The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II: Alone, 1932-1940

The fact that Churchill was so witty, and so right about one big thing, is why I read so much about him. He was a great man, and a racist who did terrible things to people he thought didn’t count, which was most of the human race. His concern was for Britain, always. Manchester is also a pleasure to read: “If the man existed with whom Wallis [Simpson] had enjoyed a platonic friendship, his name is lost to history.”

Manchester's second volume on the life of Churchill is just as good as the first. The recapitulation of his life at the beginning is a good capsule of the first volume, and the opening chapter on a typical 1930s day for Churchill is a prime and excellent example of the biographer's art and narrative history. And it is illuminating to show Churchill the family man and Churchill at work. The tight focus on eight years of Churchill in "the Wilderness," bravely speaking out against the appeasement of Hitler and for the rearming of Britain is detailed, engaging, and instructive. The final realization that Churchill was right in late 1939 and early 1940 provide a perfect denouement, with Churchill's assumption of the Prime Ministership the show more perfect "cliffhanger" for the remainder of his life, and Manchester's long-delayed third volume. As a historian myself, and an appreciator of Churchill's writings, the long passages on Churchill's writing and researching life were entertaining as well. This is rightly considered one of the best works on Churchill. show less

An eloquent voicing crying out in the wilderness a warning of war and dismissed until vindicated when that war begins, the nation and the world towards him as the last shining hope of the war. The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940 is the second volume of William Manchester’s biographical trilogy which deals with Churchill’s life during his political “wilderness” years as Europe slid towards war.

From the outset Manchester indicates that a biography is not just about a person, but also the times that individual lived in. It was a subtle hint that the “wilderness” years of Winston Spencer-Churchill’s political life wouldn’t follow one man be an examination about how the 1930s saw the rise of darkness on show more the continent and the willingness of the British upper class to do everything possible to acquiesce with it in the name of never going to war again. With the rise of Adolf Hitler in 1933, Churchill found his nemesis and began signaling the danger to the British Empire and the peace of Europe to an empty House of Commons for years while challenging the government on preparedness of the armed forces in comparison to Germany, only to be lied to in response and knowing it due to his “spy network” amongst the civil servants and military officers that saw the dangers of the Nazi. During these years, Churchill would write columns and articles in various British media and around the world warning the dangers of the Nazis only to be labeled a warmonger until Hitler set his eyes on territorial expansion and many around the continent looked to him to plead for them in front of the British public while the Nazis would always attack him in their propaganda newspapers and complain to the appeaser British ambassador. In 1936 it seemed that Churchill’s call to action had caught the national mood when suddenly his support of Edward VIII as a person if not his decisions made him the scapegoat to the national anger of the constitutional crisis by the King’s desire to marry Wallis Simpson, thus with the public angry at Churchill the national leadership dismissed his calls for action even as Hitler moved his eyes towards Austria and Czechoslovakia. With the rise of Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister the enabling of Hitler through appeasement and undermining of their alliance with France while discouraging the German military from overthrowing Hitler which would have precluded the start of another war. Once war seemed inevitable as 1939 continued, Churchill’s outsider status for the previous decade and call for preparedness had the public calling for him to in the cabinet something Chamberlain didn’t want to do until he finally had to form a War Cabinet after declaring war. Once again First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill literally led the British war effort as it was the Royal Navy was instantly was fighting the Germans not the Army or Air Force until the Norway and the invasion of the Low Countries in 1940 at which time the Conservative backbenchers and Labour forced Chamberlain to surrender his office and nominating Churchill to George VI.

Covering eight years of a person’s life would not normally take almost 700 pages, but as Manchester implied at the beginning of this book this is more a history of the times almost as much as it was a biography. Though Churchill is the focus throughout, the lives and actions of Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain, Adolf Hitler, and many others are covered especially in their reactions to and from Churchill. Manchester’s bias against “the Men of Munich” is overwhelmingly apparent though as an individual who fought in the war—admittedly in the Pacific—it shouldn’t surprise the reader that a veteran would not shine a good light on someone who kowtowed to Hitler’s wishes instead of having a spine. The political drama surrounding Chamberlain’s loss of support in the House and the rise of Churchill even in the shadow of the German invasion of the Low Countries is literally the best part of the book even though the reader knows the outcomes, how the two were both independent of one another though both played off one another.

Alone, 1932-1940 portrays the low ebb of Winston Churchill’s political and real life as all his eloquence falls not on deaf years but those who simply do not care until it is too late. William Manchester not only follows Churchill’s life during these eight years, but also the nation and the world he was living in and those in power that allowed Europe to go to war twenty years after the last one. Today we think it was inevitable that Churchill would rise to become Prime Minister, but to even Churchill during these years it wasn’t and this book explains why. show less

5001. The Last Lion Winston Spencer Churchill Alone 1932-1940, by William Manchester (read 22 Feb 2013) This second volume of Manchester's superb biography covers the years Churchill was out ot the Government and the time in 1939 and 1940 before he became Prime Minister. It is splendidly written and one stands in dismay to read how dangerous and short-sighted the men opposing Churchill were and how right Churchill was in calling attention to the folly of Baldwin and Chamberlain and those who supported them, The years covered by this book are doleful and can only be borne because one knows that all comes right in the end. While I lived through 1938 and1939 and 1940 with acute attention to the events of those years, I was surprised how show more much I did not know. This book is awesomely engrossing and tells the sad story of those years brilliantly. show less

I finished this book with several thoughts.

1. He was less than perfect. 1 affair, issues with racism (though when you compare him to Hitler and Nazi officials he's positively polite*), his bluntness, inability to live simply... they all are part of this very imperfect being.

2. I don't know the details of Manchester's illness(?) and death, but perhaps that accounts for his struggle to tell the story at times. He would get caught up in what Winston did during Baldwin's ministry and follow it for pages... and then insert a couple of pages regarding family issues that happened 2 years prior. If you're going to write a story chronologically, then tell it chronologically.

3. Unless you or I are perfect, we really can't ask that of other show more human beings. And as a recovering perfectionist, I'd really prefer not to project that on to others. But that means being willing to let go and forgive and that's hard. I really liked [b:Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know|43848929|Talking to Strangers What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know|Malcolm Gladwell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549393502l/43848929._SX50_.jpg|68174561]'s chapter on Chamberlain's visit to Germany.

4. I crave unity and solidarity... almost like I crave food and sleep. Realizing that helped me to understand why some people can be so set in stone about their loyalties. Perhaps it gives them what I don't have because I read and see too much. I devoured the last couple of pages, and would have done so literally if it would have done something for that quivering mass of despair hidden in the corner of my soul, because it was something that leaders** should do and could do... if they understood. But, currently, they don't.

5.(edit) You can't read this book and reports on Hong Kong arrests without starting to see things. Let hope I'm wrong.


*The joke about Gandhi to Halifax was repulsive.
**of both political persuasions. Let's not play favorites, okay? show less

This second volume wasn't quite as entertaining as the first, no boarding school adventures or prison escapes. A very large portion of this book was Winston Churchill repeatedly telling everyone Voldemort was back, and the Ministry of Magic being in denial and smearing his good name. Which was very frustrating to read with hindsight, but at the same time it is easy to imagine that after the horrors of WWI, with 100's of thousands of dead, in muddy trenches where neither army gains a foot of territory for months and years, it would be incomprehensible that any world leader would want to instigate a repeat of that war, and maintaining peace would be so desirable. It was interesting to read, and think about the role of propaganda, Hitler show more with his, but also the need for pro-war propaganda by the allies to gain support to confront the threat of Hitler.

I listened to the Audible version of this book, and thought the narrator's Churchill impression wasn't as good as the narrator of the first volume, but about halfway through I got used to it

The ending was quite rousing and gave me goosebumps.

Another reviewer posted this article that I thought was interesting. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/magazine/the-fan-who-finished-william-manches... show less

This book, second in the trilogy of Winston Churchill s life, could stand alone as a history of the 1930s leading up to WWII. Manchester's pacing is intense, the drama building and building until the German invade France and Churchill finally becomes prime minister. I couldn't put this book down--it's an amazing work of literature as well as of history and biography.