Most biographies the author gives you one way to look at the subject leaving out stores that don't fit, but Gretchen Rubin give the reader contrasting views to try to show you the whole pictures. She provides a lot of breadth but not as much depth. Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill is a good, short overview of Churchill and the England he loved.

Fun(ny) fact(s): Earlier this week, after being overwhelmed by the multiple shelves of thick, heavy (sometimes multi-volume!) biographies of Winston Churchill at my favorite used bookstore, I selected this slim paperback to purchase.

Favorite quote/image: "When someone told him that the best thing he'd done had been to give the people courage, he contradicted, 'I never gave them courage; I was able to focus theirs.'" (pg. 216)

Honorable mention: "After touring the United States in the 1930s, Churchill was asked whether he had any criticism of America. He answered, 'Toilet paper too thin! Newspapers too fat!'" (pg. 58)

Why: I was hoping for a broad, sweeping introduction to the life of Churchill, one that was willing to hold in tension multiple views of this complicated man and historical figure. This book does that, also acknowledging the difficult task of biographers and their inherent limitations. However, at times Rubin seems more interested in commenting about the genre of the biography then diving too deeply into the life of Churchill, making the book feel repetitive with several "filler" chapters to arrive at the ideal number of 40. But this is about "her Churchill" after all, and I cannot fault her for that.

short summary of a long eventful life — easy to understand, gives a good amount of perspective of churchill’s life & impact

Great little book about Churchill the man, leader, son, warrior, politician, artist, drinker, stinker, odd ball, sad sack, brilliant man.

Bored bored bored.

Pick a side.

While the author protests that too many biographers pick a "view" of their subject and tell the stories that illustrate that view, she decided instead to take no view and go into no depth, making for a yawn of a book.

Might be good for an overview of Churchill, but I could have read Wikipedia for that.

Favorite chapter was the chapter of quotations.

I enjoyed this book, since it at least gives you a kind of pocket profile of Churchill. It seems nicely balanced; there are chapters about Churchill the success and about Churchill the alcoholic. He was a good dad; he was an absentee distant dad. She seems to hae synthesized various interpretations of various biographers, and to that degree, it's instructive. This isn't an in-depth look by any measure, but it's a quick read that on balance you won't regret.

Reasonable, as far as it goes - but therein lies the problem... it doesn't go far enough. Like a stone skimmed across the surface of a pool, instead of sinking down into the depths, this touches too briefly on Winston's life and achievements. I suppose it would serve as a good introduction to the man, to judge whether one would like to learn more about him. However if you've read any of the more detailed biographies that have been written over the years, this will leave little (if any) impression upon your memory.