The Churchill Factor
On sale
23rd October 2014
Price: £14.99
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, BY THE AUTHOR OF UNLEASHED
‘A stunning tour de force’ – Sunday Telegraph
‘Genuinely clever… this book sizzles.’ – The Times
Ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes on Winston Churchill – a biography like no other.
Brexit, pandemic, economic crisis: Boris Johnson’s leadership was an extraordinary period in recent British history, and his inspiration has always been Winston Churchill.
In this book, he explores what makes up the ‘Churchill Factor’ – the singular brilliance of one of the most important leaders of the twentieth century. Taking on the myths and misconceptions along with the outsized reality, he portrays – with characteristic wit and passion – a man of multiple contradictions, contagious bravery, breath-taking eloquence, matchless strategizing and deep humanity.
Fearless on the battlefield, Churchill had to be ordered by the King to stay out of action on D-Day; he embraced large-scale strategic bombing, yet hated the destruction of war and scorned politicians who had not experienced its horrors. He was a celebrated journalist, a great orator and won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was famous for his ability to combine wining and dining with many late nights of crucial wartime decision-making. His open-mindedness made him a pioneer in healthcare, education and social welfare, though he remained incorrigibly politically incorrect.
Published in association with Churchill Heritage, The Churchill Factor is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what makes a great leader in a time of crisis.
‘A stunning tour de force’ – Sunday Telegraph
‘Genuinely clever… this book sizzles.’ – The Times
Ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes on Winston Churchill – a biography like no other.
Brexit, pandemic, economic crisis: Boris Johnson’s leadership was an extraordinary period in recent British history, and his inspiration has always been Winston Churchill.
In this book, he explores what makes up the ‘Churchill Factor’ – the singular brilliance of one of the most important leaders of the twentieth century. Taking on the myths and misconceptions along with the outsized reality, he portrays – with characteristic wit and passion – a man of multiple contradictions, contagious bravery, breath-taking eloquence, matchless strategizing and deep humanity.
Fearless on the battlefield, Churchill had to be ordered by the King to stay out of action on D-Day; he embraced large-scale strategic bombing, yet hated the destruction of war and scorned politicians who had not experienced its horrors. He was a celebrated journalist, a great orator and won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was famous for his ability to combine wining and dining with many late nights of crucial wartime decision-making. His open-mindedness made him a pioneer in healthcare, education and social welfare, though he remained incorrigibly politically incorrect.
Published in association with Churchill Heritage, The Churchill Factor is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what makes a great leader in a time of crisis.
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Reviews
A bravura performance...Johnson has not only celebrated Churchill in this book: he has emulated him with comparable panache.
A characteristically breathless romp through the life and times of our greatest wartime leader...high on entertainment as it is on providing an appraisal of the great man's achievements.
A full-throated celebration of human greatness and perhaps the best (and certainly the funniest)...introduction to Churchill yet written.
An engagingly written romp through the elder statesman's greatest achievements.
Churchill's own energy - his indefatigable pursuit of excitement, glory, place and power - demands a writer of fizz and passion to do history justice. Johnson is that writer.
Filled with vivid observations.
Genuinely clever... this book sizzles.
In this spirited, entertaining tale... Johnson deftly weaves his narrative between war, politics and personal life.
Johnson is a superb writer... Despite the heavy subject matter, The Churchill Factor is a light and quick read.
Johnson's history of Churchill is well crafted, amply researched, and a pleasure to read. It can serve as a change of pace from more plodding accounts.
Splendidly enjoyable... It is rare to find a serious study of a politician that's this entertaining.
Readable, engaging and often funny.
Reading about Churchill is always a delight, and Johnson is an accomplished, accessible writer.
Riveting...Boris is a superb, accessible writer, with an easy, good-humoured touch.
The book's style is often chatty, enthusiastic and as funny as you would expect.
The must-read biography of the year.
This is a rollicking tale of a political maverick.