BOOKS ON AND BY WINSTON CHURCHILL

Marlborough: His Life and Times, Book 1, Winston S. Churchill, 2003 reissue, 1050 pages. One of Churchill's great historical works, written to restore the fame and reputation of his most famous ancestor. This two volume edition contains the entire text, written while Churchill was in the political wilderness during the 1930s.

Marlborough: His Life and Times, Book 2, Winston S. Churchill, 2002 reissue, 1080 pages. The second half of this two volume reissue of Winston Churchill's great biography of his ancestor.

The Second World War: I: The Gathering Storm, Winston S. Churchill. The first volume of one of the classic histories of the Second World War. Churchill was close to the centre of many of the events covered in this book, although he did not become Prime Minister until the very end of the period covered. The first half of this book looks at the rise of Hitler and the road to war, while the second half covers the invasion of Poland, the Phoney War and the campaign in Norway, before finishing with the events that took Churchill into No. 10 [see more]

The Second World War: III: The Grand Alliance, Winston S. Churchill. Book Three of Churchill's grand history of the Second World War covers the events of 1941. Britain started the year fighting alone against Hitler's Germany, but ended it as part of the Grand Alliance with the United States and the Soviet Union. Despite this generally positive theme, this was a dark period, with Pearl Harbor and the rapid Japanese conquests in the east, and massive German gains in Russia [see more].

Churchill – The Liberal Reformer: The Struggle for a Modern Home Office, Duncan Marlor. Looks at Churchill’s time as Home Secretary in 1910-11, the first of his three Great Offices of State (followed by Chanceller and Prime Minister). Covers the main controversies of his time in this massive role, but focuses on his role as a prisoner reformer and views on imprisonment in general. Shows that he was a geninuly liberal prisoner reformer, who believed that too many people were in prison, that conditions were too harsh, and actually managed to do something about both of these issues during his relatively short time in the role. (Read Full Review)

Winston Churchill, Peter Caddick-Adams. A useful short biography of Winston Churchill, focusing as one might expect largely on his wartime leadership, and making the argument that his experiences during the First World War played a major part in the eventual victory in the Second World War, as Churchill had to face many of the same issues in both wars. A good short biography of Churchill (Read Full Review)

Churchill - Master and Commander, Anthony Tucker-Jones. Focuses on Churchill’s military experiences looking at his brief but adventurous career in the British Army, military experiences as a journalist (sometimes overlapping), his First World War era experiences as First Lord of the Admiralty, an active commander on the Western Front, and return to politics as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Minister of Air, and most famously his time as Second World War Prime Minister (Read Full Review)

How Churchill Waged War - The Most Challenging Decisions of the Second World War, Allen Packwood. Looks at how Churchill operated as a war leader, the reasons behind many of his key decisions, the limits on his power and how he dealt with, and his changing level of influence as the war developed. Finishes with a look at his disasterous 1945 election campaign. Looks at his methods of working, and how he interacted with his military and political colleagues and international Allies to make the key decisions (Read Full Review)

Churchill's Wit, The Definitive Collection, ed. Richard M. Langworth. A wide ranging collection of Churchill's wittiest comments, including extracts from his speeches and published works, as well as impromptu quips, all fully referenced and if required set in context. Also included is a good selection of quotes often incorrectly attributed to Churchill, with the correct attribution. [read full review]