Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Winston Churchill: A Captivating Guide to the Life of Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill: A Captivating Guide to the Life of Winston Churchill
jjares avatar reviewed on + 3284 more book reviews


When Winston Churchill died, I was in high school and remember the funeral on television. Because I was born after WWII, I didn't know much about this man. However, over the years, I continue to bump into his name and some of his achievements. So I was delighted to read his story. The first thing out of the box, I found out Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.

I was surprised to see that Churchill's mental health was treated so early in the book. As a licensed professional counselor, I doubt that he could have done so much in his life if he were bipolar. However, many people learn how to thrive in spite of having Attention-Deficit Disorder or clinical depression. They learn to work very hard in the periods between the depressive states.

It is interesting that Churchill realized in India that he thrived on chaos. That's a useful skill to have for a leader. From reading this, it is obvious that Churchill wasn't right all the time and he seemed to have made some rather glaring errors in judgment. For that, Winston was sent into the 'wilderness,' (out of the government). During WWII, it is a good thing that Churchill didn't need much sleep and he thrived on chaos because he didn't get much of one and plenty of the other.

Churchill was the mediator between Stalin and FDR. It is quite a comment on Winston's longevity, the fact that he was the only member of parliament to get elected during Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth's reigns. Winston had a 4-day funeral; Queen Elizabeth ordered his body to lie in Westminster Hall for 3 days and 350 million people watched his funeral on television. Even for Americans, Churchill's voice is easily recognized. This was a fascinating story of a unique man.