BOOKS: Warlord A Life Of Winston Churchill At War

Churchill, Western Desert, 1942

Winston Churchill never advanced beyond the rank of lieutenant colonel, yet he would eventually lead the armies of Europe to some of the greatest military victories in history. If you are interested in Churchill and Churchill in his most native and glorious element Carlo DeEste’s, 2008 biography, “Warlord a Life of Winston Churchill At War 1874-1945, “ is a must read. Here is the definitive account of Churchill as one of the world’s most renowned military leaders. This is a book you can savor, its big, its thick and it’s detailed. It’s everything a military history fanatic could wish for. Everything is here from Churchill’s service in colonial India up until the end of WWII. The material is richly textured and based on many new archival and printed sources. DeEste does a particularly good job of rendering Churchill’s complex character as both a statesman and as a warrior. What was the character traits that made him such a good warrior and at other times a poor one? DeEste claims that Churchill was headstrong, opinionated and impossible to control. These traits carried over into council chambers as well as into the battlefield, making him an almost impossible foe to defeat. Many of Churchill’s political foes were all to aware of his tenacious stubbornness, especially when it came to the issues of India and preparedness for Germany’s rearming prior to WWII. He was relentless in political debate and this bullish relentlessness was carried over into his battle plans. DeEste isn’t all praise, he also covers in detail Churchill’s personal weaknesses and questionable policies. Many of Churchill’s military campaigns were disasters, notably Anzio, Gallipoli, and Antwrep, but DeEste notes his personality traits and the strategies that sprung from them ultimately led to victories. Essentially Churchill was the right person in the right place and the right time. His tenacity both political and militarily saved Europe from another dark age. The strength of DeEste’s book is that it uncovers like no other Churchill’s personality and it is this personality that not only helped save the world, but also remains so intriguing to the public. Read about it here.