Thomas F. (hardtack) - , reviewed on 2/16/2024 + 2556 more book reviews

I feel I'm extremely well read on the subject of World War II. But there were many things I learned from this book. One was the amazing dysfunctional lives many people had back then. And Churchill's family wasn't exempt from that.

I did some reading on Wikipedia about his children and was not able to keep count of the total marriages and affairs they had. His son must have been a total failure to Churchill. And what mother just ignores the fact her daughter-in-law is sleeping around on her son?

Of course, our World War II leader---FDR---had nothing to be proud of with his personal life and family. Of his four sons, only one wasn't a disappointment, and that son chose to stay out of the spotlight. Plus, Franklin Roosevelt had an affair with his wife's personal secretary. This caused an early split in their marriage, even thought they never divorced. In fact, his mistress was with him when he died. FDR's daughter knew her father was still meeting with his mistress, despite knowing he had promised Eleanor he would have nothing more to do with her.

While Churchill had many faults, he was a great leader. One comment I really enjoyed reading was when someone told him he had given the British people courage, he replied. "I did not give them courage. I simply gave theirs focus."

What I really liked was the author only placing in quotes statements for which he had proof those words were said.

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