Winston Churchill, by Martin Gilbert

Livros sobre o maior estadista do século XX, talvez de toda a história, o homem que salvou o mundo da maior ameaça totalitária jamais confrontada.

Paulo Roberto de Almeida

1

Winston S. Churchill: Youth, 1874-1900 (Winston S. Churchill Biography Book 1)(Sep 1, 2018)

by Randolph S. Churchill

An epic standard in biography, the first volume in the complete and comprehensive life story of one of modern history’s greatest figures. 

The first chapter of Sir Winston Churchill’s eight-volume official biography as told through a rich treasure trove of personal letters. This volume covers the years from Churchill’s birth in 1874 to his return to England from an American lecture tour, on the day of Queen Victoria’s funeral in 1900, in order to embark on his political career. In the opening pages, the account of his birth is presented through letters of his family. The subject comes on the scene with his own words in a letter to his mother, written when he was seven. His later letters, as a child, as a schoolboy at Harrow, as a cadet at Sandhurst, and as a subaltern in India, show the development of his mind and character, his ambition and awakening interests, which were to merge into a genius of our age.

An astounding narrative of a great man coming into his own and the times in which he lived, this portrait is a “milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.” (Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War) and the “most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.” (The New York Times).

2

Winston S. Churchill: Young Statesman, 1901-1914 (Winston S. Churchill Biography Book 2)(Sep 1, 2018)

by Randolph S. Churchill

The magisterial biography one of modern history’s great public figures continues in this second volume of grand scope and revealing intimacy. 

Volume II of this magisterial eight-volume biography takes Churchill’s story from his entry to Parliament in 1901 to the outbreak of war in 1914. When he took his seat in the House of Commons he was twenty-six years old. An independent spirit and rebel, on his maiden speech he was cheered by the Leader of the Opposition.

In the years leading up to the First World War, Churchill was at the center of British political life and change. At the Home Office he introduced substantial prison reforms and took a lead in curbing the powers of the House of Lords. At the Admiralty from 1911 he helped build the Royal Navy into a formidable fighting force. He learned to fly, and founded the Royal Naval Air Service. He was active in attempts to resolve the Irish Question and to prevent civil war in Ireland.

In 1914, as war in Europe loomed, Churchill wrote to his wife from the Admiralty: “The preparations have a hideous fascination for me, yet I would do my best for peace, and nothing would induce me wrongfully to strike the blow. I cannot feel that we in this island are in any serious degree responsible for the wave of madness which has swept the mind of Christendom.”

When war came, the fleet was ready. It was one of Churchill’s many great achievements.

“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War

“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times

3

Winston S. Churchill: The Challenge of War, 1914-1916 (Winston S. Churchill Biography Book 3)(Sep 1, 2018)

by Martin Gilbert

The astounding life and career of one of modern history’s great public figures continues in the third volume of the acclaimed multivolume biography. 

Acclaimed British historian Sir Martin Gilbert continues the official biography of Sir Winston Churchill. This volume contains a full account of Churchill’s initiatives and achievements as wartime First Lord of the Admiralty between August 1914 and May 1915. These include his efforts to prolong the siege of Antwerp, his support for the use of air power, and his part in the early development of the tank. It shows the forcefulness with which he argued for an offensive naval policy, first against Germany, then against Turkey.

Gilbert examines the political crisis of May 1915, during which the Conservative Party forced Asquith to form a coalition government. The Conservatives insisted that Churchill leave the center of war policymaking for a position of increasing political isolation. In the next seven months, while the Gallipoli campaign was being fought, Churchill served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with no authority over military or naval policy.

Resigning from the Cabinet in November 1915, Churchill was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding an infantry battalion in the trenches of the Western Front. In May 1916, he returned from the trenches, hoping to reenter political life, but his repeated attempts to regain his once-substantial influence were unsuccessful.

“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War

“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times

4

Winston S. Churchill: World in Torment, 1916-1922 (Winston S. Churchill Biography Book 4) (Sep 1, 2018)

by Martin Gilbert

The fourth volume in the official biography—“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.” (Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times)

Covering the years 1917 to 1922, Martin Gilbert’s fascinating account carefully traces Churchill’s wide-ranging activities and shows how, by his persuasive oratory, administrative skill, and masterful contributions to Cabinet discussions, Churchill regained, only a few years after the disaster of the Dardanelles, a leading position in British political life.

There are many dramatic and controversial episodes: the German breakthrough on the Western Front in March 1918, the anti-Bolshevik intervention in 1919, negotiating the Irish Treaty, consolidating the Jewish National Home in Palestine, and the Chanak crisis with Turkey. In all these, and many other events, Churchill’s leading role is explained and illuminated in Martin Gilbert’s precise, masterful style.

In a moving final chapter, covering a period when Churchill was without a seat in Parliament for the first time since 1900, Martin Gilbert brilliantly draws together the many strands of a time in Churchill’s life when his political triumphs were overshadowed by personal sorrows, by his increasingly somber reflections on the backward march of nations and society, and by his stark forecasts of dangers to come.

“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . Rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War

5

Winston S. Churchill: The Prophet of Truth, 1922-1939 (Winston S. Churchill Biography Book 5)(Sep 1, 2018)

by Martin Gilbert

One of history’s greatest public figures rises to the occasion, delivering much needed leadership to a nation on the brink of war. 

The fifth volume of the acclaimed biographical masterpiece opens with Churchill’s return to Conservatism and to the Cabinet in 1924 and unfolds into a vivid and intimate picture both of his public life and of his private world at Chartwell between the wars.

Gilbert strips away decades of accumulated myth and innuendo, showing Churchill’s true position on India, his precise role (and private thoughts) during the abdication of Edward VIII, his attitude toward Mussolini, and his profound fears for the future of European democracy. Even before Hitler came to power in Germany, Churchill saw in full the dangers of a Nazi victory. And despite the unpopularity of his views in official circles, for six years he persevered in his warnings.

This book reveals for the first time the extent to which senior civil servants, and even serving officers of high rank, came to Churchill with secret information, having despaired at the extent of official lethargy and obstruction. Within the Air Ministry, the Foreign Office, and the Intelligence Services, individuals felt drawn to go to Churchill with full disclosures of Britain’s defense weakness and kept him informed of day-to-day developments from 1934 until the outbreak of war. As war approached, people of all parties and in all walks of life recognized Churchill’s unique qualities and demanded his inclusion in the government, believing that he alone could give a divided nation guidance and inspiration.

“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War

“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times