Hero of the Empire, the Boer War, a daring escape and the making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard.
Great read. I'm learning a lot about Churchill and the Boer war. It's a who's who of famous characters on both sides. Blood and thunder, politics, tactics all parade through a barn burner of a book. A page turner.

I am about half way through it and wholeheartedly agree. I learned more about Churchill in the first twenty pages than I have reading several other books. I had no idea his mother was American, his father was Chancellor of the Exchequer, he was a very ambitious and glory driven individual, an heir of the Duke of Marlborough, grew up in a castle, etc. Candace Millard is a very talented storyteller. Excellent book.

It is a good book.You will most likely also enjoy another of Churchill's autobiographies "Frontiers + Wars";dealing in the same time frame.

I guess I'm the odd one out.

I didn't learn much new. Churchill's mother being an American expat was not new, nor was his service in India, Omdurman or the Boer war, although as I recall, Churchill had some significant changes of heart related to the Boer war that he wrote about.

Yes, the stories related to his escape from Pretoria were engrossing, but I was a bit disturbed at the portrayal of both Churchill and his mother.

I would rate the book as 4 stars myself, I'm somewhat thinking this has some revisionist history in it.

Churchill was in many ways a man ahead of his time in that he was open to, and embraced...for example his Mauser C96 pistol...new technology before many of his contemporaries.

It is certain that he welcomed science and its contribution to winning World War 2. OTOH he never really understood India and, like Hitler, had never commanded at above field rank.

The lesson many learned from his Boer War story was if your Mother buys you a pistol as a gift then get AND WEAR a decent holster for it!

The lesson many learned from his Boer War story was if your Mother buys you a pistol as a gift then get AND WEAR a decent holster for it!


Ah, sound wisdom. It's the little things

My ex mother in law,passed now,hated Churchill due to his anti Irish views (she was Irish).Well the man did have feet of clay + of royalty background + he was Victorian in thought. I still find him one of the most intelligent men in the 20th Century.I can not give him too high of praises for a man of many (talents is too small a word).His life + his writing;I could not begin to write all the Volumes of The History Of The English People,or Frontiers + Wars meanwhile doing manipulations on a world wide chess board to save his nation.Yes,I have GREAT respect for this man.

I maintain a deep respect for this man.There is no way I could have kept up with him in his day;+ that was when he was drinking gallons of scotch + using cuban cigars at a horendeous rate.I take my hat to you sir.You got your taste for cuban cigars in the mixup in 1900.You got your taste for scotch just because you're a brit. But I do love your statement "I have taken more out of drink than it has taken out of me.)