Book Description

Part One Of Two Parts

It is hard to imagine anything new about Churchill. But in this life of the young lion, William Manchester brings us fresh encounters and anecdotes. Alive with examples of Churchill's early powers, THE LAST LION entertains and instructs.

"Manchester is not only master of detail, but also of `the big picture.'...I daresay most Americans reading THE LAST LION will relish it immensely." (National Review) ... Read more

Reviews (48)

Volume 1 of the life of Winston Spencer Churchill
"The Last Lion: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932," is the first of William Manchester's projected three-volume biography of Winston Spencer Churchill. I found it a superbly crafted, supremely well researched account of the first 58 years of the life of the 20th century's greatest statesman. With wit and candor, Manchester chronicles Churchill from his earliest days as the neglected and troublesome first child of Lord Randolph Churchill and his American-born wife, Jennie, to his entry into the political "wilderness" over home rule in India in 1932. Manchester's portrait of his subject is balanced and objective; we see Churchill at his finest: a courageous (almost to the point of foolhardiness) army officer, and later a gifted Member of Parliament who became one of the youngest Cabinet ministers in British history. We also see him at his worst: a Cabinet minister with appalling political judgment at times, quick to meddle in other ministers' affairs while neglecting his own, and with an uncanny ability to alienate not only his political foes, but almost all his political allies as well.

In addition to a wonderfully written chronology of Churchill's life, Manchester provides an overview of the times in which Churchill lived. I was fascinated by the author's account of Victorian England -- its culture, its mores, and its view of itself in the world. The sections which describe Churchill's times make highly entertaining and absorbing reading by themselves.

"The Last Lion: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932," clearly shows why William Manchester is one of the pre-eminent biographers at work today. The book is written with obviously meticulous scholarship, insightful analysis, and crisp, sparkling prose; I have yet to find a better account of Churchill's life. Now, if only Mr. Manchester would give us that third volume . . .

Arguably the greatest biography ever written
I was already a huge Churchill fan when I decided to read this book. The first book I had read on him was Gilbert's one volume condensed version of the official biography. But nothing could prepare me for how wonderfully written this book was. Just as many others have said, I read the introduction and became hooked. I have yet to find another modern author with a talent for writting as great as Manchester's.

What makes these two volumes great is that they really portray Churchill as a human being--he isn't simply the man who saved Great Britain (and arguably Western Civilization) from the Nazis. He was man with human strengths and human weaknesses--just like all of us. Manchester never loses sight of this throughout his work. He stresses the man's faults just as much as he stresses his strengths. In addition to this, both volumes--particularly the first one--give the reader an idea of what the world around Churchill was like. The prelude of Vol. I, for example, doesn't even mention Churchill until the very end, when he is born. Rather, it tells of what Victorian Britain was like up to the man's birth in 1874.

One sad event to note, however: for many, many years there has been speculation about when Mr. Manchester will publish the third and final volume. I can say with absolute certainty that the third volume will NEVER come about.

The Man of the Century
Manchester's work is extraordinary and a journey into the making of a great leader of the world that was the 20th century.

Churchill was a man of vision and he was molded in his early years. Manchester makes a case for his growth coming in the Boar War period.

There is a beginning of greatness. Manchester introduces us to the world that formed this great man.

Understand the most Remarkable Man of the 20th Century
This is an excellent book on the first half of the life of a truly exceptional man. Mr Manchester's book deals with Winston's early life and his rise to power and fame. I particularly liked the vignettes about life at the turn of the century; the social situation, the class struggle, the morals of the upper and the working classes.

Just reading it makes you feel somehow inadequate against the intellectual brilliance, courage and sheer energy of the subject.

It would have merited a full five star rating but for two faults. It should have been shorter. It as if every single little titbit of information had to be written out in full, rather than filtered through the critical intellect that Mr Manchester undoubtedly possesses. Instead, he quotes too many letters, reports and speeches in full when his job as a biographer was to summarise them.

The second fault was Mr Manchester's tendency to lionise his subject. Brilliant he may have been, but a bit more acknowledgement of Winston's faults would have made him more human and reachable.

But this is nitpicking. Overall the book is a good read on a subject well worth reading about.

Read both books - Best history/biography ever!
Many lists say the best historical biography is "Disraeli" by Blake. This is better. Way better.

The only author that has ever kept me glued to a book as much as Manchester's is Michael Crichton. It's odd to compare a biography to Jurassic Park, but Manchester makes history come alive. He spends a lot of time and care setting the "culture" in a way that is not pedantic or boring (unlike some Civil War histories I've read!). And then he builds on Churchill's stories in a way that makes you feel like you're in Churchill's shoes, with the same issues and challenges.

Unfortunately, there is no Volume 3 about the war years. Manchester's illness prevented this. What a sad loss to history.

Read Vol 1 and 2. You won't regret it. ... Read more

Book Description

Hailed by Time magazine as "a fascinating . . . rich, energetic American story," this extraordinary biography will transform America's perception of Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter left the White House in January 1981, defeated in his bid for reelection and rejected by the American public--but hardly broken. Outside the Oval Office, with a commitment rarely seen in an ex-president, he was more determined than ever to complete his life's mission: the achievement of world peace.

With unique access to the Carter archives and to the man himself, award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley brings us this unprecedented biography of the former President. Here are penetrating observations of Carter's complex relationships with such world figures as Mikhail Gorbachev, Deng Xiaoping, Margaret Thatcher, Fidel Castro, and Yasir Arafat, as well as his associations with the presidents who have succeeded him. Brinkley also reassesses the achievements of Carter's underrated White House tenure--the Camp David accords, Panama Canal treaties, and his championing of human rights. The Unfinished Presidency is the definitive portrait of this formidable world statesman.

--Brinkley is a regular commentator on NPR and his articles have appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, and Foreign Policy

"A thoroughly sourced intimate portrait of one of the country's most respected ex-presidents."--USA Today ... Read more

Reviews (15)

The Unfinished Presidency
This was and excellent book, focusing on President Carter's life after his 1980 loss to Ronald Regan. The president allowed the author, who had complete access to President Carter's records, to interview him several times. Thus the author was able to gain tremendous insight into Carter's personality.

From his involvement in Habitat for Humanity to his efforts in the Middle East Peace Process, the author beautify weaves the character of Jimmy Carter with historical events. The book reads with the ease of fiction.

An enjoyable, contemporary history about a unique individual, it was a pleasure to read.

Very Well Written, Informative Book!
If you are even slighly interested the post-presidential career of Jimmy Carter, this book is a great work of art! I knew that President Carter was a hard working, great man; I just did not realize How Hard Working, Caring, and Diligent President Carter actually is. He is defintely a man that is a great role model for all people that are interested in running for a political office, or wish to live peacefully on planet earth. Mr Brinkley does a fabulous side of pulling us in to the Carters' world, educating us, and entertaining us. This is a GREAT book!

Never count a good man out.
Regardless of how one feels about Jimmy Carter the fact is that he has become one of the most admired men in the United States and one of the most beloved Americans in the world. He left office after being voted out in a landslide and with some of the worst poll numbers in history. Now, his poll numbers are very high and any time a conservation turns to Carter someone will almost certainly say that they think Carter is the best ex-President we have ever had or the most moral man to have been in the White House in years and years. This turn around occurred in less than twenty years, and that the turn around occurred is a fact not open to question. The real question is; how and why did it happen?

That's the question Douglas Brinkley attempts to answer with this book. Brinkley basically starts with Carter's 1980 defeat and follows Carter's career for the next twenty years. On this journey the reader will meet Jimmy Carter the Baptist missionary, the Habitat carpenter, the lay physician out to heal the world, and the ex-President who refuses to profit from his former office but is at the same time a tireless fund raiser for his Carter Center. We also get to see the tireless diplomat who is willing to put himself in great personal danger to try and secure a peaceful resolution to conflicts around the world. This is truly a man who takes to heart his faith and the teachings of Jesus Christ. On the other hand we also see a somewhat darker side of the former peanut farmer. We see an ego as big as all outdoors, a tendency to grandstand, a self-righteous zealot, and a serious stubborn streak. The reader will also find a great clue in Carter's post presidency to the failure of his administration. The aforementioned faults of course did not help his presidential efforts but it may well have been his inability to prioritize that lead to his political downfall. It seems that Carter will give small details and events the same attention he gives to massive undertakings without taking into account the real importance of the event. One can easily see how a President with this trait would very quickly become bogged down and accomplish very little.

Brinkley does an excellent job of telling this remarkable story. He had access to both President and Mrs. Carter along with their papers and also did many interviews with their fellow workers and friends. Interestingly, many of the people who had worked with Carter on some of his projects critiqued some of the draft chapters and pointed out mistakes. Make no mistake, most of these people are Carter intimates but steadfast Republican James Baker is also among those who offered both insights and critiques. The writing style that is found in this book is generally easy to read although the narrative does seem to drag in places. The biggest fault I could find in this book is the printing. I read the paperback version and the printing is tiny. I suppose that in discussing Jimmy Carter, Biblical type print is understandable but it still hurts the eyes. Still, this book is well worth the effort so break out the bifocals and enjoy.

The Carter Presidency through the prism of time
Not only has Jimmy Carter accomplished prodigiously since he was president, but his acts and deeds, and that of his partner Rosalynn, reflect a different view of his acts and deeds as president. We did not know him well as he appeared from out of nowhere as a one term Georgia governor to become president, and we easily and readily attributed acts to the usual political acts of the usual politician who occupies the office of president. We now know he was not a usual politician, but a man of integrity and character and values who reflected the best of the values and character of the American people. Doug Brinkley's book reflects well much of the details of the past past twenty years, although not the most recent. Bless Carter's energy and his commitment to cut against the grain and speak the essential truths of his mind, guided by the strongest of values and his deep character.

Response to critical reviewer
I believe that most of the other reviews reflect my opinion of the book, and the man. While he has his flaws, ego not being the least of them, he has done more in his post-presidency than virtually any other individual who has held that office in the last century. What I would like to point out, however, is that the one very negative review below has false or grossly misleading statements in it. Far from supporting Daniel Ortega, Jimmy Carter was the person who persuaded the former President and Sandinista leader to concede his electoral defeat, very likely averting a civil war. Almost every scholar and political analyst will tell you that Carter also helped avert a potentially devastating war on the Korean Peninsula by his travel there in 1994. I suspect that many leaders, while they may be reluctant to admit it, take his advice deadly seriously. ... Read more

Book Description

Bill Clinton, forty-second president of the United States, is the quintessential baby boomer: on the one hand blessed with a near-genius IQ, on the other, beset by character flaws that made his presidency a veritable soap opera of high ideals, distressing incompetence, model financial stewardship, and domestic misbehavior. In an era of cultural civil war, the Clinton administration fed the public an almost daily diet of scandal and misfortune.

Who is Bill Clinton, though, and how did this baby-boom saga begin? Clinton’s upbringing in Arkansas and his student years at Georgetown, Oxford, and Yale universities help us to see his life not only as a personal story but as the story of modern America.

Behind the closed doors of the house on the hill above Park Avenue in Hot Springs, the struggle between Clinton’s stepfather and mother became ultimately unbearable, causing Virginia to move out and divorce Roger Clinton. Dreading confrontation, Bill Clinton excelled in almost every field save athletics. But the fabled success of the scholarship boy would be marred by the decisions he came to make regarding Vietnam and military service—choices that haunt him to this day.

We watch with a mixture of alarm, fascination, and awe as Bill Clinton does so much that is right—and so much that is wrong. He sets his cap for the star student at Yale, young Hillary Rodham, seducing her with his dreams of a better America and an aw-shucks grin. Wherever he goes, he charms and disarms—young and old, men and women...and more women. He becomes a law professor straight out of college; he contests a congressional election in his twenties—and almost wins it. He becomes attorney general of his state and within two years is set to become the youngest-ever governor of Arkansas, at only thirty-two.

Yet, always, there is a curse, a drive toward personal self-destruction—and with that the destruction of all those who are helping him on his legendary path. His affair with Gennifer Flowers strains his marriage and later nearly scuttles his bid for the presidency. He is thrown out of the governor’s office after only one term and suffers a life-shaking crisis of confidence. Though with the stalwart help of a female chief of staff he regains his crown, it is clear that Bill Clinton’s charismatic career is a ceaseless tightrope walk above the forces that threaten to pull him down—the most potent of them residing in his own being.

Imbued with sympathy, deep intelligence, and the storyteller’s art, this extraordinary biography helps us, at last, to understand the real Bill Clinton as he stumbles and withdraws from the 1988 presidential nomination race but enters it four years later, to make one of the most astonishing bids for the presidency in the twentieth century: the climax of this gripping political, social, and scandalous journey. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

TERRIFIC READ!!!!!!!!
I have read the critical reviews of this book. I cannot disagree with them more. To understand this man Bill Clinton, you need to analyze his psyche. You have to understand what drives him and motivates him. In this book Nigel Hamilton allows us the special opportunity to really understand Bill Clinton and how his mind works. Sex, is it a big part of this book?? YES. Is it a big part of Bill Clinton's life?? YES. It is appropriate. I also found the brevity with which Nigel wrote each chapter relieving and really left me wanting more. Bill Clinton is an amazing man and we learn that in this book. I am a huge fan of his and was waiting for an author to write a book that really tried to explain Bill Clinton's mind and how he managed to be so successful. This book does that. Thank you Nigel. CLINTON 04!!!!!!!!!

Engaging but flawed
Engaging but flawed--something one could say with equal confidence about this book and about its subject. Bill Clinton is a fascinating, appealing, brilliant, larger-than-life character with tremendous gifts and profound weaknesses. Nigel Hamilton's new biography--the first of two parts (like his earlier, much-acclaimed JFK: Reckless Youth, the sequel to which has yet to appear)--is full of fascinating information and suggestive analysis, but, like Bill Clinton, it is imperfect.

To begin with the obvious: this is a thoughtfully written, carefully researched examination of Bill Clinton's first forty-six years (it ends with the 1992 election). It helps the reader understand not only Clinton but also his times: Hamilton's subtitle, An American Journey, points to the book's focus. It depicts Clinton as a representative American of his generation, a man whose individual career mirrors the collective career of the Baby Boomers he so ably represented--in the minds of enthusiasts and detractors alike. As an Englishman, Hamilton brings an outsider's perspective to bear on American culture, politics, and history. He helps us get to know Bill Clinton and the many fascinating people who have surrounded him, from Arkansas senator William Fulbright (pictured in a memorably testy moment on the campaign trail) to Hillary Rodham (equally testy) to Gennifer Flowers. Hamilton enriches our understanding of issues and personalities alike. It's a must-read for anyone interested in Bill Clinton, in American politics, or in the Baby Boom generation and the cultural transformation American has undergone during its ascendancy.

The book is flawed, though, in at least three ways.

First, Hamilton's usually invaluable outsider perspective sometimes gets him in trouble, as when he confuses liberal stalwart Eugene McCarthy with anti-communist witch-hunger Joe McCarthy (126) or characterizes "Whittier [home of Richard Nixon] and the Pedernales [stomping ground of Lyndon Johnson]" as among Clinton's (and Cliff Jackson's) "law school texts" (254).

Second, the book may have been written too early. By Hamilton's own admission, he has had to rely to a significant extent on published sources. Others might prove more available in a few years (and will, we can only hope, help to inform the second volume of this two-volume biography).

Third, Hamilton seems to be on a mission to justify Clinton's sexual behavior as an outcome of an irresistible evolutionary logic. He returns repeatedly to flaccid sociobiological explanations of the sexual choices of Clinton and men like him (e.g., "Feminists in particular deplored and rejected patriarchal libertinism, however much it might still be part of man's ancient, evolutionary makeup. Nonfeminist women, emboldened by changing attitudes toward equality between the sexes, also failed to take account of men's genetically determined promiscuity" [322-3]). Those readers skeptical of sociobiology will find this refrain tiring--a distraction from a generally first-rate book.

Our 42nd President, His Life And Times
This is the best biography of President Clinton yet published. Nigel Hamilton covers Clinton's life up to his election in November 1992. He does a great job of describing Clinton's background, parentage, and early years. I realized for the first time (and I have read numerous Clinton studies) just how poor and unprivileged a background the President came from, and how truly remarkable it was that anyone with so many strikes agaisnt him rose so far so quickly. Hamilton also provides some interesting psychological insights into Clinton's well known moral weaknesses and failings, so that the reader gets a better understanding of this enormously complex (and very human) individual. Hamilton does an excellent job of covering the historic events which influenced Clinton's growth, so that this is not just a biography, but a history of modern America and the world.

Clinton phobics will not enjoy this book because it is truly "fair and balanced." But if you are looking for the truth, and would like some insights into President Clinton before reading his own memoirs, this book is an excellent beginning.

Simply Awful
Did Kitty Kelley write this book? Hamilton writes more about Clinton's penis than his politics. Pages of psycho-babble, rumors and quotes from an all-time Clinton enemies list.
I cannot believe this author is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts. This book should be avoided by anyone, both Clinton haters and Clinton admirers, who is looking for a good biography of Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton--The National Enquirer Version
Love him or hate him, Bill Clinton is a fascinating character. (Full disclosure: I grew up 4 years after and 35 miles south of Clinton in Arkansas. I've never met him, but I know lots of people who have. I was in school at the University of Arkansas when he was a law professor there, and I remember seeing him around town when he ran for Congress in 1974.) How could someone with such outstanding political and personal talents, someone so obviously intelligent-how could a person like that be so stupid? What is it about his background as the child of a single mom, and then of an alcoholic and abusive stepfather, that explains his personal behavior?

Inasmuch as we are ever going to get an answer to that question, we are probably not going to get it from Clinton himself. The ability to see himself honestly is not one of his many talents, so we will have to rely on testimony from others, and on the biographers who collect that testimony for us. The relevant question then becomes: how reliable is the biographer in filtering the material for us, at making sense of what can often be contradictory evidence?

In the case of Nigel Hamilton, I can't say that I completely trust his judgment. He must have read every tell-all tale ever written by anyone who ever spoke to Clinton, and accepts every tale as equally credible. There is no doubt that Clinton's personal life is a mess, but some of the allegations made against him are questionable, at least. In Hamilton's book, you would think that rape and murder allegations are as well-attested as the infamous blue dress.

And then there is his pop-psychologist take on American culture from the '60s to the '90s. Over and over, we are given his version of evolutionary psychology (basically women want one sexual partner while men are driven to spread their seed around-It's not my fault! Evolution made me do it!), and the word "postmodern" is used to describe everything from Jimmy Swaggart to Lorena Bobbitt. Yes, every sleazy press story of the last two decades is in here, with Mr. Hamilton explaining to us what it all means and how it all relates to Bill and Hill.

So is this book worthless? No, not at all. He has interviewed dozens of friends and foes of the Clintons, and quotes extensively from those interviews. And they are fascinating. These interviews are what make the book worth reading. It is as though you got to ask a whole range of people who knew him at all different stages of his life, "What was (or is) he really like?" and then got an earful!

Still, THE book to read is still First In His Class, by Dave Maraniss. Read that first. Then, if you're still curious, read this book. Just keep in mind that you may periodically feel the need to take a shower. ... Read more

Book Description

Churchill took his seat in Parliament in the reign of Queen Victoria, and died when Lyndon Johnson was in his second year as US President.He fought as a solider in four campaigns and as a war correspondent made an epic escape from Boer captivity.He wrote histories, biographies, memoirs, and even a novel, while his journalism, speeches and broadcasts run to millions of words.From 1940 he inspired and united the British people and guided their war effort.Sir Winston Churchill was also a man of vast humanity and enormous wit.His most famous speeches and sayings have passed into history, but many of his aphorisms, puns and jokes are less well known.This enchanting collection brings together hundreds of his wittiest and wickedest quips in a tribute to this lovable, infuriatingly conceited, wildly funny, and brilliantly talented Englishman. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent! A must for all who study the man and the language
The title of my review had simply told what I wanna say. Churchill is such a famous person of wit and words. That's beyond argument. Therefore it's not a difficult job for the editor-author to pick and pack Churchill's words, with some short sentences telling the background of each, into a thin book. Anyway, he did it alright.

I would like to pick some of my favorite quotes for your reference. Hope you like them and can share my feelings of how brilliant Churchill. and also indirectly, this book is.

1. "Trying to maintain good relations with a Communist is like wooing a crocodile. You do not know whether to tickle it under the chin or beat it over the head. When it opens its mouth, you cannot tell whether it is trying to smile or preparing to eat you up."

2. "No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeeed, it has been said that Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

3. "You will never get to the end of the journey if you stop to buy a stone at every dog that barks."

4. "Virtuous motives, trammelled by inertia and timidity, are no match for armed and resolute wickedness."

5. "What if I had said, instead of "We shall fight on the beaches", "Hostilities will be engaged with our adversary on the coastal perimeter?".

and......many other invaluable quotes. In short, a must buy.

No One Is More Frequently Quoted
I cannot prove empirically that the words above these comments are unimpeachably accurate; I would however wager that were there such a system to track how often the words of one person are quoted by another, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill would rival all competitors. There are many reasons for this position, the length of his life, the events he was in the midst of, and the manner by which he memorialized all he was involved in. In the 100 years The Nobel Prize For Literature has been given out, it has been given only 6 times to English authors, and he is one of them.

His was born when Queen Victoria sat on the throne of England, and he died when President Lyndon Johnson was serving his second year as President of The United States. There were very few years he was not in the public's eye, and very few moments he was out of the midst of current events. Even the so called, "wilderness years", would become integral in his being prepared to defend The Western Democracies from the threats posed by WWII, and the men who left England horribly exposed. It is too much to say that his words alone carried England through her finest and darkest hours, but that his words were integral cannot be argued.

Sir Winston was a great believer in reading the quotations of history's great personages and then following those quotes through to more detailed biographies. Like Disraeli before him who stated one should read biography to learn history, Churchill often took the very same path. He was never concerned with how History would view him, for has often been quoted he stated, "I will write it". Write it he did, and even if he had not, with his words so ever present in the speeches of those who are in the public arena, and writers of all genres whether fiction or non-fiction, this man would never have been forgotten by History.

There are seemingly endless books about Churchill and collections of wide varieties of his utterances. As a person who has read many of these books, I can say confidently that this pocket size version is well worth your while, contains many of his better known bon mots, and while specific wording will vary with those that record his words from a variety of sources, I found only one or two that seemed to turn a word differently than I had read before.

Few lives have stretched nearly a century, fewer still a century as dramatic as the 20th. He was there for the sunset of the 19th, the dawn of the 20th, and as his lengthy life allowed him to experience the majority of the tumultuous 20th Century. The History of our World has seen few like him, and with our modern penchant for destroying those in one moment who we hold in such tenuous esteem only a breath before, it may be a very long time until his kind is seen once again. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Winston Churchill was querulous, childish, self-indulgent, and difficult, writes English historian Roy Jenkins. But he was also brilliant, tenacious, and capable--in short, "the greatest human being ever to occupy 10 Downing Street." Jenkins's book stands as the best single-volume biography of Churchill in recent years.

Marked by the author's wide experience writing on British leaders such as Balfour and Gladstone and his tenure as a member of Parliament, his book adds much to the vast library of works on Churchill. While acknowledging his subject's prickly nature, Jenkins credits Churchill for, among other things, recognizing far earlier than his peers the dangers of Hitler's regime. He praises Churchill for his leadership during the war years, especially at the outset, when England stood alone and in imminent danger of defeat. He also examines Churchill's struggle to forge political consensus to meet that desperate crisis, and he sheds new light on Churchill's postwar decline. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (79)

ONE OF THE BEST ONE- VOLUME BIOGRAPHIES OF SIR W.C.
This book by Roy Jenkins, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, of the Oxford University, member of the House of the Lords and President of the Royal Society of literature is THE BIOGRAPHY of Winston Churchill. Very well written, outstanding in the breadth of material researched and deliciously witty, this one of the best single volume approach to the life of one of the human milestones of the 20th Century.
Unless you have the time and purpose to go through the 8 volumes of the official biography started by Randolph Churchill but really attributable to Sir Martin Gilbert (ed. from 1966 to 1988), you will not be able to get a better factual assessment of the life and deeds of THE PRIME MINISTER par excellence. It covers every important aspect of Churchill's life, and then some. From birth to schooling, his first exposures to war and politics, then early triumphs, despair, resurrection and demise, we get a clear picture of one of the principal players in English politics for almost 60 years.
The book has a very well organized index, for reference purposes. For instance, under Churchill, Sir Winston Spencer, we have subtitles that address topics such as Characteristics and qualities (memory, self-confidence, personal bravery, argumentativeness, etc.) Education, Health, Honors, Military Career, etc. that much facilitate a cross reading of important topics. We derive the impression that in such a difficult task ( a portrait of a man so complex and about whom so many have written) Jenkins has succeeded.
WHY READ THIS BOOK ? This work might be even superior to Jenkins biography about another giant of English politics: Gladstone. This may be just a coincidence, but a double one if we recall the final assessment that Jenkins provides about Churchill:
.."When I started writing this book I thought that Gladstone was, by a narrow margin, the greater man, certainly the more remarkable specimen of humanity. In the course of writing it I have changed my mind. I now put Churchill, with all his idiosyncrasies, his indulgences, his occasional childishness, but also his genius, his tenacity and his persistent ability, right or wrong, successful or unsuccessful, to be larger than life, as the greatest human being ever to occupy 10 Downing Street........"

Political Biography, Lots of Details
Roy Jenkins is probably the perfect scholar to write the definitive biography of Winston Churchill. His credentials are impeccable: as a former Home Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and member of the House of Lords, he has the necessary political insight and knowledge to write the biography. On top of that, he is the author of several well received books on politics, including a biography of Gladstone that won the Whitbread Prize, giving him the literary spurs as well. All of these skills and experiences are evident in the reading of the book. It even has a glossary of parliamentary terms, which I found particularly helpful. There is an abundance of detail in the less famous years of Churchill's life, particularly the years between World War I and Hitler's rise to power. But, there is very little detail about Churchill's pre-political life. Some of the most exciting years were his years in the army, and very little is told about them. However, the detail in the other areas makes up for this. It is mostly a political biography, and not for the faint of heart. With this book, the reader will need Churchill's resolve just to finish it. But, like many other long books, the rewards far outweigh the time put in. It is safe to say that the reader will have a mastery of British politics in the 20th century after reading this book.

Packed With Knowledge!
Perhaps the greatest tribute to the work of author Roy Jenkins is that, at times, he seemed to know what Winston Churchill was actually thinking - and you're pretty sure he's right. When the mind you're reading about belongs to perhaps the greatest Prime Minister in the history of Great Britain, Nobel-prize winner Winston Churchill, that is a pretty impressive accomplishment. Jenkins' biography is essentially unsentimental, and reveals Churchill's idiosyncrasies and errors in an honest manner that serves only to elevate, rather than tarnish, the legacy of the man who rallied the free world to resist the tyranny of National Socialism. Jenkins has written an extraordinary volume which we highly recommends to any student of history.

Excellent Read
First off, its important to note that this is a political biography and focuses on Churchill's career in parliament, not his family or friend relationships. It does not focus much on his childhood or his inner feelings that much. The book is great for giving us a sense of who Churchill was through his speeches and political actions. Its written in a matter of fact style that lets Churchill's penchant for the grandiose come out on its own. Despite its restrained manner, you feel the desperation of the days before and during World War II. You also sense the incredible vision of Churchill to see what would happen and to warn of it, when no one else could see. To his credit, he also demonstrates Churchill's weaknesses/flaws. Overall, a great book!

Well detailed.....perhaps a bit too much so
This book, while well researched, is a tedious read. Overwhelming detail in areas of limited relevance tend to clutter excellent underlying content and compromise big picture issues that demand broad based review. I had to shelve this book after every 150 pages and return to it weeks later. Which begs the question, Why is a biography on one of the most extraordinary characters of the 20th century not more captivating? ... Read more

Book Description

For Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, the transition from the White House to Plains, Georgia, was painful.EVERYTHING TO GAIN is their warm and unpretentious account of their successful adjustment to a new life, full of encouragement and insight for any couple wanting to renew their commitment to each other and to life. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A revealing and inspiring memoir
Collaboratively written by former American President and winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize Jimmy Carter, and his beloved wife and former First Lady, Rosalynn Carter, Everything To Gain: Making The Most Of The Rest Of Your Life is a revealing and inspiring memoir about personal challenges they've had to face and overcome; the satisfaction of their work with Habitat for Humanity; their struggles to promote peace and human rights; and the personal steps they've taken to enjoy physical and spiritual health at home. Everything To Gain is enthusiastically recommended as a deeply rewarding and heartfelt encouragement to living our lives to the fullest.

Everyone Can Learn
... even former Presidents and their First Ladies, as Jimmy and Rosalynn show us in this, their entry in the self-improvement / retirement advice category.

Of course, anybody who's not a Dem is likely to be unwilling to take any such advice from the self-styled peanut farmer and his wife. So, I'm going over my stock of acquaintances, trying to remember who voted for Carter.

The book would make a great gift not just for recent retirees, but also those whose life has just gone through change, whether it be a layoff, a disabling illness, or the death of a spouse.

Sure wish my father had read it, twelve years ago, when my mother died -- so many ideas for him! Instead, he simply curled up in front of the TV.

Jimmy and Rosalynn show how devastated they were by their 1980 defeat, then, step by step, how they rebuilt. Parts of the book delve too far into global health and other policy issues, but chapter after chapter, they introduce new activities, like a flower opening!

If you're tired of fist-pounding self-improvement tomes, here is one that feels like a gentle friend, sitting beside you, arm around your shoulders, sharing the same problems you're having, and showing you several ways out of the "box" you've built for yourself. Read it and relax, then, go out and make the most of the rest of your life -- whether it's the next ten or next fifty years.

Nothing to gain...
Despite the fact that this nearly broke up their marriage, this book is not what I hoped for when I picked it up and began reading. I missed the old Mrs Carter who had a wry story about her life on the campaign trail. I will never forget the many adventures that she detailed in "First Lady from Plains" which is a superior book in every way. The time she was trapped in bathroom stall and had to crawl out of it. Then there was the time when she had to cut her way out when trapped in a car by her seatbelt. Funny stuff and real human interest. If bizarre things can happen to the first lady of the land the can happen to anyone, can't they? The book I wanted to read was a kind of sequel to the masterful "First Lady from Plains." This clearly is not that book, though I hope Mrs. Carter will consider writing it one day real soon. ... Read more

Book Description

John Lukacs has spent a lifetime considering the complex personality and statesmanship of Winston Churchill. In previous books Lukacs has told the story of Churchill's titanic struggle with Adolf Hitler in the early days of World War II. Now, in Churchill: Visionary. Statesman. Historian., he turns his attention to Churchill the man and visionary statesman.Each chapter of this book provides an essential portrait of Churchill. Lukacs treats Churchill's vital relationships with Stalin, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower, as well as his complex, farsighted political vision concerning the coming of World War II and the Cold War.Lukacs also assesses Churchill's abilities as a historian looking backward into the origins of the conflicts of which he was so much a part. In addition, the author examines the often contradictory ways Churchill has been perceived by critics and admirers alike.

The last chapter is a powerful and deeply moving evocation of the three days Lukacs spent in London attending Churchill's funeral in 1965. In Churchill: Visionary. Statesman. Historian., Lukacs deftly sets forth the essence of this towering figure of twentieth-century history with the consummate mastery of a great historian. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The Ever-Lasting Appeal of Churchill
John Lukas clearly states at the beginning of his short book that his collection of essays is neither a biography nor a scholarly study of Winston Spencer Churchill (pg. xiii). Therefore, potential readers of Lukas' book who do not know anything about the key milestones in the life and career of Churchill should not start here. These readers can read books such as "Churchill a Life", "Churchill a Study in Greatness", "Clementine Churchill The Biography of a Marriage", "Winston and Clementine The Personal Letters of the Churchills" or "The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill" to fill in the most glaring gaps in their knowledge of Churchill for that purpose.

Lukas writes to the attention of an audience who has an unquenchable thirst to know more and more about an individual who remains a source of inspiration to many men and women who stand in the way of barbarity and illiberalism around the world.

Although Lukas is generally sympathetic to Churchill, he is not blind to his major shortcomings: impetuosity, impatience, stubbornness and fancifulness (pg. 4, 154). Furthermore, Lukas reminds his audience in his essay "His Failures. His Critics" that Churchill had accumulated errors and mistakes that Churchill critics and detractors were attributing to his flawed character (pg. 129). For example, Churchill's futile fight against granting Dominion status to India from 1929 to 1935 was perhaps compatible with his imperialist credentials but certainly a clear blemish on his record. As a very experienced politician and knowledgeable historian at that time, Churchill should have known much better (pg. 14-15, 24, 135-136). Therefore, Lukas' collection of essays should not be construed as a shameful hagiography.

Furthermore, Lukas reminds his audience in "Churchill's historianship" and "Churchill the visionary" that Churchill was generally cognizant of the lessons that he could draw from past events to articulate his often-visionary policies while reflecting on and shaping history on his turn (pg. 1-18, 47). Churchill was not only a spectator, but also a key actor and play writer of human comedy (pg. 102).

Lukas also explores the ups and downs that Churchill had in his relationships with other history shapers such as Charles De Gaulle, Dwight Eisenhower, Adolf Hitler, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin (pg. 19-20). Lukas convincingly explains that Churchill was facing an unpalatable choice between a Europe entirely ruled by Nazi Germany or half of Europe dominated by the Communists in case of allied victory (pg. 11, 27-28, 35). Churchill rightly first gave top priority to successfully fighting Hitler to death before trying in vain to stop Stalin in 1944-1945. Unlike some unimaginative people, Churchill understood right at the birth of the Soviet Union that the Bolsheviks should be stopped immediately before they grew into a gathering threat to the world. War-weary, the victors of WWI, unfortunately, gave only half-hearty support to the White Russians in their desperate fight against the Soviets (pg. 23). Once again, long-term pains were the reward for short-term gains.

Some (American) readers will not be very pleased while reading Lukas' unflattering portrait of Eisenhower and the men around him in "Churchill and Eisenhower." As mentioned above, Churchill was definitely right to try to thwart in 1944-1945 the apparently irresistible advance of the Soviets in Central and Eastern Europe. Churchill clearly understood that geography and territory mattered, not ideology (pg. 42). For that reason, the British army met the Russians east of the entry to the Danish peninsula at the request of Churchill in 1945 (pg. 45). Unfortunately, the American leadership did not want to hear anything about it at that time (pg. 35-40, 46). Some European regions such as former East Germany and the Czech Republic should have been eventually spared the murderous and inefficient rule of the former Soviet Union (pg. 43). The Greeks should continue to be very thankful to Churchill for saving them from a communist tyranny (pg. 41, 48).

In his famous, visionary Iron Curtain speech in 1946, Churchill expressed his concern with the murderous, inefficient embrace of Communism in the European regions under Stalin's control. American reception of this historic speech was at best lukewarm (pg. 47). Churchill knew better and was predicting at the end of 1952 that time was not on the side of Communism (pg. 48, 79).

After the death of Stalin in 1953, Churchill, Prime Minister again, could not convince his friend Eisenhower, who in the meantime became President of the U.S.A., of finding some kind of accommodation with the new Soviet leadership (pg. 70, 73-74). Subsequent events proved that Eisenhower was right when he saw no difference after Stalin was gone (pg. 71, 77). Contrary to what Lukas thinks, Eisenhower should not be described as a leader without any vision under the nefarious influence of men such as John Foster Dulles (pg. 79-80). Many western leaders shared Eisenhower's views on this subject (pg. 81-82). The former Soviet Union was not yet in sufficient decline in the early 1950s to negotiate in a position of force with it as world leaders such as President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher understood very well in the 1980s.

A throwaway
And a tolerably worthwhile throwaway, considering Lukacs's knowledge of his subject. If you have decent familiarity with the issues, this book won't weigh you down and it adds nuance to the accepted portrait of Churchill. But this is certainly not an introduction to Churchill and the author's biases, particularly against Eisenhower, mar the presentation. This chafed at me in particular, and I hold no particular brief for Ike. But Lukacs is an historian, yet he swipes at Eisenhower throughout the second half of the book, almost never building an argument but rather using innuendo. He largely assumes that the reader shares his biases, more in the way of punditry than scholarship. I don't regret reading the book, but I am sure I could have made more productive use of the time and money on another Churchill work.

Decent, but not compelling...
For the record, I admire John Lukacs as a historian... However, this thin volume (essentially a collection of mini-essays) doesn't really do much to add to the already abundant amount of Churchill scholarship... Lukacs clearly worships Churchill and therefore the book comes across as a simple hagiography. Lukacs' strength is his ability to spin a narrative while not getting bogged down with excessive facts. However, sometimes he can seem to wander off on rather obscure emotional tangents...

This book is fine as an introduction to Churchill, but for someone who wants a more in-depth look at the great man, I suggest turning to the rather more weighty biographies by Martin Gilbert and Roy Jenkins, or indeed his own earlier, and infinitely more interesting title, "Five Days in London."

Lukacs and Churchill-the love affair continues
John Lukacs is a Catholic anglophile and a conservative Christian Democrat who fled from Hungary at the beginning of the cold war. At the same time he has never forgiven the Republican party right for its refusal to help Britain (and the rest of Europe) at her darkest hour. Winston Churchill has always been his hero. About fifteen years ago Lukacs wrote a book on the 80 day "duel" between Churchill and Hitler in the summer of 1940. A few years ago he wrote a more popular book that looked at ten of those days. This third book concentrates on Churchill, and it is the most disappointing yet.

Lukacs looks at Churchill "the visionary," and his relationships with Stalin, FDR, and Eisenhower. He then discusses appeasement, Churchill's skill as a historian, his failures, and then concludes with his memories of Churchill's funeral. Basically this book is a shallow collection of essays which add nothing to our knowledge of the man. There are not even many telling details or pungent anecdotes. There is nothing wrong in arguing, as Lukacs does, that Churchill was right not to make a deal with Hitler, and that he is not to blame for the fact that postwar Poland was a Communist dictatorship. But most historians have never doubted these matters, and Lukacs has nothing new to add. Lukacs has never really cared for archival research, nor has he really paid much attention to what other scholars say. At one point he states that the Soviet Union was not really interested in defending Czechoslovakia in 1938, nor was it really interested in negotiating an alliance with France and Britain the following years. Perhaps, but it is important to point out that in recent years Hugh Ragsdale and Michael J. Carley have produced well documented arguments to the contrary, and that Lukacs not only does not refute them, he appears to be unaware of their existence. Likewise, the chapter on Eisenhower and Churchill concentrates on Churchill's proposals in 1953 to try to make a deal with the post-Stalin leadership, which Eisenhower peremptorily brushed aside. Was an opportunity to end, or shorten, the cold war carelessly thrown away? Perhaps, but other scholars, such as John W. Young and Jaclyn Stanke, have discussed the issue in far greater detail than Lukacs. Many scholars dislike Stephen Ambrose for his terminus into plagiarism and middlebrow eminence. Notwithstanding that, his argument that Eisenhower and his small armies could not have snatched the honor of taking Berlin from Zhukov's larger forces still stands, and Lukacs does nothing to refute it.

Lukacs exaggerates Churchill's perceptiveness. Contra Lukacs, Churchill's fears of German revenge in 1924 were not boldly original, but a commonplace among the British. It did not take great insight after the 1930 German elections to realize, as Churchill did, that Hitler was an important politician. And Churchill was not alone in 1935 in fearing a possible war from Hitler. The chapter on Churchill's histories is indulgent and complacent, as Lukacs applauds Churchill for his style and memorable image. Unfortunately, this confuses history with journalism, and Lukacs is less informative on this than David Reynolds and J.H. Plumb. Lukacs mentions Churchill's faults, but his account of the Dardanelles fiasco, the catastrophic return to the Gold Standard and Churchill's opposition to Indian independence are brief and apologetic. Christopher Thorne is more accurate on Churchill's bigotry and the price of his imperialist illusions. David Cannadine is far more acute on his awful family who, with the exception of his wife and his daughter, Lady Soames, were incredibly selfish and irresponsible. Cannadine is also acute on Churchill's ignorance of modern day life, noting that Churchill took the underground only once, and he had to be rescued, because he didn't know how to get off.

"Churchill and Hitler were, at any rate, the two protagonists of the dramatic phase of the last war, even though Roosevelt and Stalin played the decisive role in its epic phase, at the end." As a distinction, this does not work very well. Was there nothing dramatic about the defense of Leningrad and the battle of Kursk? But for Lukacs it is important to view the conflict as one between Hitler and Churchill, even though he is well aware that Churchill could not have won without the USA and the USSR. For Churchill is an icon, a symbol of the liberal, aristocratic order. When Churchill saved Britain in 1940 he redeemed this order's honor. One can only contrast with the actual ruling class of interwar Hungary who led that country into a vicious, genocidal war. That contrast is more interesting than anything Lukacs has to say in this book.

Historian as politician and vice versa
About halfway through Lukacs' chapter on Churchill and Eisenhower, I wrote down the phrase I used to title this review. One of the author's missions is to explore how Churchill's study and writing of history shaped his politics, statesmanship, and "vision." And sure enough, just a few dozen pages later, Lukacs himself, modifying a phrase of J.H. Plumb, described Churchill as "a historian-statesman and a statesman-historian" (p. 102).

John Lukacs is himself a great writer and interpreter of history. And though I've read lots of things about Churchill over the years, few historians have impressed me as he has with their ability to synthesize and interpret. By all means, still read the longer biographies -- Gilbert, naturally, as well as Best and Jenkins more recently. But let Lukacs help you sort out what it all means. Among other things, you may well find yourself agreeing with him that Churchill "was not The Last Lion" (p. 17).

Lukacs' description of Churchill as a patriot but not a nationalist (as contrasted with Hitler, who was a nationalist but not a patriot) is also a revealing one -- especially in an era when the two are too easily confused.

Hundreds or thousands of volumes have been written on Churchill as statesman and war leader. But only one (Maurice Ashley's "Churchill as Historian," 1968), plus a few journal articles, have viewed him as a student and writer of history and tried to assess how that affected his other spheres of life. Lukacs views it as central, giving Churchill, as it did, a philosophy of history (p. 123) as well as a world view that allowed him to place events and ideas in their larger historical context (Lukacs sees this as the essential difference between Churchill and Eisenhower).

Given the resurgence of interest in Churchill -- which never entirely wanes, of course -- post-9/11, several of Lukacs' insights and conclusions may come as a surprise, or be considered "controversial": notably, that Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton was less about the dangers posed by communism *per se* than about those inherent in a divided Europe; that Churchill's glory was not that he won a great victory, but rather that he prevented a great defeat; and that in his dealings with Stalin during and after the war, he tried "to save what was possible" (p. 182). This last point Lukacs deploys (in an excellent chapter on Churchill's failures and his critics) against those who hold Churchill to blame for the "loss" of Eastern Europe to communism (through the Machiavellian "percentages deal," for example). Lukacs argues that Churchill recognized there were only two real options: All of Europe dominated by Hitler, or half of Europe dominated by Stalin. There was, Lukacs says, no third way.

Duff Cooper, a Churchillian, once wrote that one of the problems with democracies is that too few democratic leaders have read any history. Lukacs shows how Churchill's own reading and writing prepared him for the challenges of his century. Readers of this book, in turn, emerge with a clearer view, not only of those challenges, but also of The Man of the Century himself. Very highly recommended. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Nobody can accuse James Carville, the strategist for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, of hiding his feelings. "You know something? I don't like Ken Starr. I don't like one damn thing about him. I don't like his politics. I don't like his sanctimony. I don't like his self-piety. I don't like the people he runs with...." And longtime Carville observers know that his dislike's been brewing since Starr was appointed to the independent prosecutor's office back in 1994 by a crony of ultraconservative Senator Jesse Helms to look into alleged financial misconduct on the part of Bill and Hillary Clinton in the Whitewater case.

Carville piles on the evidence for his argument that Starr, with his partisan politics and numerous conflicts of interest, should never have been let anywhere near Whitewater, let alone allowed to pry into the personal relationship that Clinton had with Monica Lewinsky in the mid-'90s. And he stands by his man, commenting, "In my mind, an indiscretion here and an indiscretion there will never amount to a tenth of cruelty." Even those who can't stand Carville's relentless style--who else would have the nerve to ask "What the heck is [Bill Bennett] talking about? Has he completely lost his mind?"--will be hard-pressed to refute the multiple charges of abuse of prosecutorial power. And this is dang sure the only book about the Clinton controversies that includes a mouthwaterin' recipe for brisket. ... Read more

Reviews (35)

Informative and shocking
James Carville, set out to do the same thing he says Ken Starr did Starr, launching a paristan attack. However, James Carville doesn't have supeona power and isn't a government employee. James Carville has the right to be partisan and polimic because he is a private citizen. Ken Starr doesn't have that right because he the Special Prosecutor. I didn't agree with Mr. Carville that the Clinton's committed no crimes in Whitewater, I think that Congress needed to appoint an independent Counsul to investigate it. However after reading this book I certainly don't believe that Ken Starr should ever have been appointed to the post. The conflicts of interests of Starr that Carville documents are too many to count. Whatever you think of Bill Clinton he never should have been hounded by the not-too-Independant Counsul. I'm giving the book four stars because James Carville made many valid points.

Best brief summary of Whitewater in print
How often do you agree with every word of a serious book, while laughing at three-minute intervals? This book is being referred to as a partisan attack on Kenneth Starr, as though "partisan" meant one-sided and unfair. It's neither. It is simply righteously angry (and regularly uproarious). Any fair-minded, decent human being ought to be just as outraged as Carville is by the expense of taxpayer dollars in a waste of shame that Mr. Starr's "investigation" became. In my name as a citizen of this country, a woman was put in jail for 18 months because she refused to *lie* to a grand jury. NOT because she refused to tell the truth, but because she refused to perjure herself. The tactics Mr. Starr used would have been morally questionable in prosecuting the mafia; used in a five-year investigation, not of a crime, but of a man, they were indefensible.

Carville marshalls his facts neatly, punctures his opponents' hypocrisy crisply, characterizes the cast of conspirators accurately, and is far more merciful to his enemies than they were to their enemy, or to the innocent citizens who got in the way of their witch hunt.

This is the compact version of the Whitewater expose that Gene Lyons and Joe Conason have given us in more detailed form. It takes exactly the right irreverent tone about an episode in this country's history that cloaked itself in impenetrable pomposity until the very last moment, when the OIC's report had to be turned in, and it was finally clear what the country had gotten for its money. It got a report in which sex is mentioned 543 times, and Whitewater twice.

It's factual, it's clear, it's funny, and it's right. Bet Mr. Starr wishes he could say any of that about the Starr Report.

Starr Wars
If you are looking at this book then you probably know exactly what this book is about and the tone the author takes. You are probably a Clinton supporter and are looking for a book that gives you some nice facts to reinforce your dislike of old Mr. Starr. Well that is exactly what this book offers, 160 pages of anti Starr. It warmed my heart that there is an author out there that can give as good as he gets and fights back for all the negative anti Clinton smears we have lived with over the years. Is the book full of facts, well they are facts that I want to hear. Are they the whole story? Well probably not, these types of books do not tend to present the full picture, just the picture I want to see, but you probably already know that.

This book delivered what I wanted, anti Starr info. It reinforced my opinion that the whole Star thing was just one long political dirty tricks campaign that old Tricky Dick would have been proud of. I would have liked the author to have also focused some on the Republicans that were full steam ahead on the whole Starr thing and all the bogus themes they came up with to investigate. What is sad is that so much money and time was spent on nothing, but uneducated hatred with the funny part being that most Americans now view the investigation as just a dirty political motivated hate campaign. Overall the book is fun and has a fight back attitude about it. It will only take a few hours to read so you do not feel so bad given the book is more fast food then steak dinner.

he paints the ugly truth about Starr
Me and Carville think the same about Kenneth Starr. Neither one of us like him. When you get through reading this book if you don't agree with us, then you probably don't believe in the principles that made our country. It is mind boggling that people in this country could stoop so low to ensure winning. In some ways they won a scrap, but they lost the big war. Starr professes to be a Christian, but does un-Christian deeds. Carville gives it to you straight and simple and concise. I've read other books and they reaffirm everything that Carville tells us. Starr was no hero and there was no rightful justice served by his witch-hunt. Read it and see if you don't come up with the same opinion of Starr and his antics that we have.

This book has new relevance after election 2000
I have been a fan of Carville for many years, but this is the first book that I have ever read by the Ragin' Cajun. First of all, and with all do respect, his writing style is much more relaxed than his "boiling" over demeanor that we often see on TV. This book is a hilarious but factual description of how Kenneth Starr from the get-go was the vessel of radical conservative movement willing to blatantly subvert the law and the constitution of the United States to bring down and humiliate Bill Clinton and his wife. Meticulous in detail and well documented, the book brings to light the blatant use of the "unbiased" legal system as a political weapon. This abuse will involve many of the same players two years later in the judicial coup of 2000. As if the reader needed additional reminders about the subject of the book, the pages are sporadically peppered with comical mini shots of Ken Starr's mug giving his sanctimonious non-smile or his bogus concerned lip pursing among other poses. This is a great little book, I am glad I found it. ... Read more

Book Description

A stunning and groundbreaking investigation into the death of one of the great rock icons of our time, Kurt Cobain -- revealing new evidence that points to a terrible conclusion. Max Wallace and Ian Halperin have conducted a ten-year crusade for the truth about what happened to Nirvana's former frontman, and in Love & Death they are finally able to present a chilling and convincing case that points to one thing:Kurt Cobain did not commit suicide ... Read more

Reviews (51)

Best book yet!!
As I am reading this book I keep asking myself why Courtney has not been taken into custody & questioned reguarding Kurt's death. The evidence presented from Tom Grant's tapes of Courtney constantly changing her story, among other things, and of Kurt & Courtney's lawyer saying she believed he was murdered leaves me wondering why no one has looked further into the murder theory. After reading Who Killed Kurt Cobain, I believe that Courtney off'd Kurt without a doubt. After reading this book it's incredible that anyone would think Kurt killed himself. Courtney even states on tape that Kurt is worth more dead than alive. Come on people, get your "stuff" together and more actively persue re-opening the case. I am amazed that anyone would believe Courtney didn't have someone kill Kurt after they have read this book. There is way too much evidence and too many unanswered questions to think otherwise. I guess what they say is true, it is possible to get away with murder....

Even if you're not a big Nirvana fan.
I couldn't put this book down from page 1. The pages are filled with evidence to prove that Kurt Cobain was in fact murdered. Even if you've ever entertained the thought that Cobain was indeed murdered, this is a must-read.

Critique of BeenStung's July 3 review
"I've had first-hand experience...good at it."
Yeah. And this book proves it since she contradicts herself a lot (see my other review here).

"I was shocked, however...everyone around her."
Meanwhile her lawyers in the past have foiled attempts to show the film Kurt and Courtney and tried to persuade Halperin (or was it Wallace) to stop talking about this case. They also tried to get Grant's license revoked on some bogus charge. It's not just Courtney trying to keep things under wraps; its her own lawyers who she's paying.

"She recently said...deserves to be punished."
Oh how marvelous of her. She's obviously such a wonderful person now that she's apologizing. She must be innocent of complicity in Kurt's suspicious death. Seriously though, I have a hard time believing what she says about divine justice since she's lied so much already.

"this book contains...the United States."
I fail to see how this refutes the scientific evidence in the book and other odd circumstantial evidence. This reviewer should pick more important battles.

"And Rolling Stone aren't secretly "friends of Courtney "
But they are her friends to the extent that they don't cover the Kurt Cobain case; and they barely cover it. And if I'm wrong about this bit of RS magazine, which I doubt, that has no impact on the scientific and circumstantial oddities of this whole case.

"In their last...become "a series"?"
Embellishment? Yes. But guess what? Courtney is still making self serving calls. That's the bottom line!

"And doesn't it...in her room? She was paying for three separate suites at that hotel, not just one."
So since she could have made the calls from room B or C instead of A she's innocent all of a sudden and no longer deserves to have her behavior examined? Oh please! Such a weak argument!

"Above all...has been disputed."
Yeah, and I can dispute that the earth is round. The point is can I REFUTE it?

"NBC's "Dateline" interviewed...information was inconclusive."
And what were these medical examiners main area of expertise? Was it opiates and toxicity like Denise Marshall or were they like Nikolas Hartshorne in that it wasn't their area of expertise and were just making an uneducated guess? And how ignorant were they of Kurt's severe drop in heroin intake in the last few months of his life since he no longer needed it to cure the stomach pain that had been cured thus making his tolerance level much lower again?

"Other experts noted...recoils on firing."
This is addressed in chapter 9. The 20-guage gun with the jumpback that it had should not have been across his chest the way it was. And plus, what about the three people who handled the gun before Kurt's "suicide"? What happened to their prints?

"And when "Dateline"...of Cobain's writing."
How many times do we have to go through this? It's not a suicide note. Isn't it odd that the only lines that indicate suicide are in a different and bigger style and come after Kurt signed his name? It's also odd that the other lines which only talk about exhaustion with the music business don't seem to match other writing found in Kurt's diary? Richard Lee was on a "Conspiracies" and showed how Kurt's signature in his bank files nowhere near match ANY style of writing found in the note. (this clip can be found on justiceforkurt.com) And what about the odd sheet of practice handwriting samples found in Courtney's purse which are closer to the style of writing in the note at the death scene? Why is the reviewer ignoring this though there is a photo of it in the book?

"The murder...Kurt Cobain's death."
H & W don't deny this was solved. Nor do they deny two men shot him and went to trial for it. In fact, they affirm this in the book.

"Two men were...life in prison."
What the reviewer omits is that witnesses at trial said terry didn't stop for a stranded motorist but was flagged down by two men as he turned onto the exit. Terry also lived long enough to tell that he heard them say, "He's a cop," which is odd since he was in plain clothes. Terry's personnel records were altered to make it seem like he was on-duty when he was shot. This altering has not been explained, but it does prove that those two men being able to identify a plain clothes Terry as a cop is an odd thing.

" In this book, the...doing life in prison? "
Well Courtney MAY have been trying to buy those two men's silence. Unfortunately for them, Terry lived long enough to identify them. Another odd thing: why did Courtney say she "felt responsible" for Terry's death and why did she pay his widow a significant amount of money in 1994? These and other questions remain unanswered and need to be addressed. Ignoring them does not make them go away.

Well, that's another negative review torn to shreds. I may return should there be another one which evades important issues and advances poor arguments. Feel free to check out my last reviews (one which is short and has a correction to supplement the main one).

It's written like an infomercial ...
"At first I was sceptical ... " blah blah blah "but now I'm not".
A lot of people fall for it, and the author's of this book use the same "marketing tool"; a contrived veneer of objectivity to argue their case: that is, that Courtney Love is a serial killer. I think she's a very unbalanced person, but not a psychopath or a murderer. I think her "erratic behaviour" is due to drug use more than mental illness, although she definitely has "issues". I've had first-hand experience of Courtney telling big-time lies - and she's really not good at it. I was shocked, however, at the way she'll tells lies that can only hurt, anger and alienate everyone around her.
(She recently said that she owes almost everybody she knows an enormous apology; amazingly, she even said she thinks God is punishing her and that she knows she deserves to be punished. But anyway, back to the book.)

Wallace and Halperin always remind people that they won an award from Rolling Stone; I therefore wish someone would post Rolling Stone's review of this book. (I can't find it online.) The reviewer pointed out that, aside from everything else, this book contains factual inaccuracies. For a start, Kurt Cobain was not "widely credited" with Bill Clinton being voted President of the United States. (And Rolling Stone aren't secretly "friends of Courtney". They gave her album a terrible review too.)

In their last book, they wrote that Courtney's phone records while Kurt was missing showed she made "two calls" to a radio station, requesting her own album. In this book, they claim she made "a series of self-serving phone calls" to the radio station. Two calls has become "a series"? (And doesn't it occur to them that she might have made calls from a phone other than the one in her room? She was paying for three separate suites at that hotel, not just one.)
Above all, it's important to remember that the evidence in this book cited as proof Kurt may have been murdered has been disputed. NBC's "Dateline" interviewed five medical examiners, two of whom said that Cobain's high tolerance to drugs might have enabled him to turn the gun on himself, while three others said the information was inconclusive. Other experts noted that prints can be smudged off a gun when it recoils on firing. And when "Dateline" showed the suicide note to four handwriting analysts, three said the sample was inconclusive, while one said that the entire note was written by a single person and that the printing was similar to other samples of Cobain's writing.
The "unsolved murder of a police officer"? The murder of Detective Antonio Terry was solved when Wallace & Halperin published "Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" and they knew it - yet they still tried to imply this crime had something to do with Kurt Cobain's death. I can't believe they've done it again, all these years later. Two men were arrested for that crime (Terry lived long enough to be able to describe his assailants); the men confessed to the murder; they claimed self defense and are now doing life in prison. In this book, the author's repeatedly suggest that Courtney hires hitmen to kill people and is only at liberty because she can "buy silence". Even the silence of people doing life in prison? Perhaps they're enormous fans of hers. Or they're too scared to say anything in case she hires hitmen to kill them too, and make it look like suicide.

More damning facts!
Once I picked up this book I had a very difficult time putting it down. The authors are excellent in that they present the facts in a truly neutral way. I didn't feel like anyone was trying to twist my brain into believing some weird conspiracy theory. I'm still left wondering if Kurt was murdered or if he killed himself. What I am adamant about is that the investigation NEEDS to be reopened and looked at. There are way too many strange events and unanswered questions looming around for the case to just be written off. The people who don't want to believe anything written in this book (or don't want to peek!) are simply dealing with one hardcore case of denial!

If you call yourself a fan of Kurt Cobain, you must read this book, along with "Who Killed Kurt Cobain". ... Read more

Book Description

James Hume -- who knew Churchill personally -- brilliantly captures the extraordinary life of this gifted, complex, and often troubled leader.

A groundbreaking series of illustrated biographies, A & E Biographies combines the smart, concise approach of the hugely popular A&E Biography television series with the illuminating visual approach of DK Publishing to present the lives of history's most colorful figures.

Television's longest running, single-topic documentary series Biography on A&E Network is not only one of the most successful shows -- it is one of the most popular. Biography has profiled more than 900 people in its fifteen years. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A BIOGRAPHY AS APPEALING AS ITS SUBJECT AND TV SHOW!
Like the TV series on which they are based, the series of
"Biography" books are accessible approaches to the men and
women on whom they focus. (They are also a great marketing idea.
Give that boy/girl a raise!) Each volume is written by a
well-known and/or respected author; "Winston Churchill" was penned by James Humes, whose past achievements include two other tomes on Sir Winston. The books are pithy and pleasing, highlighting and spotlighting (in concise detail) its subject, and not shrinking away from controversy or scandal. The photos are terrific; the layouts are done in that appealing, yet not over-the-top, DK style. Think of these books as printed soundbytes that are as interesting and insightful and welcome as their small-screen counterparts. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

indispensable for the student of the voyage....
....and very easy to read. The English translation is very clear and put together from sources other than Las Casas, whose facts weren't always straight. For some reason the paragraphs are all center-justified and taper out oddly. Various theories about Columbus's landfall are discussed.

The one flaw is the introductory pieces that whitewash the man himself. Made out to be a bold, great hero, he was in actuality a gold-obsessed sailor, a poor mariner, a perpetual whiner whose crew could barely stand him, an intolerant European who assumed every land he touched belong to his King back in Spain, and of course the initiator of the slavery system in Espanola. His men built the first fortress in the so-called New World, and they brought several Native captives back to Spain. Fortunately, some of these events are mentioned in the Log itself.

Columbus Log
Fuson translated (and reconstructed were necessary) the logs of Columbus. Loaded with pictures, maps and explanatory comments this work gives us a look at the famous explorer in his own words. This would be a great resource for teachers and students who cover the Discovery. Too bad it's out of print ... Read more

Book Description

"We are not alone in our worry about both the physical aspect of aging and the prejudice that exists toward the elderly, which is similar to racism or sexism. What makes it different