CHURCHILL DEFIANT: FIGHTING ON: 1945 - 1955 by Barbara Leaming ( Review by WC)

Publisher:  Harper
Release Date:  October, 2010
Pages:  368

About the Book:

New York Times bestselling biographer Barbara Leaming has written a riveting political drama of the last ten years of Winston Churchill's public life.

In Churchill Defiant, Leaming tells the tumultuous behind-the-scenes story of Churchill's refusal to retire after his 1945 electoral defeat, and the bare-knuckled political and personal battles that ensued. Her ground-breaking biography Jack Kennedy: The Education of a Statesman, was the first to detail Churchill's extraordinary influence on Kennedy's thinking. Now in Churchill Defiant, Leaming gives us a vivid and compelling narrative that sheds fresh light on both the human dimension of Winston Churchill and on the struggles and achievements of his final years. At last, in Leaming's eloquent account, we understand the tangled web of personal relationships and rivalries, the intricate interplay of past and present, the looming sense of history that makes the story of these years as fascinating as anything in the extraordinary century-long saga of Winston Churchill's life.


WC's Review:
When Churchill and the Conservative Party were voted out in 1945 at the end of the war, the Prime Minister was stunned. He viewed it as a slap in the face after his extensive efforts to rally England through the London Blitzkreig and on to Allied victory. After all, was he not the first to recognize the evil of Hitler and then of Stalin?
Like all great leaders, Churchill truly thought the future of Great Britain lie with his skilled leadership. And like all great statesmen, Churchill held no compunction in manipulating Anthony Eden, Lord Salisbury, Harold Macmillan, Truman, and later Eisenhower, to assume his rightful position as world leader.
A great, informative narrative of what transpired after the war to end all wars.  5 Stars

About the Author:  Barbara Leaming

Barbara Leaming is the author of two New York Times bestselling biographies and three New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Her most recent book, a biography of John F. Kennedy, focused on the influence of British history and culture on the thirty-fifth president. She was the first to write extensively about the extraordinary influence of Winston Churchill on Kennedy's intellectual formation and political strategies. Her articles have appeared in many publications in the United States and Europe, including the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and the Times of London. She is married and lives in Connecticut.