Churchill

Walking with Destiny

By: Andrew Roberts

Narrated by: Stephen Thorne

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

One of The Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Books of 2018
One of The Economist’s Best Books of 2018
One of The New York Times’s Notable Books of 2018

“Unarguably the best single-volume biography of Churchill . . . A brilliant feat of storytelling, monumental in scope, yet put together with tenderness for a man who had always believed that he would be Britain’s savior.” —Wall Street Journal

In this landmark biography of Winston Churchill based on extensive new material, the true genius of the man, statesman and leader can finally be fully seen and understood--by the bestselling, award-winning author of Napoleon and The Last King of America.

When we seek an example of great leaders with unalloyed courage, the person who comes to mind is Winston Churchill: the iconic, visionary war leader immune from the consensus of the day, who stood firmly for his beliefs when everyone doubted him. But how did young Winston become Churchill? What gave him the strength to take on the superior force of Nazi Germany when bombs rained on London and so many others had caved? In Churchill, Andrew Roberts gives readers the full and definitive Winston Churchill, from birth to lasting legacy, as personally revealing as it is compulsively readable.

Roberts gained exclusive access to extensive new material: transcripts of War Cabinet meetings, diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs from Churchill's contemporaries. The Royal Family permitted Roberts--in a first for a Churchill biographer--to read the detailed notes taken by King George VI in his diary after his weekly meetings with Churchill during World War II. This treasure trove of access allows Roberts to understand the man in revelatory new ways, and to identify the hidden forces fueling Churchill's legendary drive.

We think of Churchill as a hero who saved civilization from the evils of Nazism and warned of the grave crimes of Soviet communism, but Roberts's masterwork reveals that he has as much to teach us about the challenges leaders face today--and the fundamental values of courage, tenacity, leadership and moral conviction.

LOVE AND HATE

Man, I loved this listen. I knew of Churchill, being in my 50's, but was curious after watching WW2 documentaries. I wanted to know more about this person. I enthusiastically listened to this audiobook. Must have driven my carpool partner nuts.

I didn't want to listen about someone who was perfect. Churchill certainly was not. In fact, that is why I enjoyed this book so much. He was an enigma. He was polarizing. He did so much right, and so much wrong, but as Roberts states, he was the best wartime politician of the 20th century.

It's weird to think that one person could change history so much. What if? What if he had not become PM? What if Hitler had been negotiated with, only to eventually have an atom bomb? Churchill sniffed it out and was relentless.

I'm not terribly emotional, but felt an overwhelming connection with Churchill. I'm not a hero-worshiper, but now have a hero. I've read many management books, yet this is the best management resource I have read.

I decided to watch The Darkest Hour, and there is a part in the movie where Chamberlain finally removes his hanky from his suit pocket, an apparent sign giving the go-ahead for the conservatives to applaud Winston during a crisis speech. They went nuts; they knew they were not defeated. That is Churchill in a nutshell. He invigorated his peers, his counterparts, and the people of England. To me, the greatest proof that Churchill was a great man, is that Roberts, armed with diaries and material that is now public, provides example after example of Churchill's contemporaries, who stated that even though they didn't like the man or his actions, was in fact, the man for the job - the only man for the job.

When looking for a book on Churchill, I came across the following NYT article, chose this book, and was glad I did:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/books/review/andrew-roberts-churchill-winston-biography.html

It turns out that Churchill was the most fascinating person that I have ever read about, and have a new slogan for myself, "Be like Churchill."

Superb

Incredible story
Delightfully told
Life in all its glory
Lived by great hero
Winston Churchill

Exceptional figure, book felt too long

I enjoyed the book, but felt it is a bit too long and sometimes overdetailed (and repeating) on matters that don't contribute too much to understanding the story or the figure.

Beautiful, spellbinding

It is hard to relate how good this is (and what value) - a 50 hour book that you really don’t want to end. It really is for me the standard bearer for audio books. In the middle of lockdown, facing challenges as we have, to have this in the background was just profound, inspiring and often gripping. So well is the first part of Churchill’s life told, that I was almost concerned that the war part could not reach the same high points. But there the story takes off in new directions. Powerful and ultimately spellbinding.

Cherub or challenge

Well narrated biography by an English reader with special voice for Churchhill's numerous quotes. He was the man of the hour in WW2 but had many learning opportunities beforehand. Recommended read of a great man with a balanced report of his checkered performance. His humility and humor held the honor of many friends and foes.