Book Description

“ . . . notable for its depiction of young Churchill, warts and all, as a very human character . . . .”—New York Times “A bestseller in the UK, this portrait of Winston Churchill, written by his granddaughter, unapologetically presents the future prime minister as an action hero in the Boer War. It’s rousing reading. Sandy’s affection for her grandfather is obvious, but she shows enough of his grandiosity to maintain a reader’s trust. . . . Sandys is fully aware of the extent to which her grandfather had a finger to the political winds during his exploits: he sought the limelight as aggressively as he chased adventure. Because of Sandys’s brisk narrative, as well as their knowledge of the man Churchill later became, readers will not hold young Winston’s ambition against him.”—Publishers Weekly “During his nine-month stint in South Africa, Churchill, though officially classified as a noncombatant reporter, managed to send stirring dispatches to the Morning Post, engage in several bloody skirmishes with the enemy, be captured and incarcerated as a prisoner of war, and make a suitably sensationalized, yet nonetheless daring, escape from prison. Written in a lively narrative style, this affectionate biographical portrait of a very young, very spirited, and very enterprising Winston Churchill succeeds in foreshadowing the magnitude of the renown he eventually achieved. A rip-roaring good read chockfull of action, suspense, and history.”—Booklist