One Life: The True Story of Sir Nicholas Winton and the Prague Kindertransport

by Barbara Winton

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Book Club, Audiobook

1 pages, Audio CD

Published November 5, 2024

Reviews

[Nancy G]

This is a wonderful story of a man who stepped forward and saved some children. He led an interesting life, shared lovingly by his daughter. Nicholas Winton deserves to be remembered. T

[Meg Percy]

Kind of weird that the book begins with the best part of Sir Winton’s story tbh

[Jennifer Heider]

“I came to believe through my life that what is important is that we live by the common ethics of all religions- kindness, decency, love, respect, and honour for others- and not worry about the aspects within religion that divide us”- beautiful.
This book was not perfect- I wanted to read more about the actual transport. But it was an interesting portrait of Sir Nicholas and his family, and the stories of his reunions with his “children” moved me to tears.

[Amy]

I remember seeing online a clip of this man being surprised by children he saved years ago, so when I came across this book I thought I'd give it a read. I agree with another reviewer that it feels somehow backward to start with the most exciting parts at the beginning and then go on to tell his story after, but I'm not sure how else you would successfully format it.
I am choosing not to rate the story, but I'm glad to have learned a little more about this man and what he tried to do to help.

[Kim]

Interesting story I had never heard. I was a bit confused by the format - starting with the most intriguing part of the story first and then going back to his childhood felt off to me. I would have liked more about the kindertransport. Listened to this one, and the reader was good.

[Nina]

Wonderful story

[Megan Garey]

Liked this. Loved that his daughter was the author. She gave a great overall story about her father. She showed him as a whole person. He wasn’t perfect. Well researched. Great story about just doing the right thing and not wanting all the praise for it.

Quotes-

He didn’t wait for the time it would have taken to go through the groups already formed. He just did and ended up saving 669 lives.

The story of the last train not making it with 220 children. If they would have gone one day earlier.

There’s a difference between passive goodness and active goodness.

How can god be on both sides of the war.

Antisemitism showed its self in the strangest places

Nikki believes- Most people really make real decisions in their life. Things happen and they react.

He was intent on looking forward not back and facing the challenges of the present.

[Emilie Bienhoff]

I never would have heard of Sir Winton if not for the infamous video clip of him being surprised by an entire audience made up of children (and their children) that he had helped save during WWII. As a WWII period book lover, and always yearning to learn more about the true stories and unsung heros, I had to read this once I learned about him. I loved that this book was written by his daughter. I thought she did a great job portraying the man he was and how he got there. I wish there was more focused on the Kindertransport operation though.

[Teresa Christensen]

3.5 The author gave a lovely tribute to her father's long, service-filled life, but I would have liked to hear more about the Kindertransport. Only a small part of the book was dedicated to this part of his life. I also found it interesting that Nicholas Winton had a son born with Down Syndrome and played a part in getting services or an organization in the UK to help families in similar situations.

[Kathy Holmes]

The storytelling in this book is painful. I wanted to learn more about how this man saved the children of Prague. However, the redundancy of the author creates for an almost blow by blow recall of his life. Yet once you think you’re finally moving forward, it circles back around for continual storytelling about the same thing. I don’t love giving up on a book, but I was miserable whenever I contemplated reading it.

[Brontedorothy]

Winton's life was amazing. Saving the lives of Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia was only a portion of this compassionate man's accomplishments. He also advocated for children with disabilities and care for the elderly. He lived to be 106 years old and made every single year of his life count toward the good of his fellow human beings. What a truly extraordinary life.

[Leslie]

I wasn't familiar with this man before finding this book. It starts by sharing about the Prague kindertransport and then tells the rest of his life. The structure provides insight into how he was raised that led to the event and his life after as well. A life well lived.

[David Petersen]

I thought this was a fantastic read. I appreciated learning about the kindertransport of Czechoslovakia before world war 2 and also the fascinating life of Nicholas (Nickie) Winton and his role in the process. I would definitely call this a must read!

[Sarah]

6/10

[Chase Green]

Learned something new. Good people come in many different forms.

[Diane]

I read a large portion of this book but decided not to go any further than I did because it was so much more than the movie based on it which I thought was fabulous.

[Marge Cook]

Sir Winton was certainly a gift to so many! This was a moving book about his whole life history. Personally I may have preferred to have more details about the saving of the 669 children.

[Danette]

Mr. Winton lived a long life always seeking to serve others.

2025 A Biography

[F]

A wonderful story

[Eleanor]

The true story needed to be told. Sir Nicholas Winton did save many children. But I think it could have been told in ten pages.

[Beth Hartnett]

Sir Nicholas Winton's daughter shares the life of her father, the man who rescued 669 children from certain death by the Nazis in Czechoslovakia on the brink of WWII.

[Michelle]

A touching homage of a daughter to her father. Not really that much about the Kindertransport operation.

[Jolene]

Beautiful story but somewhat difficult to follow the format.

[Megan Hendy]

The life story of a man who performed a lifesaving deed during WWII. I know the purpose of the book was to tell his life story, but I wish there was more on the Kinder transport event.

[Gretchen]

It’s more a biography of the man. There was a bit about the project he engineered during WWII but it was a very small part. He seems like a great man but the story was not what I was looking for.

[Rachel C. Sullivan]

This book was all over the place, dealing more with other aspects of Winston's life and less with things that could be tied to the kindertransport.

[Natalie]

I love stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. This was less about the Kindertransport trains and more a detailed history of Sir Winton’s life.

[Aliceson Bales]

I wanted to learn more about Nicholas Winton and his amazing story in the lead-up to WW2. There was little in the biography about that actual time of his life. I’m proud of his daughter for sharing his story and I’m sure she is happy to have written it and shared her father with the world, so good for her!

[Molly Richardson]

The beginning was great and had me very intrigued. But once it got into his past I got bored fast.