My Early Life

Product Information

It is a fascinating book and considering it was written by someone born almost 140 years ago, still has relevance for young and old today. The first English edition published by Thornton Butterworth in October 1930 sold 11,200 copies, and the American edition published by Charles Scribner's Sons sold 6,600. But I wondered whether Churchill's idealization of the Victorian age led him to exaggerate the gap between Churchill's 19th-century values created 20th-century horrors. Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on that strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the sections which fascinated me were those detailing ordinary life (using the term loosely, given that he was the son of a lord), and the sections I found dull were those detailing his military exploits. Pakankamai smagia ir gyva kalba Churchill‘is pasakoja apie savo vaikystę, mokslo metus, tarnybą Indijoje, karo korespondento nuotykius Pietų Afrikos karo lauke, galiausiai užbaigia savo pirmais žingsniais politikoje. He pulled every string and used every tactic to ensure that happened, to the extent many viewed him as a glory hunter who neglected the routine duties of an army officer. And Churchill's descriptions of English retaliation against Indians who defied the colonial power (e. Otherwise, his characteristic optimism carries him through every experience of his life, allowing him to see events that at first seemed a misfortune as changing his path in life to one with a later success.The dominant theme of this book is the break that Churchill sees between the waning Victorian age and a 20th century of technology and greater democratization. Although I have read many books on Winston Churchill, I believe that this is the first one I have read written by him. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. As such, I will merely end with recommending this book as essential reading and by making clear that I look forward to reading more of Churchill’s work in the future. This final printing of the first edition is also notable for being the very last book published by Churchill's longtime publisher, Thornton Butterworth, which went under in 1940; this printing was published in December 1940 during the first year of Churchill's wartime premiership, three months after Thornton's voluntary liquidation but just before final arrangements regarding reversion of copyrights.

This copy is of the second state, with 12 lines of Churchill titles on the half-title verso, and in the second state binding, with 5-line lettering to the front cover (the first state has 3-line lettering). Overall I'm glad I read it and I know a lot more about this great man of British history than I did before. Wonderful prose of a bygone era and a social comment on the life and times of the late 19th Century. There is little more I can say that is not said better by either Churchill himself or the many scholars who have studied him for decades. I also succeeded in passing the preliminary examination for the Army while still almost at the bottom of the school.

He went to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst where, after three attempts at admission and 1½ years as a cadet, he emerged as a cavalry officer. My Early Life, Churchill's first volume of sustained biography, is a highly entertaining account of his childhood, schooldays at Harrow, military training at Sandhurst, experiences as a war correspondent in Cuba, and service attached to the Malakand Field Force on the NW Frontier of India, charging with the 21st Lancers at Omdurman, and as a POW in South Africa during the Boer War. In some cases these figures got into debt with one another: you had to borrow one or carry one, and, afterwards you had to pay back the one you had borrowed. By the end of his own twenty-fifth year, Churchill had been one of the world’s highest paid war correspondents, published his first five books, made his first lecture tour of North America, braved and breasted both battlefields and the hustings, and been elected to Parliament, where he would take his first seat only weeks after the end of Queen Victoria’s reign. There are a few outdated attitudes, almost inevitable in a work of this vintage, and it must be admitted there is a fair bit of the “Huzzah!

Whilst thoroughly entertaining, many of Churchills’ views on war, empire, and the non-white races are repugnant if viewed purely though a 21st Century liberal lens. I gathered these were wicked people and there was no end to what they would do if they had their way. When they arrived at fairly obvious reflections upon life and love, upon war, fate or manners, they coined them into the slogans or epigrams for which their language was so well adapted, and thus preserved the patent rights for all time.Jeg er helt overbevist om at man skal interessere sig for krigshistorier og selvfølgelig Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill for at falde ind under kategorien af læsere. Labai daug tikėjausi iš Čerčilio vaikystės aprašymų, tačiau skaitant knygą nuolatos neapleido jausmas, kad daug dalykų yra sąmoningai nutylima ir dar pačiose įdomiausiose vietose. In the World War One he was minister of munitions under Lloyd George, then after the war, secretary of state for war. KODĖL jis niekada nekalba apie Jungtinės Karalystės gyventojus, kurie kenčia žiaurų išnaudojimą darbo vietose, kai tuo tarpu jis, dykaduonis pertekęs turtais imperialistas, žudo visiškai nekaltus gyventojus?

I found his recounting of his school days to be particularly enjoyable, as he makes snide remarks about Latin and grammar. First edition, first impression, in a very presentable example of the extremely rare dust jacket, retaining much of its vibrant colour. They took one away from all the interesting things one wanted to do in the nursery or in the garden.Beginning with his recollections of his first memories, Churchill pens a highly engaging narrative which cleverly interpolates the curious and playful adventures of a child of superior privilege in the latter half of the 19th Century against the most significant geopolitical events of the day. This is an impressive example of a notoriously fragile edition, very good plus in a very good plus dust jacket. Ir nepaisant nedidelių ekskursų į ateitį (tokių kaip „tas ir tas vėliau krito didžiojo karo metu“), Churchill‘iui gana vykusiai pavyksta išvengti to „žvilgsnio iš ateities“ ir pasakoti viską iš XIX amžiaus pabaigos žmogaus pozicijos. Its capital was Maidstone, and all round Maidstone there grew strawberries, cherries, raspberries and plums.