Physical description

Index, ill, maps, p.385.

Publication type

non-fiction

Summary

Here, in his own words, are the fascinating first thirty years in the life of one of the greatest leaders of the twentieth century. In his autobiography, Churchill recalls his childhood, his schooling, his years as a war correspondent in South Africa during the Boer War, and his first forays into politics as a member of Parliament. Historians have established that Churchill took certain liberties with episodes in the book; he was not, for example, an academic under-achiever as he suggests. Of course this does not detract from the book's insights into the history of "a vanished age", nor his very personal struggles and achievements, which contrast starkly with the public focus of the majority of his writings.