Churchill – Sebastian Haffner

Writing a Churchill biography is not an easy assignment, even though it would be difficult to butcher the job. Churchill lead an unprecedented rich and varied life and just writing down the bare facts would already be enough for a great story. But it would also be a massive undertaking.

Haffner took a different route. He chose the high-level helicopter approach. And he managed to produce an impressive sketch and sagacious analysis of Englands’ most famous political figure, by focusing key on phases of his life. Haffner has the correct required biographers’ distance and writes with ultimate authority. His sentences are carved in stone and are a delight to read. And in some places he is as tough in his verdict as the man himself was.