Churchill was an abysmal student, and his years before the Mast of Education are reported with a remarkably pungent wit. The idea that nothing is true except what we comprehend is silly, and that ideas which our minds cannot reconcile are mutually destructive, sillier still. His mother shipped books to him, and he read widely in history, philosophy, and ethics, at the moment when he was ready to absorb the information and keep it in his memory. I found his recounting of his school days to be particularly enjoyable, as he makes snide remarks about Latin and grammar. Letters after all had only got to be known, and when they stood together in a certain way one recognised their formation and that it meant a certain sound or word which one uttered when pressed sufficiently.

He emphasizes that he was ambitious and got ahead through force of will (though Churchill does mention the numerous connections obtained through mom and dad along the way).Churchill oftentimes ruminated on his estranged relationship with his father whom he terribly wished he could please as well as his clear love and admiration for his mother, described as a star, beautiful, bright but very distant. The result is “My Early Years: 1874-1904,” perhaps one of history’s most entertaining autobiographies.

If I could have done half of the exciting things that this man did in the five years after he turned 20, I should be satisfied for life. The Statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. we passed a pleasant day skirmishing with the Boers…” comes across as something of a dickhead, and whilst it may now be close to sacrilegious to say something so disparaging of Churchill, until World War II a dickhead appears to have been how the general public largely viewed him.

In the World War One he was minister of munitions under Lloyd George, then after the war, secretary of state for war. Might've been three stars but for all the detailed descriptions of the military maneuvers, which I find rather boring. Precedence goes to the coarse cloth and three lines on the front cover which, together with 11 titles on the half title verso, denote first edition, first printing, first state, first binding state. He reported his great admiration for mathematicians who, like chess players who could play 16 simultaneous games, are destined to die young with epilepsy, “And serve them right. A great black crowd, scarlet soldiers on horseback, strings pulling away a brown shiny sheet, the old Duke, the formidable grandpapa, talking loudly to the crowd.

The covers retain bright color, the spine uniformly toned but clean and far brighter than usual, still retaining much of its distinctive plum hue, as well as bright spine gilt. Such was my first introduction to the classics from which, I have been told, many of our cleverest men have derived so much solace and profit. Gilt of spine a little oxidised, a few other minor pale marks, slight tape residue to front free endpaper recto and offsetting to following leaf, a bright, square copy, title page unopened; jacket spine sunned, variable fading to panels, a few scuffs to front, splits to folds, other nicks, chips and tears, old tape repairs on verso but remaining very good. Nesigailiu skaitęs , nes sužinojau šį tą naujo apie šį siaubūną, tačiau autoriaus šališkumas ir nutylėjimai buvo daugiau nei neatleistini.

Personligt synes jeg at de mere personlige beretninger om Winston Churchill i ”Mine unge år” er de mest interessante passager. Although much of this book held my interest, my attention flagged during Churchill's lengthy descriptions of the military maneuvers during the Boer Wars. Here, in his own words, are the fascinating first thirty years in the life of one of the most provocative and compelling leaders of the twentieth century: Winston Churchill. He occupied himself, instead, writing a number of books, which together with public speaking was his chief source of income throughout his life. Thus I got into my bones the essential structure of the ordinary British sentence—which is a noble thing.

He describes his large collection of toy soldiers, his usually unsuccessful experiences in school, and how his family decided his path in life was to join the army as an officer. The book ends with a conversation with Joseph Chamberlain and the latter’s advocacy of tariff protection for the Empire.To travel thousands of miles with money one could ill afford, and get up at four c'clock in the morning in the hope of getting into a scrape in the company of perfect strangers, is certainly hardly a rational proceeding.