Reading List

Table of Contents

ISBN:

039541055X

Format:

Paperback, 752 pages

Publish Date:

May, 1986

Publisher:

50

Other Format(s):

HC, E-book

Winston Churchill was not only one of the towering statesmen of the 20th century (indeed, to many he remains “the Man of the Century”); he also happened to be a masterful writer as well. His epic six-volume history of World War II ranks among the greatest historical works ever penned – both for the uniquely top-level insider perspectives of its author and for its brilliant, elegant prose. It all begins here with The Gathering Storm, which chronicles the fate of Europe in the aftermath of World War I, and how international complacency allowed Hitler and the Nazis to rise from the ashes of a defeated Germany to threaten the world. Churchill, of course, was at the time a voice crying in the wilderness. His warnings of pending Nazi belligerence went unheeded for too long, and his frustration at it all comes through in the retelling, giving the narrative even more of an edge. He himself summed up the book’s theme succinctly: “How the English-speaking people through their unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature allowed the wicked to rearm.” And the New York Times summed up this work’s value beautifully: “It is our immense good fortune that a man who presided over this crisis in history is able to turn the action he lived through into enduring literature.” All five subsequent volumes – Their Finest Hour, The Grand Alliance, The Hinge of Fate, Closing the Ring, and Triumph and Tragedy – are equally highly recommended.

It perhaps goes without saying that, in terms of stellar leadership examples, an officer could do no better than to look to Winston Churchill. He was sounding the clarion call when no one would listen, he stuck to his guns even when it made him unpopular to do so, and he led with conviction when the darkest days in history descended on his beloved homeland. He was one of the great ones, and to read him is akin to having a one-on-one conversation with him.