My Early Life: 1874-1904

Winston Churchill is a giant of history. By coincidence he is also my personal favorite foreign author of non fiction. (I am an American.) His writing style is very florid and reads like fiction rather than non fiction. He uses many illusions and has an ironical sense of humor. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for literature.

This is a autobiography, composed in mid life, in 1930, but only about his life from 1874 to 1904. As such, the story does not include anything about either World War. World War I had concluded but is not discussed in this book in any detail. World War II and Hitler's Germany remain over the horizon. For me, this creates a fascinating autobiographical "snap shot".

Churchill describes his early life of high adventure. He combined a thirst for adventure with an interest and aptitude for writing. While still a young soldier, he wrote for a newspaper. He left the army and continued as a correspondent. He was taken prisoner in South Africa and escaped. Winston Churchill was a celebrity by the time he was in his mid 20s. After achieving fame in his twenties, he came to America to speak and met an elderly Mark Twain.

All of this is captured in a very artistic writing style. I found all of this fascinating. I purchased an audiobook along with a Kindle reading edition. I listened to the audiobook while commuting instead of listening to the radio. I memorized passages that I need to reread later. I fell this helps both my listening and memory skills. The audiobook was excellent. My copy was narrated by Fredrick Davidson.

This was an excellent reading experience. I am very grateful to have read this fine work. Thank You...

For anyone unfamiliar with either Winston Churchill or William Manchester, this book provides a nice introduction to both. Remember the name Manchester, and when you're done with this book, go immediately back to the store.com and buy "The Last Lion", both volumes (the third volume is not yet published, alas).
There are many astonishing events in Churchill's life, and one wonders at the extent of self-aggrandizement in this book (certainly you wouldn't expect a politician to be entirely honest!). Nevertheless, if only 1/4 of Churchill's stories were true, it would be more than enough to establish him among the icons of history.
That this work ends on Churchill's (first) rise to public prominence is fitting. It is as if to say that prior to his political ascendency, Churchill's life was his own, and thus worthy of his own gifted commentary. Whereas after he became a public figure, there was really nothing more for him to personally relate (of course, Manchester's anecdotal stories concerning Churchill's bathtime hijinks put the lie to that theory - refer to the Last Lion VII). Not that there isn't plenty of autobiography in Churchill's other works (his history of World War II is rife with personal detail), but the tone is different, and the degree of revelation more subdued.
It is of incalculable benefit that we have access to such a personalized view of the childhood and formation of such a great man. Not that he could be duplicated by applying such remedies to your own children (just add syphalitic father, sexually uninhibited but devoted mother, and healthy dose of latin lessons at exclusive English school).
I must confess that among the many details contained in this book, the one that I find most revealing is Churchill's daring and disastrous gambit during a childhood game of tag (a presage to Forcing the Dardanelles?). This single incident speaks clearly to Churchill's indominatable spirit, incredible daring, and dangerous creativity.

Churchill presents us with a short and lively account of his early life, making this one of his more accessible works.
We see it all: nanny-pampered, mother-neglected child; dim-witted schoolboy but top-notch military student; officer and reporter. In fact as a reporter in the Boer war, he worked as what we are calling today (during the Iraqi war) an embedded reporter. So deeply embedded that the Boers made him a POW though he was a non-combatant.
My favourite chapters deal with his schooling. He laughs at himself, poking fun at his younger self's total ineptitude at subjects such as Latin and mathematics, all the while humbly pointing out that he became such a good writer because being perceived as such a dolt by his teaches, the only thing they'd bother teaching him was English.
The accounts of his military life are interesting but are today overshadowed by the first and second world wars, so that I was unfamiliar with the background that led to conflicts in the Soudan or against the Boer. I recommend reading up on the Boer War in a good enclyclopedia.
Througout the book, WSC displays wit and irony. WSC reminds his readers that following the Boer War, the public thought that no more wars would be fought among white people (don't ever expect WSC to be P.C.--he calls a spade a spade) and that World War One came along anyway. Since he was writing before WW2, the intent was clearly to wake his countrymen up to the possibility of future conflict.
Recommended.

What surprised me most about this book was the humour. I expected the familiar story of our greatest leader's early life, I expected an insightful account of Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, I expected a stirring tale of a young man who was a practical adventurer just as much as politician and author. I didn't expect to laugh out loud regularly for much of the story.

If you've seen the film "Young Winston", based on this book, you will be familiar with some of the events. Other programmes and books have adequately explained his war leadership and his contribution to many serious political issues. However, the films and documentaries I have seen fail to capture the mischievous spirit communicated through this book.

This a fascinating study of a bygone age, when Britain maintained a great empire, when most politicians took the title Lord, and when politics and army officership were sports for those of independent means. Interestingly despite his aristocratic bloodline Churchill's family was not particularly wealthy and some of the most poignant lessons stem from this.

Sometimes the sentiments in the book appear bloodthirsty or imperialistic, but you have to realise that at least part of the time Churchill is writing satirically, reflecting common values which you suspect he did not always share himself. When he is sincerely expressing his own serious ideals it is usually easy to detect.

These beliefs link both his skilful analysis of historical events, and Churchill's account of his own development. For example he explains the British government's failure to be magnanimous after the early victories of the Boer war as the reason that a relatively fast-moving and honourable conflict descended into "shocking evils" on both sides. The same failing is shown as a prime force in the leftward drift of Churchill's own politics.

Churchill was a great writer, but it's instructive to learn that his facility with English developed largely because he was judged early on to be too dim to cope with Latin and Greek. The classics loss was our gain, the legacy including both Churchill's great deeds and great writing.

The last chapter is slightly disappointing, with Churchill's early parliamentary career an anticlimax, and the story stops rather than ending on a major event. That apart, the pace, interest and humour are consistent throughout.

This book was written in 1930, when Churchill was already 56, but in the "wilderness years" before he regained high office and led Britain through the Second World War. It is interesting to speculate whether the book would have been very different if it were written either much earlier or later.

If you want adventure, read this book. If you want to understand a great man, read this book. If you want to do both and have a good laugh, read this book.

Anyone who hated school may like this book very much. Churchill was a privileged aristocrat who viewed 'science' and 'democracy' as retrograde developments. And yet, any reader today would be naturally drawn towards the romantic, exciting, exotic picture of an empire that the young winston paints from someone born with common sense, good nature, pride and a hunger to play his part in glorious events.
This book was written by Churchill when he was short of cash - it had to be successful. Also it was written well before he became a world-weary statesman. By so royaly entertaining his readers he betrays himself to us as a pretty down to earth and likeable character - perhaps very different to the complex man he really was, or the very great man he was eventually to become.
One thing strikes me from the book is that Churchill was probably as unforgiving with himself as he was with other people - he comes across as someone with tremendous moral integrity and character. Yet, by the standards of many others he was seen as outspoken, bumptious, obdurate and opinionated, a war monger etc etc.
Progress was never made by reasonable people and this book is a superb way to get to know this mercurial, unorthodox, unlikely hero. It is a story of his coming of age at the turn of the 18th century and is one of those books that all bold adventurous men should perhaps read at some time during their lives.
A fantastic eye witness account of the British empire and the 'larger than life' people behind it.

Never considered bright, young Winston suffered his way though childhood with a stern governess and a prep-school that valued Latin, Greek and mathematics over the English that at an early age he had learned to love and excelled at. He considered himself lucky to find, appreciate and learn to write excellent sentences in English even though he did very poorly in the other subjects. This skill of being able to write good English sentences was to serve him well throughout his life, and is on exhibit in this book.

His father consented to send him to military school as an alternative to becoming a lawyer, which he did not think Winston was intellectually up to. Winston had agreed to go along with this choice only because of the fun he had experienced playing daily with about 1500 toy soldiers he had accumulated over his childhood. After three failures of the entrance exam, he eventually entered the Sandhurst Military Academy. There, like his classmates, young Winston dreamt of glory in actual combat, and over the course of his military training got the opportunity to travel to Cuba and India before landing in South Africa (after receiving his commission) as a war correspondent just in time for the beginning of the Boer war.

The highlights of the book are the details of how after being captured in the early days of the war, Second Lt. Churchill escaped imprisonment, and over the course of a month managed to make it across the border into what today is Mozambique. He arrived back in Durban, and later back in England to a hero's welcome, where his heroism immediately catapulted him into office as a PM at 26.

The beautiful English of the book only serves to confirm that next to Arthur Koestler, Jean Paul Sartre and a handful of others, Churchill is without peers as a master of the English language. What a model for English writing. Five Stars

Winston Churchill's autobiography of his early life is an engrossing and informative read. After reading other biographies of Churchill it is interesting to get the story from the Churchill himself. In addition to learning about Churchill's youth, one gets a portrait of late Victorian England, a world that no longer exists.
The opening chapters are amusing as Churchill humorlessly recalls his difficult days in the British public school system. The middle section covers his military career in India and Africa. It is hard to understand Churchill's zest for war in today's climate. Europe had not seen the destruction total war could wrought. It is miracle he survived all the engagements he took part in. As Churchill points out most believed there would never be a major war at that time and war was still considered to be romantic. He sadly points out that most his former comrades would killed in the Boer War and the First World War. The chapters on Churchill's escape from the Boer POW camp are a real treat.
"My Early Life" is one of the finest autobiographies I have read. One can see why Churchill was awarded a Nobel Prize for literature. His command of the English language is masterful. What gives added relevence to this book is that it was written in the 1920s, little did Churchill know that he would play a central role in stopping Hitler and becoming one of the world's finest spokesman for freedom.

Although most of Churchill's huge output of books were written a little too fast (apparently, he had other demands on his time) to endure as classics, in this very personal story of his boyhood and youth his prose is superb. Further, he follows the brilliant strategy of <not> looking back on his younger years with the wisdom of age. He describes the events of his childhood with exactly the same boyish emotions he felt at the time. His account of his struggles with schooling remain justly famous, and there's adventure aplenty in Afghanistan, Cuba, the Sudan, and South Africa. A great book for boys (or former boys), especially ones with large vocabularies. --- Steve Sailer

"My Early Life" is an excellent book. This work is the first in which Winston Churchill offers details on his escape from captivity at the hands of the Boers in 1899, some thirty years after the fact. In an earlier work, "From London to Ladysmith via Pretoria", Churchill gives a great narrative of his capture and internment during that conflict, but had to leave out many of the details of his escape because of the danger a full account would have posed to those people who had helped him in the successful attempt. "My Early Life" also takes a couple of steps back from the original journalistic accounts Churchill wrote, adds more of the background, and reveals the political and social intrigue that formed and guided British military and social circles when the British Empire was at its peak. The best part of "My Early Life", for anyone who is at all familiar with the recorded speeches of Winston Churchill, is that the writing "sounds" like the man, the sentences flowing with an air of granduer that demonstrate the superb command of the English language which Churchill possessed. This is not an easy book to read, but the persistent reader will be rewarded with some of the highest caliber prose ever put to paper by a soldier turned journalist turned politician. This book is a must read.

My Early Life : 1874-1904 is highly recommended to young people, History buffs, political aspirants, and those with a fetish for biography. Not required to enjoy this book is prior knowledge of the author, the book is strong enough to stand on it's own. Churchill's clear and at times humorous narration was particularly enjoyable; I could almost hear the British bulldog speaking in my ear. An informative and easy read that moves at a good pace as it covers childhood to the early days in the House of commons, the reader is left with a concise picture of Churchill's formative years. The combination of Churchill literary talents and his amazing exploits are truly a winner.

Winston Churchill does a terrific job detailing his life as a young man in his autobiography, "My Early Life". What make this such a great book is the way Churchill writes: it is rather informal, as if he is talking directly to you. Churchill describes certain experiences in his past so vividly it is like they were fresh in his mind from having just happened. An important feature to this book is that it includes certain incites that cannot be found in any history book. You can learn much from this book. It comes from the mind of an experienced British cavalry officer, journalist, and politician. It is full of stories and special accounts that are never uninteresting. To read and enjoy this book it is not required to know anything about the man, Winston Churchill. Anyone from a high school student to a renowned historian will enjoy reading this book.

An excellent adventures book, but also a psicological tale of a growing soul: Churchill is able to dissect himself in every chapter, and show it as it was, without disguise. You can see the poor, terrified children that looks for his father and also the man that was going to save the world
It is not a model for structure (lineal), while style just pretends to be readable. Churchill is more a teller than a writer, but what a teller.
A nicely written book that deserved at least half of the Novel prize he won.

This is a fascinating account of Churchill's life up to about 1904, written around 1930. Even if you are not interested in Churchill (hard for me to imaging if you are reading this review) just the perspective into the late Victorian era is worth the price of admission. It was a totally different world.

Definitely a good read! Churchill recounts his early years with subtle wit and elegant style. Even the battle scenes kept me interested, which was an unexpected surprise. A good view into the life of a middle-class British soldier before the World Wars.

The way Churchill describes his daring escape from the boers is really gripping, it was an excellent book, but sometimes it is a bit verbose and Churchill losses me, but besides that I would definitly recommend this book, it is 110% better than James Herriot's "Every Living Thing"

I am deeply dissappointed in this book. I had hoped to find a good detailed tale of a youngster in Victorian England. Instead it seems that the author wonders where his youth went. Very little is revealed of his childhood. As a matter of fact within his childhood what Churchill remembers most is the political successes of his father. He struggles thru school and hides that by telling us at length how much fun it was to play polo during his military career in India. When a battle occurs and he takes notes he does not forget to write particularly well about himself and how heroic he is. The book shows how Churchil loves himself. The book reads like he self-satisfies himself. He ends his military years without a decent prospect of a job in civil life. So what does he chooses for his future? Politics. If you fail in everything else, choose politics. Just ask Hitler, another minor military chum. Like his nemesis der Adolph, der Winston survives on writing and giving speeches.
How amazing, that i did not find in this book what i was looking for, but i discovered that, like Hitler, Churchill got on the steps of the world stage, not knowing at a crucial time in his life, of which wood to make his arrows.