The Last Lion: Volume 1: Winston Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874–1932

The first volume of William Manchester's account of Winston Churchill's life covers Churchill's first fifty-eight years, from his birth in 1874 to 1932, when he began warning against Germany's re-militarization. Born to an American mother and an unstable duke's son, Churchill experienced a neglected childhood. He pursued military service in Cuba, Sudan, India, South Africa, and France. In Parliament, Churchill played a key role in creating Iraq and Jordan, contributed to the groundwork for Israel's establishment, and negotiated Irish Free State independence. As Chancellor of the Exchequer, however, he triggered an economic crisis in England. His efforts to suppress Gandhi's independence movement for India created political turmoil in Britain. These experiences shaped Churchill during a formative period. As the 1930s began, he prepared himself to confront the rising threat of Nazism.