Winston's War

Reviews

“A magnificent achievement. After the vast number of works on Churchill that have appeared in the last sixty-five years, one could be forgiven for thinking everything significant must already have been said, but Winston’s War is something fresh and different . . . One of those rare books that create in the reader a palpable feeling of the excitement, fear, frustration, grief, dread, all-too-occasional elation, and numbing fatigue of those critical days.”
—New York Review of Books
 
“It is phenomenally difficult to unearth fresh stories and anecdotes about a man as widely and deeply covered historically as Winston Churchill, yet Hastings succeeds again and again . . .  . [N]one can fail to admire [Hastings’s] archival tenacity and sheer authorial reach. His chapter on Churchill in Athens in Christmas 1944 is worth the price of the book alone.”
—Andrew Roberts, The Daily Telegraph
 
“Although there have been a number of books recently about the Allied leaders in the Second World War, this one should not be missed…The book’s portrait of Churchill is scrupulously fair and often deeply moving, describing his great courage and vision as well as his obstinate misjudgments and blind spots. In fact, Hastings excels with all his character portraits, which brilliantly illuminate the key relationships, especially with Roosevelt and Stalin. Hastings is truly a master of strategy and high command.”
—Anthony Beevor, Mail on Sunday
 
“With great skill and felicity, Max Hastings has given us a rich account and analysis of Churchill and his role in the Second World War. He does not ignore his many faults but ultimately, quite rightly, it is his greatness that triumphs in this splendidly told tale.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
 
“Hastings has written an impressive book, full of judicious asides, and it deserves a wide readership.”
—United States Naval Institute
 
“As Max Hastings relates with admirable objectivity in Winston’s War, however noble Churchill’s will and sublime his language, his record as a strategist was very mixed indeed. While regularly reminding us (and maybe himself) of Churchill’s greatness, Hastings describes one lamentable mistake after another.”
—New York Times Book Review
 

“Military historian Hastings adds to his illustrious reputation with this magnificent analysis of Winston Churchill’s years of greatness . . . Hastings recognizes Churchill’s strategic errors, his misplaced enthusiasms . . . But ‘the outcome justified all.’”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“This is a rich and rewarding book, the fruit of many years of reflection on the conduct of war. It is enlivened by countless insights on matters great and small, and by a spare, trenchant style which holds the reader’s attention throughout its 600 pages… For all his mistakes, Churchill had a moral stature, a generosity of spirit, and a largeness of vision unique among his leading contemporaries, qualities which were acknowledged even by those who disagreed with him. They enabled him to exercise an influence, particularly in 1942 and 1943, out of all proportion to the military and economic weight of his country. Even his misjudgments were pressed with a force of personality and rhetorical skill which forced his allies and his chiefs of staff to think beyond the routine, and to work harder to justify their views.”
—The Spectator
 
“Hastings is probably as qualified to understand Churchill as any man of his generation can be. Like Churchill, he spent his early life seeking adventure—as a war correspondent in Biafra and Vietnam he saw more shooting than most soldiers in the post-war British army (until now). Like Churchill, he has great confidence in his own judgment….Hastings captures Churchill’s mix of charm, exhibitionism, sentimentality, and egotism….Hastings…writes with the calm and authority that come from long experience and wide reading.”
—Times Literary Supplement
 
“Max Hastings has written a subtly revisionist account of Britain’s wartime premier, chiefly by viewing Churchill through the eyes of others….. That Hastings is never seduced by Churchill’s effortless apophthegms and anecdotes is one indication that this is a really fine book rather than simply an addition to the hagiography…. Doubtless this remarkable book will irritate those who like their history sealed and dusted, or worse, cite Churchill for mere political advantage. At a time when our politicians are mismanaging a foreign war, it has many invaluable lessons, not just about leadership, but about the relationship between soldiers and civil society, which range far beyond the period Hastings nominally addresses. In that respect this is a timely as well as a judicious and important book.”
—The Daily Telegraph
 
“Hastings presents [Churchill] . . . as a ruthless, brandy-gulping Tory with the fire and the guts to beat Hitler . . . . [I]n a crowded field, this is one of the best books ever written about Churchill.”
 —Piers Brendon, The Sunday Times

“With prose that’s a joy to read, the redoubtable and much-published Max Hastings turns his pen to what Churchill remains famous for. Despite other works examining this subject, libraries and readers of many persuasions will want this massive and detailed examination of the prime minister and his personal war.”
—Library Journal

 “The indomitable character of Churchill comes alive in these pages, and Hastings forces the reader to ponder how the war might have turned out had the stalwart leader not been at the helm. A magisterial, commanding, and immensely thought-provoking history.”
—Kirkus Reviews (Starred review) Expand reviews