Product Description

Carlo D’Este’s startlingly fresh biography examines the life of Winston Churchill through the prism of his military service as both a solider and warlord: the descendent of the first Duke of Marlborough who, despite never having risen above the rank of lieutenant colonel, eventually came at the age of sixty-five to direct Britain’s military campaigns in the greatest conflict of the twentieth century. Churchill’s childhood ambition was to be a soldier. In 1895, at the age of 21, he was commissioned into the Fourth Queen’s Own Hussars. Two years later he saw action on the Northwest Frontier of India, and in 1898 took part in the last cavalry charge of the British Army at the Battle of Omdurman in the Sudan. These early experiences furnished him with crucial understanding soldiers and love of soldiering which lasted for the rest of his life. In 1940, Prime Minister at last, he kept for himself the office of Minister of Defence so there would be no question about who was ultimately responsible for Britain’s war effort. Using extensive untapped archival materials, Carlo D’Este tells this extraordinary story as never before. He explores Churchill’s strategies in both world wars – the disastrous failures as well as the dazzling triumphs, and casts fresh light on his tumultuous relationships with his generals. Warlord is a masterful, unsparing portrait of one of history’s most fascinating and influential leaders doing what he enjoyed most – being a soldier.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25821 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 960 pages

Customer Reviews

An outstanding read
This is a first class biography and a must read for anyone interetsted in Chruchill, human conflict, leadership, or the social history of the UK and its empire. It is also a story of a dysfunctional family who's lineage produced probably the geatest leader of the 20th century. He was a man of his times, from childish and arrogant to bullish and brave. The book is very well written and easy to digest, the author does not make value judgements but presents the facts with assurance, offers intrepretations, with logical assumptions based on solid academic research. Whilst this is an excellent reference book it is also the story of probably the last Great Briton to reflect what this country stood for, and some of it was'nt all that good. But also how an era ended in such tragic loss of life with 2 global conflicts that reverberate today. Also if you want to understand 21st century relationships with the middle east, Iran - Iraq, with muslim fundamentalism, African relationships, European suspicions and much more, read this and discover the roots of many modern problems.
I remember Churchills funeral and the national mourning that surrounded it. This book tells me why a country, and the greatest empire ever assembled came to a standstill when when he died.

This is a first class piece of work that is thoroughly enjoyable to read whilst heartbreaking to absorb. I have not read d'Este before but I will certainly find his previous work.

Fine study of Churchill's wars
Carlo D'Este is a renowned historian of World War Two. His previous books include Decision in Normandy, Bitter Victory: the battle for Sicily 1943, Fatal decision: Anzio and the battle for Rome, and a biography of General Patton.

Now in this extraordinary book, he studies Churchill's role in Britain's many wars from 1897 to 1945. Churchill wrote in 1897 from the war on India's North-West Frontier, "All who resist will be killed without quarter. The Mohmands need a lesson - and there is no doubt we are a very cruel people. ... with fire and sword in vengeance ... we proceeded systematically, village by village, and we destroyed the houses, filled up the wells, blew down the towers, cut down the great shady trees, burned the crops and broke the reservoirs in punitive devastation. ... I wonder if people in England have any idea of the warfare that is being carried on here ... no quarter is ever asked or given. The tribesmen torture the wounded & mutilate the dead. The troops never spare a man who falls into their hands - whether he be wounded or not ... The picture is a terrible one ... I wish I could come to the conclusion that all this barbarity - all these losses - all this expenditure - had resulted in a permanent settlement being obtained, I do not think however that anything has been done - that will not have to be done again." Very prescient, given the current Anglo-American commitment to endless, futile war on Afghanistan.

Churchill participated in Britain's wars across Africa, from north to south. The Daily Mail's war correspondent wrote of Omdurman, "It was not a battle but an execution." Of the Boers, Churchill asked, "What sort of men are these we are fighting? They have a better cause - and cause is everything."

D'Este calls World War One `the most colossal folly in the history of mankind'. Even within this folly, Churchill's disastrous Gallipoli scheme stood out.

Early in World War Two, Churchill directed reinforcements from North Africa to Greece. This stopped General O'Connor from taking Tripoli, leaving it open for Rommel to seize. "This removal disastrously changed the course of the war by spawning disastrous setbacks in Greece and North Africa - and later in Crete." D'Este believes this was `the most serious strategic misjudgement of the war'.

Churchill argued that Allied operations in the Mediterranean would not delay the cross-Channel assault beyond 1943, but of course they did just that. The Italian campaign, as D'Este notes, `simply distracted the Allies from their real task: crossing the English Channel and opening the endlessly delayed second front."

He recounts the great 1944 controversy - should the Anglo-American air forces knock out the French railway system to prevent Hitler reinforcing his troops in Normandy, as Eisenhower, backed by de Gaulle, proposed? Or should they carry on bombing Germany, as air-force chiefs Harris and Spaatz, backed by Churchill, wanted?

Harris and Spaatz adhered to the Trenchard doctrine that strategic bombing alone could win wars, so they thought that the D-Day invasion was unnecessary. Eisenhower, rightly, overruled them all.

Warlord: Churchill at War: 1874-1945 by Carlo d'Este
Warlord: Churchill at War: 1874-1945
I believe Carlo D'Este is one of the, if not, the best war historian ever.
He is never inaccurate and his ability to discover little known but relevant
facts is second to none. An example in this book : When Churchill was leaving the Commons to applause after making his historical speech "We will fight them on the landing grounds etc. etc." he turned to his aid and said "That's got the buggers"
This is typical of this author and I urge anyone interested in the history of the wars to read this and all his other books.