My Early Life: 1874-1904 - Softcover

Churchill, Winston

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684823454 ISBN 13: 9780684823454

Publisher: Scribner, 1996

Synopsis

Here, in his own words, are the fascinating first thirty years in the life of one of the most provocative and compelling leaders of the twentieth century: Winston Churchill.

As a visionary, statesman, and historian, and the most eloquent spokesman against Nazi Germany, Winston Churchill was one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century. In this autobiography, Churchill recalls his childhood, his schooling, his years as a war correspondent in South Africa during the Boer War, and his first forays into politics as a member of Parliament. My Early Life not only gives readers insights into the shaping of a great leader but, as Churchill himself wrote, “a picture of a vanished age.” To fully understand Winston Churchill and his times, My Early Life is essential reading.

About this title

Review:

The voice of a vanished England speaks from the pages of Winston Churchill's evocative memoir of his first 30 years (1874-1904). The young Churchill inhabits a world in which men fight like hell in meaningless colonial wars--India, Egypt, South Africa--soldiering across the imperial map then extending the hand of friendship to their erstwhile enemy as if they were schoolmates at Harrow. Yet Churchill, born into a privileged family, was not an uncritical supporter of the Victorian status quo. He himself loathed Harrow; an especially amusing chapter skewers the school's emphasis on an irrelevant classical education and rote learning. A firm Tory, he considered himself a friend of the working class, and in 1899 campaigned for parliament with a Socialist colleague. Looking back from his vantage point of 1930, Churchill expresses the most attractive values of the English aristocracy--honor, loyalty, fair play--without giving the impression he wants to live in the past. The book's appeal also stems from its magisterial but colloquial prose. Anyone familiar with recordings of Churchill's rousing speeches during Word War II will hear in their minds' ears that growling timbre and unmistakably patrician accent as they read. Though he would have preferred the peace prize, My Early Life offers good evidence that Churchill's 1953 Nobel for literature was aptly awarded. --Wendy Smith

About the Author:

Winston Churchill (1874–1965) was prime minister of Great Britain from 1940–1945 and 1951–1955. A prolific writer, whose works include The Second World War and A History of the English Speaking Peoples, Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0684823454
• ISBN 13: 9780684823454
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400