Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Winston's War: Churchill, 1940-1945 Decide Now


Mr. Hastings presents another candid and thorough history in clear lucid language. As he admits in the Introduction, this is well trodden ground but his approach is refreshing, something like Cezanne returning to Mount Sainte-Victoire. His tribute to the late Roy Jenkins is a perfect touch.

I am docking him one star because the jacket photograph is identified as the Prime Minister watching a "Flying Fortress bomber maneuver over an RAF establishment, July 23, 1941." With such a precise date, they should get the aircraft right and it is not a B-17 Flying Fortress but appears to be a Bristol Blenheim, an aircraft of more mixed virtues. I regret not giving five stars to a writer whose works I so admire but he has written enough military history to understand the responsibilities of command.

I am amending this review after another reviewer corrected me. The aircraft is, in fact, one of the earlier B-17's, which I had misidentified as I thought the jacket photograph showed a two-engine plane. The website to which he directed me noted that the first use of this plane and others like it on the RAF's initial attempt to bomb Berlin took place on the date of this photograph. Mr. Churchill is thus watching the very first step on the road back to Berlin.Get more detail about Winston's War: Churchill, 1940-1945.

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