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Churchill Defiant: Fighting On: 1945-1955
New York Times bestselling biographer Barbara Leaming has written a riveting political dramaof the last ten years of Winston Churchill's public life. In Churchill Defiant , Leaming tells the tumultuous behind-the-scenes story of Churchill's refusal to retire after his 1945 electoral defeat, and the bare-knuckled political and personal battles that ensued. Her ground-breaking biography Jack Kennedy: The Education of a Statesman , was the first to detail Churchill's extraordinary influence on Kennedy's thinking. Now in Churchill Defiant , Leaming gives us a vivid and compelling narrative that sheds fresh light on both the human dimension of Winston Churchill and on the struggles and achievements of his final years. At last, in Leaming's eloquent account, we understand the tangled web of personal relationships and rivalries, the intricate interplay of past and present, the looming sense of history that makes the story of these years as fascinating as anything in the extraordinary century-long saga of Winston Churchill's life.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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166 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Leaming
28 books125 followersBarbara Leaming is the author of “Kick Kennedy: The Charmed Life and Tragic Death of the Favorite Kennedy Daughter” (Thomas Dunne Books, April 12, 2016). She has written three New York Times bestsellers, including her recent book “Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis”. Leaming’s book “Churchill Defiant” received The Emery Reves Award from the International Churchill Centre. Her groundbreaking biography of America's 35th President, “Jack Kennedy: The Education of a Statesman” was the first to detail the lifelong influence of British history and culture and especially of Winston Churchill on JFK. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, the Times of London and other periodicals. She lives in Connecticut.
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November 8, 2010
Book review
by Stephen Frater
Churchill Defiant
Fighting On: 1945 – 1955
By Barbara Leaming
Harper N.Y., NY 2010
An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Release date: October 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-133758-1
Only a handful of people have had more biographies written about them than Sir Winston Churchill. A recent tally put the total near 500. “Can there be anything new to say?” rhetorically asked a Churchill historian in 2004.
Barbara Leaming’s just-released Churchill Defiant: Fighting On: 1945 – 1955, answers that question with a resounding and fascinating “Yes!” Leaming, a bestselling New York Times author whose most recent book is a biography of John F. Kennedy, has written an insightful and highly-entertaining portrait of Churchill’s last “decade in the wilderness,” warts and all.
In July of 1945, Churchill was 70 years old and had been in Parliament almost continually since the turn of the century. He had served in a long series of senior ministerial offices culminating as both Defense Minister and Prime Minister for the past five years during the Second World War.
He was at the zenith of a long, tumultuous and uniquely historic career. Nazi Germany was defeated and the Japanese Empire’s days of aggression were clearly numbered. He was hailed as the savior of his people and thousands upon thousands had recently cheered him at Whitehall while celebrating Germany’s unconditional surrender in May. He was already an undisputed literary, political and military titan of the Twentieth Century; one of the original “Big-Three;” and the man who almost-alone inspired his nation and convinced the world that England was capable of facing down Adolf Hitler’s Nazi war machine.
Mere mortals would likely have accepted that a half-century of political and military service to The United Kingdom was coming to a glorious end. Churchill, as ever, had other plans.
Confident that victory huzzahs would be transformed into votes, Churchill called for a general election on July 5, 1945. It was the first in a decade, since the 1940 elections were cancelled due to the outbreak of the war.
Almost all domestic and foreign commentators predicted Churchill’s Conservative Party, the Tories, would be returned to power. Even Clement Atlee, leader of the opposition Labour Party and Deputy Prime Minister in Churchill’s coalition War Cabinet, saw only defeat in the tea-leafs.
After the July 5th vote, (the results would not be tallied for three weeks to allow far-flung military ballots to be counted) Churchill went to Potsdam for the Big Three Summit, where (the new man,) Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin and Churchill were to lay the ground work for post-war Europe. During the last week of July, Churchill flew home from Germany, for what he expected was going to be a 48 hour victory lap.
What he found at home was not only defeat, but an electoral disaster. The Tories had suffered one of their worst humiliations in 120 years. The scope of the landslide stunned Churchill who bitterly rejected an offer from the King of the Order of the Garter, one of Britain’s highest honors, saying he had instead received the order of the “boot,” from the people.
Leaming’s masterfully written and intimate book is a rich insider’s tale of back-stairs palace intrigue. Her superb sources provide wonderful insight into the personalities of the players and Leaming brings them alive in this period as few other authors have done.
There is the long-suffering, loyal, cautious, yet ambitious Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, who expects Churchill to hand over the party leadership after the 1945 defeat, yet has to tread delicately with Churchill, who still is fondly regarded as victory’s architect by the masses and who also is writing his monumental history of the war.
The Conservative party’s power-behind-the-scenes with both money and influence, was Robert Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, leader of the opposition peers and heir to the 4th Marquess of Salisbury. The Cecil family had advised British monarchs for centuries and Cecil’s grandfather, Prime Minister Lord Salisbury had been largely “responsible (at least as Winston saw it) for the political ruin of Winston’s father, Lord Randolph Churchill.”
The descriptions of the machinations of the players, all ostensibly “friends and colleagues,” and Churchill’s own infuriatingly clever counter-strategies make for a colorful, detailed, highly readable and often-amusing history.
Leaming captures Churchill at both his best and his worst, as he stubbornly clings to power in the hope that he can reclaim Downing Street and the premiership, against conventional wisdom, odds and father-time himself.
Churchill’s conviction and convenient rationale for hanging onto power; that only he can resolve the thorny Cold War impasse that gripped the world in the immediate post-war era, is beautifully rendered by Leaming.
While the book adds an oft-overlooked chapter to the great man’s great life, in Leaming’s hands it’s also a touching human race against time and gathering gloom overshadowing a towering intellect, ego and political career in terminal decline.
The amazing fact that Churchill managed to return to power and remain there into his eighties, to the frustration of all including his wife, is truly a testament to the man’s ability to “fight on.”
Copyright, 2010 Herald Tribune Media Group
by Stephen Frater
Churchill Defiant
Fighting On: 1945 – 1955
By Barbara Leaming
Harper N.Y., NY 2010
An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Release date: October 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-133758-1
Only a handful of people have had more biographies written about them than Sir Winston Churchill. A recent tally put the total near 500. “Can there be anything new to say?” rhetorically asked a Churchill historian in 2004.
Barbara Leaming’s just-released Churchill Defiant: Fighting On: 1945 – 1955, answers that question with a resounding and fascinating “Yes!” Leaming, a bestselling New York Times author whose most recent book is a biography of John F. Kennedy, has written an insightful and highly-entertaining portrait of Churchill’s last “decade in the wilderness,” warts and all.
In July of 1945, Churchill was 70 years old and had been in Parliament almost continually since the turn of the century. He had served in a long series of senior ministerial offices culminating as both Defense Minister and Prime Minister for the past five years during the Second World War.
He was at the zenith of a long, tumultuous and uniquely historic career. Nazi Germany was defeated and the Japanese Empire’s days of aggression were clearly numbered. He was hailed as the savior of his people and thousands upon thousands had recently cheered him at Whitehall while celebrating Germany’s unconditional surrender in May. He was already an undisputed literary, political and military titan of the Twentieth Century; one of the original “Big-Three;” and the man who almost-alone inspired his nation and convinced the world that England was capable of facing down Adolf Hitler’s Nazi war machine.
Mere mortals would likely have accepted that a half-century of political and military service to The United Kingdom was coming to a glorious end. Churchill, as ever, had other plans.
Confident that victory huzzahs would be transformed into votes, Churchill called for a general election on July 5, 1945. It was the first in a decade, since the 1940 elections were cancelled due to the outbreak of the war.
Almost all domestic and foreign commentators predicted Churchill’s Conservative Party, the Tories, would be returned to power. Even Clement Atlee, leader of the opposition Labour Party and Deputy Prime Minister in Churchill’s coalition War Cabinet, saw only defeat in the tea-leafs.
After the July 5th vote, (the results would not be tallied for three weeks to allow far-flung military ballots to be counted) Churchill went to Potsdam for the Big Three Summit, where (the new man,) Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin and Churchill were to lay the ground work for post-war Europe. During the last week of July, Churchill flew home from Germany, for what he expected was going to be a 48 hour victory lap.
What he found at home was not only defeat, but an electoral disaster. The Tories had suffered one of their worst humiliations in 120 years. The scope of the landslide stunned Churchill who bitterly rejected an offer from the King of the Order of the Garter, one of Britain’s highest honors, saying he had instead received the order of the “boot,” from the people.
Leaming’s masterfully written and intimate book is a rich insider’s tale of back-stairs palace intrigue. Her superb sources provide wonderful insight into the personalities of the players and Leaming brings them alive in this period as few other authors have done.
There is the long-suffering, loyal, cautious, yet ambitious Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, who expects Churchill to hand over the party leadership after the 1945 defeat, yet has to tread delicately with Churchill, who still is fondly regarded as victory’s architect by the masses and who also is writing his monumental history of the war.
The Conservative party’s power-behind-the-scenes with both money and influence, was Robert Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, leader of the opposition peers and heir to the 4th Marquess of Salisbury. The Cecil family had advised British monarchs for centuries and Cecil’s grandfather, Prime Minister Lord Salisbury had been largely “responsible (at least as Winston saw it) for the political ruin of Winston’s father, Lord Randolph Churchill.”
The descriptions of the machinations of the players, all ostensibly “friends and colleagues,” and Churchill’s own infuriatingly clever counter-strategies make for a colorful, detailed, highly readable and often-amusing history.
Leaming captures Churchill at both his best and his worst, as he stubbornly clings to power in the hope that he can reclaim Downing Street and the premiership, against conventional wisdom, odds and father-time himself.
Churchill’s conviction and convenient rationale for hanging onto power; that only he can resolve the thorny Cold War impasse that gripped the world in the immediate post-war era, is beautifully rendered by Leaming.
While the book adds an oft-overlooked chapter to the great man’s great life, in Leaming’s hands it’s also a touching human race against time and gathering gloom overshadowing a towering intellect, ego and political career in terminal decline.
The amazing fact that Churchill managed to return to power and remain there into his eighties, to the frustration of all including his wife, is truly a testament to the man’s ability to “fight on.”
Copyright, 2010 Herald Tribune Media Group
October 29, 2024
dry politics; poor health
November 1, 2014
The first thing to say about this book is that I did enjoy it.
The second thing to say is that it cannot stand on its own feet.
A lot is happening in Britain between 1945-1955, and the story cannot be told by focusing on one man and his intimates.
If you know the background, then the isolated material is perfectly OK - we know that Britain's role in the world is changing. The Empire dissolves. The rules of class society are undergoing a profound change.
The vast majority of the population did not wish to go back to the social and economic context of the Interbellum. And we do know how Churchill fits in that picture.
But if you are not aware that the Edwardian age in which Churchill has his roots is over, and that we were living in the Elizabethan age, then the book will fall in isolation.
The second thing to say is that it cannot stand on its own feet.
A lot is happening in Britain between 1945-1955, and the story cannot be told by focusing on one man and his intimates.
If you know the background, then the isolated material is perfectly OK - we know that Britain's role in the world is changing. The Empire dissolves. The rules of class society are undergoing a profound change.
The vast majority of the population did not wish to go back to the social and economic context of the Interbellum. And we do know how Churchill fits in that picture.
But if you are not aware that the Edwardian age in which Churchill has his roots is over, and that we were living in the Elizabethan age, then the book will fall in isolation.
October 14, 2019
Good overview of Churchill's second stint as PM. Three thoughts from the book:
1) He knew what he wanted and the role he needed to play.
2) He was indomitably optimistic, maybe even to the point of dangerous or damaging self-deception. (But remember, this was a man who willed UK through WWII and withstood Hitler, he needed an unhealthy dose of optimism. He was able to take any slight encouragement of his ideas and use it as a boost to his ends.
3) He had an incredible sense of momentum. Even the slightest opening or favorable turn of events would send him into a whir of action to seize the moment and maximize forward momentum. He didn't make the mistake of basking in a positive outcome but channeled that energy into pushing toward the next step.
To some extent, Church was probably too focused on his goal and his optimism too often strayed into delusion. While reading this book, it struck me that even our strengths, when totally unchecked, can become our blind spots. If you have good people around you, listen to those people.
1) He knew what he wanted and the role he needed to play.
2) He was indomitably optimistic, maybe even to the point of dangerous or damaging self-deception. (But remember, this was a man who willed UK through WWII and withstood Hitler, he needed an unhealthy dose of optimism. He was able to take any slight encouragement of his ideas and use it as a boost to his ends.
3) He had an incredible sense of momentum. Even the slightest opening or favorable turn of events would send him into a whir of action to seize the moment and maximize forward momentum. He didn't make the mistake of basking in a positive outcome but channeled that energy into pushing toward the next step.
To some extent, Church was probably too focused on his goal and his optimism too often strayed into delusion. While reading this book, it struck me that even our strengths, when totally unchecked, can become our blind spots. If you have good people around you, listen to those people.
March 2, 2018
This book condenses a large quantity of historical material into a readable, flowing narrative.
Churchill's defiant, dogged personality is a continuing theme. He is not above launching palace intrigues to set his would-be usurpers against each other. While out of power (1945-1951) he resists attempts from within the Conservative party to give up the leadership. This continues as Prime Minister, until he resigns in 1955.
During his second term as Prime Minister (1951-1955), Learning focuses on his attempts to establish UK/US/USSR, aimed at creating a lasting East-West peace. This exposes the dark side of his determined personality. He believed that, had the talks gone forward, he alone would be able to solve the problem.
This was likely to the detriment of the UK's domestic affairs, since the postwar economy was in tatters. That is my conclusion; however, as the book says little about domestic events during the 1951-1955 period.
Churchill's defiant, dogged personality is a continuing theme. He is not above launching palace intrigues to set his would-be usurpers against each other. While out of power (1945-1951) he resists attempts from within the Conservative party to give up the leadership. This continues as Prime Minister, until he resigns in 1955.
During his second term as Prime Minister (1951-1955), Learning focuses on his attempts to establish UK/US/USSR, aimed at creating a lasting East-West peace. This exposes the dark side of his determined personality. He believed that, had the talks gone forward, he alone would be able to solve the problem.
This was likely to the detriment of the UK's domestic affairs, since the postwar economy was in tatters. That is my conclusion; however, as the book says little about domestic events during the 1951-1955 period.
May 22, 2018
Easy read, interesting, and informative
Very well written, moves along at a good pace. Names , titles and positions are explained and tie into the story very neatly. If you are not familiar with England's parliamentary process, it is simply explained and you will come away with basic understanding of the system. I recommend this book to history enthusiasts.
Very well written, moves along at a good pace. Names , titles and positions are explained and tie into the story very neatly. If you are not familiar with England's parliamentary process, it is simply explained and you will come away with basic understanding of the system. I recommend this book to history enthusiasts.
November 30, 2019
So well written. Great piece for us Americans to fill in on this part of his bio.
Anyone interested in Churchill will want to read this. After he won the war he was thrown out by the electorate. Nevertheless he came back and hung on and unfortunately was unsuccessful in his last objective. This story ends just as he’s leaving the office. Well written
Anyone interested in Churchill will want to read this. After he won the war he was thrown out by the electorate. Nevertheless he came back and hung on and unfortunately was unsuccessful in his last objective. This story ends just as he’s leaving the office. Well written
Read
May 13, 2020This was very well written. It perhaps went into more detail at times than I needed, and I would have liked more on the domestic context, but it was very interesting and felt balanced to me. Churchill was a skilled and stubborn politician, even at this late stage. It is interesting seeing the battle between his ambitions and the limitations of aging.
May 2, 2019
Barbara Leaming pens an accessible, informative, and revealing account of Winston Churchill's second premiership. Most interesting is how the great man struggled to reconcile his beliefs and politics in a postwar world radically transformed.
October 22, 2019
I have read only 1 book on Churchill and this was the one. This book is so good that to read another book on Churchill would ruin the impact this book had on me.
January 2, 2022
The book is focused on Churchill’s political ambitions and his not wanting to leave office. Very timeline oriented with not a lot of backstory.
December 11, 2024
Superbly written examination of Churchill’s post-war years, especially the personality of Churchill and the political machinations of his cabinet.
August 17, 2021
Always enjoy reading about Churchill. This biography interesting in that in captures his life not in ww1, ww2 or the time between the wars, but it captures Churchill after this.
February 17, 2017
I really enjoyed the writing style and layout of this book. Each chapter has a unique, almost self contained stories, which explains Churchill's behavior through the second premiership. Churchill could at times come across as confused, but he was still very calculating from forcing Eisenhower hand to playing his enemies during his stroke recovery. In the heat of a fight he would always rise like a phoenix. No one was going to push him out, he would leave on his own terms.
October 12, 2012
Author Barbara Leaming portrays the postwar Winston Churchill as adrift until he manipulated himself back into power to which he clung despite its cost to his party, his protégé, his health and his family.
This author selected the issues of relations with Stalin/Russia and the dynamics of the continuous delay of the succession of Anthony Eden book for particular focus. Once "back" Churchill was obsessed with holding high level, three party talks (GB-US-USSR). Neither US President, Truman nor Eisenhower, had interest in such a meeting, and neither did Churchill's Tory party.
Leaming portrays the hope of such a meeting, on which Churchill expends tremendous political capital, as keeping him going, but it could have been personality traits that forced him to soldier on. It is sad to watch him squander his stature and reputation by refusing to pass the torch to younger colleagues.
The chapters are cleverly titled with a quote, often from WC himself, that summarizes that chapter's content or mood. One, "Don't I Live Here?" is WC's remark regarding the trees he want to remove from the grounds of 10 Downing when Anthony Eden reminds him this would be a permanent change. In calling himself "An Obstinate Pig" WC verifies that he does know how his behavior is being perceived.
There is a lot else going on in Britain at the time. There a few other international issues mentioned but they are merely backdrop. There is no mention of any domestic issue other than the price of coal that helped to sweep the Tories into power.
While the work is not definitive for these 10 years of Churchill's life, the author has an engaging writing style and the book is a smooth read.
Comment
This author selected the issues of relations with Stalin/Russia and the dynamics of the continuous delay of the succession of Anthony Eden book for particular focus. Once "back" Churchill was obsessed with holding high level, three party talks (GB-US-USSR). Neither US President, Truman nor Eisenhower, had interest in such a meeting, and neither did Churchill's Tory party.
Leaming portrays the hope of such a meeting, on which Churchill expends tremendous political capital, as keeping him going, but it could have been personality traits that forced him to soldier on. It is sad to watch him squander his stature and reputation by refusing to pass the torch to younger colleagues.
The chapters are cleverly titled with a quote, often from WC himself, that summarizes that chapter's content or mood. One, "Don't I Live Here?" is WC's remark regarding the trees he want to remove from the grounds of 10 Downing when Anthony Eden reminds him this would be a permanent change. In calling himself "An Obstinate Pig" WC verifies that he does know how his behavior is being perceived.
There is a lot else going on in Britain at the time. There a few other international issues mentioned but they are merely backdrop. There is no mention of any domestic issue other than the price of coal that helped to sweep the Tories into power.
While the work is not definitive for these 10 years of Churchill's life, the author has an engaging writing style and the book is a smooth read.
Comment
April 12, 2012
Basically gossipy and lacking in any kind of analysis, Leaming largely skips over the major questions of Churchill's second premiership to focus on his quixotic (and unrealistic) hopes for a summit meeting with the Soviet Union and his frequent attempts to keep designated successor Anthony Eden at bay. Given Churchill's poor health throughout the period and his dim understanding of nuclear diplomacy and its limits, the result makes WSC look like an old crank who stayed in power a decade longer than he should have largely for selfish reasons. It helped that I had read two books about the period by better historians (David Kynaston's Family Britain and Peter Hennessy's Having It So Good), so that I could fill in the context that Leaming leaves out. Those who are unfamiliar with postwar British history should probably look to those two volumes first.
January 23, 2017
I really liked this book by my favorite biographer. Winston Churchill was a BIG person. This book is after WW2. The author did a great job of painting the picture of who Winston Churchill was. He was quite the political animal with a strong sense that he was the only person who could solve some of the world's problems. It put a lot of pressure on him and made the people around him a little crazy. It was a good picture of how it felt to be at the center of world events with a lot of other BIG personalities. I'm not sure how I felt about the way that he presented himself at the end of his life. It felt like a cautionary tale that it is better to mentor someone to take over in your shadow than to hang onto power creating somewhat of an abyss when you are gone.
June 25, 2013
Churchill is quite a character, and by looking at his second term as Prime Minister we see him holding on, dodging retirement, and trying to correct relations with the Soviet Union that went awry after the Conservative party was pushed out of power in 1945, causing Churchill to be replaced at the Potsdam Conference with Clement Atlee.
Throughout most of this, Anthony Eden is left waiting in the wings while Churchill holds off the transfer of power. Churchill is quite a character, which also makes for an amusing introduction to the British Conservative party of the era, which would hold power until 1963.
Throughout most of this, Anthony Eden is left waiting in the wings while Churchill holds off the transfer of power. Churchill is quite a character, which also makes for an amusing introduction to the British Conservative party of the era, which would hold power until 1963.
November 23, 2010
I heard an interview with the author on a local NPR show, and she was full of fascinating & juicy tidbits about Churchill. I wish a few more of those had made their way into this book. It painted a vivid portrait of post-war, fighting-to-retain power Churchill, but his political maneuvers began to feel a little repetitive at times. I ended up feeling sorry for Anthony Eden with his long-delayed inheritance of the leadership role ...
Leaming does an excellent job describing the personalities of political leaders, but this book needed just a bit more length to make it truly memorable.
Leaming does an excellent job describing the personalities of political leaders, but this book needed just a bit more length to make it truly memorable.
July 26, 2012
Solid perspective of Churchill's final years in office and the reasoning behind his hold on power. The book focused on just five of the real key players in his final ten years as PM which made it a fairly easy read. Also a good reminder of how difficult it was to communicate between allies and enemies sixty years ago.
January 21, 2011
Interesting choice of period for biography - from Churchill's stunning loss in 1945 until his retirement in 1955. It covers his battles to come back from defeat, to drive a peace summit with the US and USSR, and to retain power in the face of ambition and opposition in his own cabinet.
January 23, 2012
An interesting insight into Churchill's indomitable will.
abandoned
December 31, 2012Abandoned Nov 2012 - just couldn't connect with the narration.
December 25, 2012
Dude is pretty cocky.
April 2, 2013
Very interesting and enjoyable for those who are interested in Churchill. Some longer thoughts here: http://easternchristianbooks.blogspot...
March 13, 2023
a little repetitive but the documenting is commendable
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews