Bookworm

It has taken me 3 years to finish this book. It didn't get really interesting until the war years. But I guess you could say the same about the main character...

It describes his whole life, including his youth, his writing as well as his military and political career. Boring as it was, and as little as I can remember of the beginning of the book, it has left me with an impression of the man which I could not have had from a description of the war years only.

It is interesting to get some historic perspective on the single events of the 2nd world war, events I in my youth have mostly heard of as isolated events. Like Dunkirk, D-day, El Alamain, the meetings with Stalin. Aligning the English history to the American history is also easier when one is aware of the talks Churchill had with the different presidents, and the background for the cold war (which I grew up with) is clearer.

When I went to Egypt in 2006 to see the Solar Eclipse, flew from Cairo and landed in El Alamain, I knew next to nothing about it. Then I recently read "Farewell to Alexandria" and got a personal description of the events from the Alexandrian viewpoint, and now I read about it seen from the English war Cabinet. It gives more understanding of the world (though perhaps less hope for it's survival).

If I had known Churchill privately (been born, been present etc.), I don't think I would have liked him much. However, I think I could have worked for him during the war, provided that I believed that he was the leader we must follow to win that war. At that time, and only at that time, this unique man was needed.

Perhaps he is best described by the ending of his last speech in the house of Commons: "Meanwhile, never flinch, never weary, never despair". Characteristics that made him the most annoying, but also most the suitable for winning that war.