The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone: 1932-1940, by William Manchester

This is the second book I have read by William Manchester [1] and it confirms my glowing impression of his skills as a historian as well as the elegant style of his prose. This book, which is a lengthy and very serious work, though filled with a great deal of wit and humor along with very serious material, is not a light read. Nor is it a short read. Despite dealing with the shortest period of the three books written by Manchester about Winston Churchill’s life (the third one was started by him and finished recently by someone else based on his notes and outlines), this book manages to run over 600 pages of fairly dense prose. The book is not for the faint of heart or for those looking for a light diversion. This is meaty and serious history, told by a witty and sympathetic observer who is nonetheless candid about the flaws of his biographical subject.

As I have not read the other two parts of the trilogy, I cannot comment about the place of this book in the overall scheme and organization of his work as a whole. This work is a biographical history, one that focuses on Winston Churchill in a particularly dark and lonely part of his life, but there are times where this book spends a great deal of time and attention talking about the momentous historical events that occurred to set the context for Winston Churchill’s own quixotic attempt to warn England about the dangers of Nazi Germany and to prepare England morally and materially for a conflict he (correctly) saw as inevitable. Manchester spends a great deal of time commenting on Churchill’s strength of character and the lack of character of the British people and especially their leadership during the 1930’s, pointing out that the majority of the English people did not wish to see the truth and wished to distract themselves from the danger of the times until it was too late, while their leaders actively aided and abetted them in their escapism. In times like our own, this is difficult reading, as we see the same sort of tendencies in our own times, with the potential for the same lamentable and tragic results.

One of the best aspects of this work is its fine attention to historical detail as well as fine prose. Winston Churchill was among the most eloquent speakers and writers of his time, or any time, and his biographer not only has a worthy eloquence of his own, but also has the sense to fill his pages generously with examples of Churchill’s eloquent prose to let his subject speak for himself. He was able to do so, of course, because of the cooperation of Churchill’s family with his biographical efforts, and the result of having interviews with Churchill’s former employees and family members, as well as access to private letters and a skillful and extremely broad reading of primary and secondary source materials on Churchill and related subjects and figures of his time allows this work to be both personable and immensely scholarly at the same time. Manchester’s attention to detail and his broad area of interest about Churchill’s life allows us to see his quirks and eccentricities (of which there are many), his family relationships and home life, his demanding schedule and scattered focus, the ups and downs (mostly downs) of his political career during the time of the Great Depression, his strengths and weaknesses, and the challenges of his difficult times.

Though Manchester cannot be considered an entirely unbiased historian (no historian, or person, is truly unbiased though), he manages to be sympathetic to Churchill while being candid about his flaws. All of us should wish to have a biographer who is able to write the worst parts of our character, our mistakes and errors of understanding and judgment, while still showing us as generally sympathetic and even great people, showing us as human beings in all of our contradictions and complexities without condemning us. What Manchester manages to do in this work is similar to the achievement (however belated) of his subject in inspring people to the difficult task of virtue in dangerous times without losing a sense of our humanity or a graciousness to others who may not be as candid and as committed to unpleasant truths as we are, and who may not be as gracious in times of trouble or as quick to encourage those who have cut us or hurt us. Manchester manages to make the darkest time of Churchill’s life into a well-written and immensely thought-provoking study of virtue under extreme duress without whitewashing either Churchill or his contemporaries. That achievement alone makes this work an immensely worthy read for anyone interested in the history of England (or Europe in general) in the late interwar period. I hope to read the rest of the series as time and opportunity permit.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/book-review-a-world-lit-only-by-fire/