Please send me some book recommendations on Churchill’s life for young readers. By young, I mean a boy of seven years old. My nephew asked me about the book I was reading (Churchill: The Unexpected Hero by Paul Addison), and after I told him a little bit about it, he wanted to know more. I’d appreciate any recommendations. —R.M., Mass.
Paul Addison’s Unexpected Hero is probably the best “brief life” in print. If your nephew is into that at seven, he has great promise, and you should buy him a membership in The Churchill Centre. The student rate is $25, which represents a 50% discount.
Finest Hour 140, Autumn 2008, our fortieth anniversary number, contains an article, “The Fifty Best Books of the Past Forty Years.” Copies are available for $5 from the Centre at 888-WSC-1874, or email me for a copy of the text.
Scanning the “Best Fifty” for ones he’d might like, may I suggest:
Martin Gilbert, Churchill: A Photographic Portrait
Douglas Hall, The Book of Churchilliana (Churchill souvenir items)
Fiona Reynoldson, Churchill—best ever for readers under 10.
Douglas Russell, Winston Churchill: Soldier
John Severance, Soldier, Statesman Artist—excellent for young people
Mary Soames, A Churchill Family Album—photo documentary
Most of these are available on Amazon, or search for secondhand copies on MX Bookfinder.
I also modestly recommend my book of quotations, Churchill by Himself,
which (much to my regret) Amazon is discounting to $11.98 to move stock at the moment.
Also available is the text of four reviews of new books for young people in Finest Hour 142. The best of these is The Happy Warrior, only available from Levenger. This is an elegant hardbound reproduction of a cartoon strip Churchill biography originally published in 1958 by The Eagle, a “boy’s own” type of weekly periodical. Levenger provides excellent color reproductions and new commentaries by the original publisher and other authorities. The Happy Warrior sells for $39, but is on sale for $32 through 13 July 2009.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
the happy warrior is missing in my library