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  • The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II: Alone, 1932-1940: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II: Alone, 1932-1940

  • Written by: William Manchester
  • Narrated by: Richard Brown
  • Length: 36 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (29 ratings)

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The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II: Alone, 1932-1940: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II: Alone, 1932-1940 cover art

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II: Alone, 1932-1940: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II: Alone, 1932-1940

Written by: William Manchester
Narrated by: Richard Brown
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Publisher's Summary

This second volume in William Manchester's three-volume biography of Winston Churchill challenges the assumption that Churchill's finest hour was as a wartime leader. During the years 1932-1940, he was tested as few men are. Pursued by creditors (at one point he had to put up his home for sale), he remained solvent only by writing an extraordinary number of books and magazine articles. He was disowned by his own party, and dismissed by the BBC, Fleet Street, and the social and political establishments as a warmonger, and twice nearly lost his seat in Parliament. Churchill stood almost alone against Nazi aggression and the pusillanimous British and French policy of appeasement.

Manchester tracks with new insights this complex, fascinating history, without ever losing sight of Churchill the man - a man whose vision was global and whose courage was boundless.

©1988 William Manchester (P)1990 Blackstone Audio Inc.

What the critics say

"Manchester is not only a master of detail but also of 'the big picture'....I daresay most Americans reading The Last Lion will relish it immensely." ( National Review)
"[Manchester] can claim the considerable achievement of having assembled enough powerful evidence to support Isaiah Berlin's judgment of Churchill as the largest human being of our time." (Alistair Cooke)

What listeners say about The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II: Alone, 1932-1940: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume II: Alone, 1932-1940

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good Book (mostly), Bad Audio

I like the first book and like Manchester as an author. but the audio for this book is awful, especially when compared to the previous book in the series (which I've listened to and like quite a bit more.)

The narrator's voice is muffled in this one, almost like he's speaking through a few layers of clothing into the microphone. Unlike in the last book, where the previous narrator sounded completely fine. Sometimes you can even hear background noise in the recording, which is distracting.

I was very frustrated by this book, sometimes to hear the narrator properly I had to turn him up and then suddenly the volume level would increase or decrease because of the narrator moving around or for no apparent reason at all. Then I'd grumpily change the volume again. I also download audiobooks in high quality, so this is quite annoying. The preview gives a good idea to what the entire book sounds like (which is quite honestly crap.)

Comparing this book to the previous one in the series, this book is much more of a drag. The previous volume covered over 40 years of Churchill's action-packed life, like his family and its history, his youth and boyhood, his bad relationship with his bad parents, his father's political career and death, his mother's numerous marriages and affairs, his war correspondence, his time being a prisoner of war and his great escape, his political views, his political career, his party defection(s), his marriage, his many cabinet posts, WW1 and its famous battles, Galipoli, the Balfour declaration, Lloyd George and Asquith, the British Raj, the British Empire, the decline of the liberals and the rise of the labour party, the start of the Soviet Union, the U.S during WW1, the German empire and its defeat, trench warfare and its numerous casualties, the British Empire after the war, the treaty of Versailles, as well as the attitudes of the Victorians, the Edwardians, and the post war generation among other things (was Manchester a madman? My God that's a lot of information).

This one covers 8 years "Alone", which are (maybe) the least interesting years of his career in which he was out of office and not much really happened until Hitler took power and begins expanding Nazi Germany. Quite frankly it's annoying hearing "Churchill warned Europe about the threat of Nazi Germany, but they didn't listen to his advice and warnings until it was too late" over and over and over again. It drags on more than a little bit. Especially because it lacks all the interesting side stories of the previous volume.

It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it's not as interesting as the first. There are parts I like, like the abdication crisis, Munich, the Spanish civil war, the anschluss, Norway, and Chamberlain and his resignation, but this book just doesn't cover a whole lot.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A tedious listen.

Too much detailed side bar stories and facts as to boggle your mind along the way. One feels adrift in a sea of materials that took away the excitement and entertainment value of the story. This is a work more befitting a scholarly research than an ordinary entertainment.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My favourite book on Churchill

This book is my favourite book of all time, the story, the protagonist, the narration by Richard Brown is amazing, transports me directly into the life and times of my super hero Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

History at it's factual best.

Very much enjoyed listening to this..the reader is very talented. There were some parts I found boring that were about the inner workings of the government. The incredible ignorance that Churchill had to face and the mocking he endured as his warnings were dismissed outright. I became quite angry at Chamberlain and wish he had of lived long enough to truly understand the devil he was trying to appease. Highly recommend this..and part one.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book - Sub-par Narrator

I finished the first volume and continued straight into this volume. As with the first William Manchester does a masterful job as an author. A credit to the blood, toil, sweet and tears that Manchester put into this volume. Unfortunately the narration is frustratingly bad, especially the cadence and tone when quoting Churchill. I struggled through none the less, and made it out the other end satisfied.

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