The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

Churchill's story is astounding when viewed across the span of the 20th Century. Manchester's first volume in this trilogy was a masterpiece. It made me realize how much enjoyment there was in biography. I had to read this volume to complete the trilogy. While it was compelling at times, it was not

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Manchester. I don't understand how so little time was devoted to WSC's postwar years.

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This book was terribly disappointing after reading Manchester's two prior volumes. It is in no way Manchester's writing. It misses the drama by loading on one detail after another, most of which are irrelevant. I hated this book because I had expected so much better. I now know the tragedy of

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Manchester dying and supposedly passing the baton to Mr. Reid. It's like a 10.5 second 100-yard dash man passing the baton to someone who takes five minutes to cover the next 100 yards. Mr. Reid may be a fine journalist; he has no capacity to turn history into life.
Al Butzel

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This is the tthird and final volume of the Chruchill biography, completed by Paul Reid after Manchester died June 1, 2004. It is a stunning work and tells well (if at too great length) of Churchill'ti's time after June 1940, including his stellar role when Britain stood alone and of the Blitz, of

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the role Churchill played when Hitler attacked Russia, and when the Japs attacked the U.S. There is much on the planning of operations in the war--and of the sometimes nutty ideas Churchioll had for what the allies should do--land on Sumatra, on Norway, etc. Fortuantely when the U.S. insisted on the Normandy invasion Churchill gave it full support. The conferences at Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam are discussed fully and well. The period after Churchil lost the election in July 1945 is full of interest, and is covered well but not too much. This is a great completion of the work on a towering figure in all his greatness and his not so greatness. The only error I noted is that on page 810 the book says Senator Russell Long in 1943 said the U.S. was a global sucker--but Long did not become a Seantor till 1948 (when he was 30) and he was from Louisiana.

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Very entertaining reading. Paul Reid took on a dangerous task in finishing another author's work, and in this case a highly anticipated conclusion. Reid did a fine job and gave us closure on this particular take on Winston Churchill. The treatment of British politics and government is not the

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strong suit of this book but does not detract meaningfully. The eccentricities of WSCs character are treated in an even-handed way, not glossed over or blown out of proportion. Excellent book.

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There does not seem to be an ebook version of this book. Shame.

It covers the last part of Churchill's life but not with the verve of volumes I and II.

This is the third volume of a detailed biography of Churchill. It begins with his becoming Prime Minister in 1940 and assuming all the burdens of war. The book itself is very detailed; it is possible because Churchill's life was so well documented. I enjoyed the author's style, but the reader

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should be warned that it is very dense. I personally like that. I wish there were more biographies like this.

Churchill was an unusual person, but his eccentricities probably allowed him to win the war, from what I can see. Something I didn't know that I learned: the Germans kept an elite force -- and all the supplies and logistics -- in Norway to protect the industry there. And this force never saw real combat during WWII, even during the dark final days.

Highly recommended, even if you've read other Churchill biographies. You'll learn something new, I guarantee it.

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Great book about even greater man.

After a lifetime striving to obtain the greatest political office one can achieve, you are faced with one of the greatest military threats your nation as ever had to deal with. The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965 is the final volume William Manchester’s

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biographical trilogy that was finished by Paul Reid that covers the five years that define Churchill to the world.

While title of the book indicates that it will cover the last quarter-century of Churchill’s life—and it does—almost 90% covers his tenure in 10 Downing Street from his ascension to Prime Minister through V-E Day almost 5 years to the day. Reid using Manchester’s established research and interviews as well as adding his own follows the path Winston Churchill had to tread both militarily as Britain’s war leader to defend the Home Islands from invasion as well as the outlying possessions that sustained the Home Islands in food and material while getting whatever assistance he can from the United States over the course a year until the German invasion of the Soviet Union followed later by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Now with powerful allies, though now with another war on the other side of the world, Churchill’s problems were not solved but only multiplied as different strategic and post-war visions from the Soviet Union and the United States as well as their contributions to the overall war effort soon eclipsed that of the British not only in the war but in the eventual peace. The last tenth of the book dealt most with Churchill’s time as leader of the opposition to Attlee’s Labour government that came to power after the July 1945 election while also being considered the greatest statesmen in the world at the same. But once he achieved his goal of obtaining 10 Downing through the ballot box, but ill-health and that change in American and Soviet leaderships sent the rapidly freezing Cold War out of his hands diplomatically while his long-time loyal supporters looked ease him out but not in a way that would cause massive public dissatisfaction of backstabbing him. The last ten years of his life after his resignation are covered in about as many pages with a sadness of the inevitable but how he remained himself until the end.

While the first two volumes of this biographical trilogy gave showcased Churchill’s path towards his “date with destiny”, this was the volume anyone interested in Churchill was interested in. Looking from an American point-of-view at Churchill’s leadership role along with his various decisions and reactions that saw the war from British point-of-view gave a greater scope to the vast conflict, especially in the overall European theater. The personal and political relationships between Churchill to both Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin on one level to various British and American military commanders on another while also being a political leader on the home front showed the numerous plates that he had to spin, many times without success when it came to various strategic plans especially in Italy and the Balkans the latter of which would shape the early Cold War. Reid and Manchester, from an American point-of-view, took on the myth of Churchill’s opposition to D-Day that Eisenhower and other propagated especially when facts bore out that Churchill’s insistence that Montgomery review the initial plans that resulted in the Overlord plan that took place on June 6 in which Churchill wholeheartedly supported. The surprising fact that the “warmonger” Churchill attempted throughout his second premiership to organize a summit early in the hardening Cold War with the threat of atomic then nuclear war—one with only losers and no winners—beginning to loom large was a surprise and often overlooked.

Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965 portrays the Churchill of 1940 when Britain stood alone in which he is remember by history then follows the rest of his war years in detail, especially how the greatest empire in history at the beginning of the war would be the distant third major war power at the end of it. The research of both William Manchester and Paul Reid brings into focus for the reader the short-term and long-term military decisions Churchill dealt with as well as numerous political realities he had to either fight or acquiesce to throughout the war years and later upon his post-war premiership.

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An extraordinary book in an extraordinary series. Manchester is a master story teller with one of history's bravest and most heroic figures. Just as he did with his first volume, the first chapter of the Last Lion presents a slice Churchill's life. Read it and you won't want to quit. Churchill

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stood alone against the Nazis when the rest of the world had either surrendored, collaberated or ignored the Nazis. Imagine the world if he hadn't kept to his committment to "never, never, never surrendor."

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I thought Paul Reid did a good job finishing up this last volume. This book contains tons of detail on WWII relationships between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, strategy on various fronts, and tidbits of personal details. The military strategy probably was the least engaging part for me, but I

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did have a lot of aha moments as gaps in my knowledge were filled about how WWII was related to the Cold War, the Korean War, and Vietnam. My favorite part was when Churchill was bathing naked in Florida, circled by a shark, and said that his bulk scared it into deeper water.

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Just as good as Manchester's first two volumes. If there wasn't a whole bunch of hoopla about Reid continuing for the deceased Manchester, you would never know Manchester didn't write it. Very good. Thorough. Interesting. Since it is longer by itself than most full-life, one-volume biographies of

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Churchill, there is a lot more detail, explanation, and coverage. For instance, most bios of Churchill talk about 1940, the Blitz, then skip to El-Alamein and proceed on through the Second World War. In this you realize how precarious Britain's situation, and thus Churchill's government, was in 1940, 1941, and into much of 1942. Britain almost lost. Churchill almost lost. Western Civilization as we know it almost lost. Churchill, and Britain's, determination and faith in ultimate victory were paramount and among the most important things in the history of the 20th century. Lots of good quotes and anecdotes. Okay images. Okay maps. The first two volumes had maps or timelines on the endpapers. Little, Brown and Company, as is the modern wont, skimped on such beauty in this volume: blank endpapers. Good nots, bib, and index. A fine conclusion to a rightly justified classic trilogy. This set is incased in a fine slipcase box. Worth buying whole.

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