Winston Spencer Churchill: The Last Lion and Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

James Wheeler: The Last Lion series as a whole is wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and how Manchester shows all the sides of Winston - the politician, the strategist, the human. Personally, I loved the human picture - Churchill's love of life, of people, his humour, love of animals, loyalty to family and friends, his emotional side.

Unfortunately, Manchester died during the research of this third book and I feel it shows. The writing is not as tight and not as insightful. At times (by no means always), it felt a little like just a reprinting of facts.

Word of warning: My edition (Bello, 2015) is littered with punctuation, spelling and grammar errors which at times makes one have to re-read sentences to make sense of them. There are also some errors in dates for key events. Would really have benefitted from better editing.

On the whole, I would still recommend this book - it's an extremely good read. However, in my view, the first two volumes are superior.

United Kingdom on Aug 18, 2023

cartoisb: One could say that The Last Lion : Defender of the Realm is as much a history of the Second World War as it is a biography of Churchill during this period. The war and its aftermath are covered in a dramatic writing style with a focus on Churchill’s role and how he viewed and impacted the events. The authors strike a good balance between the historical events and the personal details, such that the history is brought to life. It is a long book but fast-paced, well-written and never dull. The 2012 hardcover edition is a substantial high-quality volume.

United Kingdom on May 23, 2021

John Walker: William Manchester's monumental three volume biography of Winston Churchill, The Last Lion, began with the 1984 publication of the first volume,  Visions of Glory, 1874–1932  and continued with second in 1989,  Alone, 1932–1940 . I devoured these books when they came out, and eagerly awaited the concluding volume which would cover Churchill's World War II years and subsequent career and life. This was to be a wait of more than two decades. By 1988, William Manchester had concluded his research for the present volume, subtitled Defender of the Realm, 1940–1965 and began to write a draft of the work. Failing health caused him to set the project aside after about a hundred pages covering events up to the start of the Battle of Britain. In 2003, Manchester, no longer able to write, invited Paul Reid to audition to complete the work by writing a chapter on the London Blitz. The result being satisfactory to Manchester, his agent, and the publisher, Reid began work in earnest on the final volume, with the intent that Manchester would edit the manuscript as it was produced. Alas, Manchester died in 2004, and Reid was forced to interpret Manchester's research notes,...

United States on Jan 24, 2020

Mr. M. Herbert: Outstanding piece of literature ! This book is exceptionally well written , detailed and highly and easily readable. In particular the first 50 pages or so, give the very best overview of Winston Churchill that I have have ever read, anywhere. These first introductory pages are superbly written, and give any reader a short, but highly comprehensive insight into this great man. The book thereafter is in chronological order, starting at his appointment as Prime Minister. As well covering all the many aspects of the progress of the war, the book contains intriguing accounts of the machinations of British politics throughout this hectic period. It regularly surprises the reader with additional "tit bits" about Churchill, his whims and fancies, as well as explaining his many controversial decisions. This really is a comprehensive book. It is part of a trilogy true, but frankly anyone interesed in discovering just what Churchill represented, how he conducted himself, how he dealt with so many controversial issues - and there were dozens and dozens of these during the 6 years of war - should at least read this single volume. It is never dry, never dull, never boring. It entertains,...

United Kingdom on Nov 13, 2014

Ron Ball: It has been a long wait for this final volume in the three volume biography of Churchill, but it has been well worth that wait. William Manchester died before completing his work and it was Paul Reid who gathered all the loose ends together to bring us this final volume. Many years ago, I acquired a copy of William Manchester's history of the Krupp company over 400 years. This was a massive single volume work but was very readable and memorable. I subsequently read Death of a President and finally the first two volumes of Churchill's life. I have read a number of biographies of Churchill but for the general reader William Manchester's is in many ways the best. Churchill is almost viewed as god by British writers; a status he achieved through his leadership in the Second World War. But he became Prime Minister when he was in his late sixties, having previously held high office in governments before and after the First World War. This last volume of William Manchester's work deals with Churchill's life from the time of his becoming PM in 1940 to his death and state funeral in 1965. Most of the book deals with Churchill and the War. But this is to be expected. He was thrown out of...

United Kingdom on Sep 24, 2014

david: Ce 3ème & ultime volume finalise la somme -unique sur le sujet- qu'avait entreprise William Manchester aujourd'hui disparu ; ce grâce à Paul Reid que s'était choisi l'auteur lui-même pour terminer son travail.

L'édition anglaise de cette biographie est donc désormais achevée. Elle est du reste disponible dans un beau coffret regroupant les 3 tomes.

Et pour le peu que j'en ai déjà parcouru, on ne voit pas que cet ouvrage a été rédigé à 2 mains ; enfin presque...
Ce n'est que refermant le livre, et connaissant bien la plume de Manchester, que l'on peut douter. Les archives sont les siennes mais le traitement et l'expression ne me paraissent pas de sa facture. Or vu le contexte, Reid a fait un excellent travail.

Manchester se distinguait par un coup de main, un "knack", particulier qui fit tout son succès : aller au tréfonds de son sujet d'étude pour fusionner la personnalité étudiée avec le cours des évènements en révélant des aspects historiques inédits mais vérifiés. Dans ce livre, ce sont les mémoires de Brooke ou le "flow" d'autres sources - tels Ismay, Colville etc. - qui alimentent le gisement.

Dans cet ouvrage,...

France on May 17, 2013

Edmund P. Leigh: William Manchester's third volume biography of Winston Spencer Churchill (WSC) Defender of the Realm 1940-1965 is based on his notes and assisted by journalist Paul Reid is a worthy addition and completes the 3 volume epic story of the life and history of WSC who along with FDR and Stalin led the Allies to victory against the Axis in WW II. It is an amazing story. This is a continuation of Manchester's earlier works The Last Lion: Vision of Glory 1874-1932 and The Last Lion: Alone, 1932-1940 and completes the story. William Manchester met WSC on a cruise from Britain to America in the 1950's and dedicated his life to capturing all the most salient aspects of the man many consider the person who saved Britain and for that matter Western Christian Civilization when it was at its most dire crisis in the 1939 - 1942 period. This is monumental work, well crafted and reads well. There appears to be no break in the prose style from Volume I thru Volume III which suggests that Mr. Reid studied Manchester's style and rythm to capture his writing method flawlessly. Not easy to do. Manchester had wrote another great biography on General Douglas MacAuthur, American Ceasar published in 1976...

United States on Nov 14, 2012