Churchill's Shadow: An Astonishing Life and a Dangerous Legacy

Description

A critical but fair political biography that tells the story of the life and the equally fascinating one of his legacy. This is Churchill for those who believe that the country has lost its way and who try to understand why - and Churchill and his legacy have a lot to answer for. A critical but fair political biography of Churchill that zooms in on crucial moments in his life and career that help us understand the man in his many contradictions. While in A.J.P. Taylor's words, Churchill was 'the saviour of his country', he was also a deeply flawed character, whose personal ambition would cloud his political judgement - and as a result he was often plain wrong. But the book's central argument goes beyond biography- argues that Churchill has cast a dark shadow over post-war British history and contemporary politics - from the 'Churchillian stance' of Tony Blair taking the country to war in Iraq to the delusion of a special relationship with the United States to the fateful belief in British exceptionalism- that the nation can once again stand alone in Europe. Wheatcroft takes a radically different approach to other hagiographies of Chruchill. This is a biography that doesn't just tell the story of his life but the equally fascinating one of his legacy, focusing on how Churchill was viewed by contemporaries and those who came after. This book is both a biography of the man and a fresh and revealing account of post-war politics seen through his legacy.

Geoffrey Wheatcroft contributes regularly to a variety of newspapers and journals including the Guardian, the Spectator, the TLS, The New York Times and the Atlantic Monthly. He is the author of several books, including The Randlords, The Controversy of Zion, The Strange Death of Tory England, Le Tour and Yo, Blair!

Stimulating, erudite and above all entertaining... For any reader tired of the seemingly endless round of Churchill-worship of the last few years, Geoffrey Wheatcroft provides a lively corrective -- Robert Harris Even readers sick of Churchill will find much to enjoy, partly because Wheatcroft is such a fluent and entertaining writer, but also because he has so many interesting and provocative things to say -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times * Hagiographers beware; Wheatcroft has skewered the cult of Churchill hero worship. This book reminds us that while Churchill was Britain's saviour in 1940, his views on race and empire, and his military debacles from the Dardanelles to Dieppe, make it unwise to revere him like a saint -- Samir Puri, author of The Great Imperial Hangover A clear-eyed, incisive and superbly balanced account of Churchill, the man and the myth... Much to think about in the twenty-first century -- Robert Gildea, author of Empires of the Mind Wheatcroft is a skilled prosecutor with a rapier pen ... [Churchill's Shadow] could be the best single-volume indictment of Churchill yet written * New York Times * Provocative, clear-sighted, richly textured and wonderfully readable, this is the indispensable biography of Churchill for the post-Brexit 2020s -- David Kynaston Wheatcroft takes the now widely held ... view of Churchill, which is that he was reckless and racist, a "stormy petrel" in Wheatcroft's neat phrase, laments the way that misinformed "Churchillism" has taken hold -- Quentin Letts * The Times * [A] fascinating book... Churchill's Shadow is a wonderful revisioning of the sacred monster which, curiously, leaves you more in sympathy with him, because it never tries to gloss over his enormous faults, while giving full play to his amazing qualities. -- Ferdinand Mount * Oldie * Wheatcroft declares modestly that he hasn't written a full biography... [but this] book is still the best place to start. That's not just because Wheatcroft tells you all you need to know about Churchill's life. It's because he tells you...[what] you need to know about his afterlife -- Christopher Bray * Tablet *