Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life |
Buy Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life here, one of 750 Winston Churchill books offered for sale at discount prices here in the history books section at R bookshop. There are currently 87892 history books in our history books section, and over 1,000,000 books listed in our book store. We greatly appreciate your patronage at R bookshop and look forward to offering you a large selection of great books at discount prices now and in the future. Thank you for shopping at R Bookshop!
|
You Are Here: Home > History Books > Winston Churchill > Item 27
|
Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life
|
by Gretchen Rubin
Sales Rank: 158595
|
List Price: $14.95
$10.17
At Amazon
on 11-28-2008.
|
|
|
|
Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 336 pages
Published by: Random House Trade Paperbacks May 11, 2004
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0812971442
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0812971446
Book Dimensions:
8.1 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
Weighs: 8.5 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
Eschewing the linear, chronological approach of most biographies, Yale Law School professor and Churchill devotee Rubin (Power Money Fame Sex: A User's Guide) has written forty brief chapters looking at the British prime minister from multiple angles: Churchill as son, father, husband, orator, painter, historian, enemy of Hitler and many other roles. Rubin's unique approach works surprisingly well, bringing fresh insight to an exhaustively covered subject. Writing on Churchill as son, for instance, Rubin hammers home the point that he spent his life trying to measure up to an imagined, idealized father. Churchill's real father, Rubin makes clear, thought his son was destined for mediocrity and told him so. When she discusses Churchill's famous gifts as an orator, Rubin contends that his speeches were sometimes overblown, overly heroic and often ignored. She agrees with David Cannadine (In Churchill's Shadow) that Churchill's oratory was most effective when matched by times that required heroic action, such as the spring and summer of 1940. In a chapter devoted to Churchill's legendary drinking, Rubin provocatively presents arguments from both sides: that the drinking was harmless and that it was a major problem. In the end, Rubin sees "her" Churchill as a tragic hero. His life's goal was to preserve the British Empire, yet his greatest achievement, the defeat of Hitler, hastened the empire's end. While Rubin's account clearly isn't comprehensive and belabors a rather obvious point-that different, even opposing, perspectives on one life are possible-it is an great introduction to one of the most written about men in history. Photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-In this fast-paced, fragmented account, each of the forty short chapters looks at one topic: Churchill as leader, father, in tears, etc. Some are no more than lists, one is a simple chronology, and another a compilation of quotes. But taken together, they capture some truths about him, chiefly the many contradictions and complexities of his life and career. Moreover, there are valuable lessons here concerning the difficulties of looking at the great lives of history. Rubin has almost as much to say about biography as a subject as she has about Churchill-a good thing for readers relatively new to the genre. And a further lesson lies in her extensive notes and bibliography. It is instructive to witness how much research is necessary to support even a brief account of a long life. Average-quality, black-and-white photographs have been thoughtfully chosen. Rubin has much to offer teens, especially those with only vague notions of the great man.
Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life (Hardcover)
I don't have anything against attorneys as a group of people, but as I read this book, the phrase that kept returning to me was "clever lawyer's trick." Though Gretchen Rubin continually describes this as "a personal look" at "*my* Churchill," it seems as much a demonstration of the talented lawyer's ability to passionately argue both sides of a question while never making more than an intellectual commitment to either. On the whole, this is a book that's as much about the author as it is the subject. Many of the reviews on this page describe this book as a good shorter biography of Churchill, but for people looking for a brief introductory volume, I would much sooner point them to one of the excellent short bios that came out in 2002, Lukacs' Churchill: Visionary. Statesman. Historian. or Keegan's Winston Churchill: A Penguin Life (Penguin Lives). Both of them are "conventional" narrative biographies, but each does a fine job laying out the motivations, facts, and consequences of Churchill's massive life. I think it's better to master the themes before exploring the variations, as Rubin does. And while not everyone wants to read thick tomes like Jenkins or Rose or Manchester (or still yet the official biography by Randolph Churchill and Martin Gilbert), I'm afraid anyone who relies on "Forty Ways..." as their sole source of information on, and interpretation of, the life of the Man of the (Twentieth) Century will be selling herself short. Where this book does shine is in its ability to summarize, highlight important trends and impressions, and compare-and-contrast conflicting interpretations of the man under the microscope. Her central point -- that biographers sift facts in order to prove the point they're trying to make -- is incontrovertible, if perhaps a bit broad-brush. Rubin's perspective, mentioned several times, as the first Churchill biographer (or one of them? I'm not sure) whose life did not overlap his is an interesting one, but perhaps less significant than she credits it to be. And I say that as someone who myself missed overlapping Churchill's life by some thirty months. On the whole, this is an interesting intellectual exercise, with some new insights and interpretations and a few noteworthy points. But I have to disagree with those who call it a wonderful biography. It's not -- at least, not in any conventional sense. But if you already have some familiarity with the building blocks Gretchen Rubin is rearranging, you may find it worthwhile to join in her experimentation yourself.
Back To Top
|
Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life
Available from Amazon
Price: $10.17
Updated on 11-28-2008.
|
NOTICE: All prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.
| We offer Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life and other related Winston Churchill Books here at Rbookshop.com. To view more books about Winston Churchill please use the previous and next buttons near the top of this page.
|
|
Search for books at
