention in 2012. Clearly I should fix this, since the first two volumes are terrific.

I have to admire Manchester's courage in attempting a biography of Churchill. Churchill is not so much admired as worshipped. It is said that when Time Magazine was choosing its Person of the Century, they received queries from the UK government asking for advance notice of the decision to award it to Churchill, so that they could coordinate publicity. It apparently did not occur to them that any choice other than Churchill was possible. In the event, Time named Einstein.

Volume One of the biography was a real eye-opener. That started with the cover photo. Like most of the world I know of Churchill as a stocky aged bald man who used a cane. This cover shows him as a dashing young man in a hussar's uniform! And he had HAIR! This was a young man who believed that heroism was possible. Not just possible, but a real force in the world, and a thing within his personal reach.

And it was. The story of Churchill's exploits in South Africa is as exciting, and almost as absurd-sounding, as any adventure novel for children. He went there as a journalist, deliberately seeking war. He was captured by the Boers and held as a prisoner of war. He escaped.

This volume is not only an exciting story in itself, it helps you understand his later political career.

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