I recently learned that I am (somewhat distantly) related to Winston Churchill. That gets me to wanting to read a biography of the man.
I never can tell with biographies: I've found some biographies of other notables that were very good, and others where I kind of felt like the author had a particular axe to grind. I'm not into Marxist-feminist-whateverist "reinterpretations" of history: I'd rather read history that makes me feel like I'm a fly on the wall as the events are happening.
I don't particularly like tell-alls, where the aim seems to be mainly to topple a respected personage from their pedestal. (I KNOW Churchill had his problems; I don't want them to be the main focus of the book.)
Can anyone recommend a good bio of the man? I'm aware of the multivolume set out there but I was rather hoping for something less than 500 pages, if a good biography exists. It doesn't have to be brand new and it can be out of print - I'm pretty good at searching the used booksellers on line. (Just as long as it's not one of those coveted books that's hard to find and costs the world once you do find it).
Interestingly, one of my grandfathers (NOT on the side of the family that was related to who I am now thinking of as "Cousin Winston") was a big fan of Churchill; my parents have a Toby Jug representing Churchill that my grandfather had in his office.
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Class went fairly well this morning. I'm going to have to push myself to engage the students more, I guess, by doing more "What do you think is going on in this situation" questions or by case studies or something. I'm also going to have to be careful (in this particular class) not to let one particular person dominate the discussion. I mean - I'm happy she seems engaged and is brave enough to speak up, but I want the other folks to contribute too.
I told them I'd try conducting class as more of a discussion/ question-and-answer PROVIDED I had sufficient evidence they'd read the textbook and provided there was actually some discussion. (I'm not getting paid to stand in a room, ask questions, and then stand there for 40 minutes while people stare at me.)
Thursday, January 11, 2007
biography question
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3 comments:
I'm almost afraid to make a suggestion since there are so many things you don't like about so many biographies.
The "last lion" series really is the best. They're huge, yes, but you know - they're high water marks for the genre, as far as I'm concerned.
John Keegan (a writer I really like) wrote a biography of Churchill for the Penguin lives series that I liked - it's short - but if I recall correctly, there's quite a good bibliography so you could maybe find further reading there.
But there are probably some true Churchill nuts who read you so they may have a broader list of books to give you.
I actually enjoyed Hitchens' takedown of him in The Atlantic. Not in a gleeful "hee hee topple heroes" way, but because any overly reverent attitude towards anybody makes me suspicious.
But anyway, take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Try "Winston Churchill: An Intimate Portrait," by his friend Violet Bonham Carter.
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