Churchill

Walking with Destiny

By: Andrew Roberts

Narrated by: Stephen Thorne

Length: 50 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin. 

Winston Churchill towers over every other figure in 20th-century British history. By the time of his death at the age of 90 in 1965, many thought him to be the greatest man in the world. 

There have been over a thousand previous biographies of Churchill. Andrew Roberts now draws on over 40 new sources, including the private diaries of King George VI, used in no previous Churchill biography, to depict him more intimately and persuasively than any of its predecessors. Masterfully narrated by Stephen Thorne, this audiobook in no way conceals Churchill's faults, and it allows the listener to appreciate his virtues and character in full: his titanic capacity for work (and drink), his ability see the big picture, his willingness to take risks and insistence on being where the action was, his good humour even in the most desperate circumstances, the breadth and strength of his friendships and his extraordinary propensity to burst into tears at unexpected moments. Above all, it shows us the wellsprings of his personality - his lifelong desire to please his father (even long after his father's death) but aristocratic disdain for the opinions of almost everyone else, his love of the British Empire, his sense of history and its connection to the present.

During the Second World War, Churchill summoned a particular scientist to see him several times for technical advice. 'It was the same whenever we met', wrote the young man. 'I had a feeling of being recharged by a source of living power.' Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's emissary, wrote, 'Wherever he was, there was a battlefront.' Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Churchill's essential partner in strategy and most severe critic in private, wrote in his diary, 'I thank God I was given such an opportunity of working alongside such a man, and of having my eyes opened to the fact that occasionally such supermen exist on this earth.'

©2018 Andrew Roberts (P)2018 Penguin Audio

His Finest 50 Hours (and 28 minutes)

I have to say, first and foremost, before anything else, that this is hands down the best audiobook I've ever listened to--and I've listened to a few.

It's not for any particular love of Churchill, although I do confess to having adored him long before I came to this book. It's rather the incredible complexity of his seemingly never-ending life; I never fail to remark that he usually had done (or achieved) more things before noon on his average day than I have in my lifetime, and that furthermore, at 61 I find my life winding down. Contemplating _directing a world war_ three years from now and then continuing that for a _further five years_ is, well, inconceivable, but the fact that he did it with such wit, intelligence and just unparalleled WISDOM is just beyond words.

And to have almost every moment of this incredible life--I would put Churchill's ultimate importance to humanity in the top five, if not at the very top--recorded to be played at my leisure, for so many hour (upon delicious hour) read, I might add, by the most able and enjoyable narrator I have EVER had the pleasure to listen to . . . well, never in the making of audiobooks was so much enjoyment created by so many for so few (dollars).

May I ask the Right Honorable Attending to accept my strolling (just about everywhere) ovation.

Immersion in a life of Churchillian proportions

The narrator did an excellent job and the biography was not the singe thread sequential life stories I’ve encountered before biased by authors perceptions ... it was a fascinating patchwork of al that was going on around the man and others in his times - letters. diaries, personal papers available to researchers in archived in 2010. It was a marathon listen ... and I will listen to it again and again ... I often did listen to sections several times as a result o playing it at bedtime & losing my place when I fell asleep ... and never fast forwarded through stuff I heard before .... mostly I was astonished at what I didn’t hear the first time ... the pace, like the man’s life & his fellow men, never let up. Remarkable life, remarkable times & remarkably woven together this coat of many colours ...

Excellent Read

Author is obviously a Churchill fan and that is to be kept in mind. However the fact that he keeps going back on Churchill's childhood neglect as the reason for his perseverance and will is really annoying. It's enough to mention it, saying it could be a motivating factor, but to keep implying it was one of the main reasons for his success is ridiculous. Churchill was a man built for greatness, and he achieved all of it himself through sheer will. And even if his childhood circumstances were favorable, I doubt it would have changed the many things he achieved and the ideologies he held. This is purely hypothetical ofcourse - just like the author was in every other chapter.
Also, one point to note is most of the book is a lot of direct quotations from various characters, with minimal commentary from the author, who was just sewing events together. This, I realized is what made this book wonderful. The ending, where the author himself expressed views on the various events in Churchill's life- almost categorizing them, arbitrarily, into good and bad left me annoyed. So although I loved the book, I like the author for his compilation - not his writing.

Best Churchill biography

If you want to be a resilient person and how to learn from your blunders you must read this book. I was so pleased during the reading of the book that certainly I lost my sense of space and time.

Fascinating

What an interesting man! This is an extremely well-researched and written book which gives a fascinating insight into a tense time. I didn't know much about Churchill before starting this 50 hours long journey but was utterly absorbed and am now a big fan of the legend with all his idiosyncrasies.

must read

amazing reading, amazing story. imensly informative and touching. an unbelievable story, yet fully supported by the facts

A very human yet informative biography

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The book (as well as the reader ) did an excellent job capturing Churchill's great oratory, humour, idiosyncrasies, sense of history, and great love for the English-speaking Peoples.

Informative, balanced and extremely enjoyable

The early parts of the book about his childhood seem very normal for the times and not of any major significance when looking to read about the man.
Yet as the book continues and as the various successes and failures unfold the book provides a complete and sometimes funny account of Churchill.
I say it is balanced because there are criticisms and rebuttals of things said by both his critics and Winston himself
I thoroughly recommend the book
The advantage of listening to it mainly whilst traveling is wonderful

Absolutely glorious

Topic: Winston, the greatest leader of the 20th century
Author: the incomparable Andrew Roberts
Narraotr: The exquisite Stephen Thorne.

This book and its production is a masterpiece.

The book was so fascinating I could have listened for another 51 hours

Before this book my knowledge about Churchill was superficial. This book was so fascinating that I could have listened for another 51 hours.

It was wonderful to get to learn about such a unique individual. He was simply a hero of mythical proportions and most politicians since have only a fraction of his energy, passion, courage and tenacity.

GLORIOUS! ROBERT'S SPECTACULAR LIFE OF CHURCHILL

Well this was always going to be great book, and among the many who are already fans of the substantial body of work by Andrew Roberts, expectations ran high. After his fabulous & most decidedly definitive biography of Napoleon Bonaparte the pressure to do justice to the 20th Centuries Giant among leaders. This reader was prepared to be entertained, enchanted, maddened by turns at Churchill's incredible power to gather a following, his imaginative attempts to 'try something different' which, as with all efforts to risk a new idea, are not always successful. In one particular case Churchill's initiative led to the Dardanelles debâcle which should be seem as a perfectly legitimate effort at breaking the horrific stalemate along the 500 miles of a barely budging Western Front, he chose the wrong commanding officer for the offensive, and the whole enterprise was undermined by those whom he had put in charge on the ground. Churchill himself would not tolerate ex-post-facto-rationalisation. amd did the decent thing. He fought in the trenches on that Hellish Battlefield in the West. There are few who can match the lyrical though spacious prose, Roberts produces his best writing without losing any of the narrative drive needed to keep this epic to one volume. I have bought this book in every format and enjoy listening to it on audible despite having read it twice. Pick any page and even a reader with little or no knowledge of Churchill will almost certainly become absorbed and drawn in to this beautifully written, well-paced, and for me flawless work. I have read many biographies on Churchill, and a large number of these were excellent. Andrew Roberts has achieved a near miracle by writing a life of Churchill that feels as though it were my first introduction to the Great Man and Walking with Destiny. Enjoy! This is the biography of 2018/19

Brilliantly Told

As a 93 year old and former soldier in the 14th Army I found the details of what took place in the corridors of power during my time I the Far East fascinating. The reader using a fairly close imitation of Churchill’s voice and manner of speaking one could almost hear the man himself.

Brilliant and very enjoyable.

Churchill, warts and all.

This is a well researched and beautifully written book. The author is obviously a fan of Churchill and unfortunately this shows through too strongly at times.
The book is particularly good on Churchill ‘s early life and we get a deep insight into Churchill ‘a character some of which is unpleasant.
A worthwhile read for anyone who wants to understand what made Churchill tick but not quite up to the objective standard of the Jenkins biography

A Truly Remarkable Book

Not the eulogy I was expecting. A real warts and all examination of one of the most extraordinary men of the 20th Century. This book is a belter, a barnstormer, a really magnificent work of scholarship and presentation

I was surprised, were you surprised?

I was shocked as to how Sir Winston behaved throughout his life, however it takes nothing away from the fact that he single handily against all odds and the rest of the world at some points, saved our little island. He’d be horrified to see it today.

Chapter headings one out

The chapter listing is one out of sync with the narrator , really annoying and didn’t realise until 10 mins in , thinking I’ve listened to this. I.e shows chapter 4 , and narrator says 3 and so on .

Detailed account of Churchill's life but long

When I purchased this I missed it was 50 hours of listening and with the same narrator!
After 2 to 3 hours I nearly gave up to be honest. But a bit like Churchill I persisted and set myself a challenge to finish it.
Due to the length and every little detail talked about you end up missing the important parts due to zoning out which was a shame. It could easily be condensed to 10 hours or less.
However it is very informative and once you commit to the 50 hours you learn a lot of British history. Balanced account of Churchill and I was sad when it finished.

50 hours and 160,000 cigars later...

An extraordinary achievement. I loved the summing up that included the stat that of 3,000 students polled in 2008 20% thought that Churchill was a fictitious character. That he has descended into myth already is a testament to the remarkable span of his life.

50+ hours of pure pleasure

A stunning book. The reader impersonates the characters perfectly too. The book has great references from different sources and gives a brilliant overview of Churchills life. I will be listening to this again soon.

Great!

This is a fantastic history of Sir W. Churchill.
It goes into details and is a credit to both the man himself, and the authors capability.

While I must agree that Churchill was a great man, the author is a bit biased in favour of Churchill. History retellings really should expunge the good and the bad equally in my own opinion, but this aside, this is very highly recommended.