Churchill Books

Now that the author's friends and relatives have had their say, perhaps a more objective appraisal is in order.

The book is readable enough, yes. But a serious historical work it isn't. Has the author never encountered the idea of citing primary sources, or for that matter citing anything? A university professor would not accept this sort of "scholarship" from a freshman. There's nothing whatever new here, and what might have been a useful addition to the subjects of the Gettysburg Campaign and the Federal cavalry simply isn't.

On top of which, the maps are really, really dreadful -- confused and hard on the eye -- and the quality of illustrations not much better.

On the whole, this is a rather amateur work.

This is a very personal look back at the author's great great grandfather, George Patten, who at age 28 in the summer of 1862 joins a calvary unit from his home state of Michigan to do his part in the American Civil War. He leaves behind his parents, a beloved wife and a young child to fight for a cause in which he deeply believes.

Through the eyes of Quartermaster Sergeant Patten we follow his journey from Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his company is trained to the long train journey to Washington City where he sees action in the battle of Gettysburg and a few days later in the battle of Falling Waters in West Virginia. His company, decimated by the Gettysburg battle, is ordered to charge a rebel position defended by hundreds of soldiers. Great great grandfather Patten writes a touching letter home before the battle and as he feared he is killed in a hopeless charge.

Author Richard Hamilton uses letters from Patten along with dozens of primary sources to flesh out the story of this union farmer in his last year of life. Through Patten we see the horror of our nation's most awful war and the effect it had on one man's family. The troop maneuvering of generals, the political machinations of politicians are all there but it is the foot soldiers, George Patten and his comrades in arms, who do the dying and suffering. Hamilton never loses track of this and "Oh! Hast Thou Forgotten" is never far from this truth of war.

I hit the Trifecta. I have a history minor, I'm from Michigan and Richard Hamilton is a friend of mine. I am aware of the great amount of loving research that went into this book and it shows in the stunning details provided by Richard as he traces the steps taken by his great great grandfather, George Thomas Patten, as he joins the 6th Michigan Cavalry and ends up in the Gettysburg campaign. He eventually loses his life at the age of 28 in the battle of Falling Waters. I believe this book will be interesting reading on many levels whether you are a history buff or not.

Frank Valenti

A GREAT read!
VERY insightful!!!
And for once...a WONDERFUL account not only of the cavalry battle here in Hunterstown, July 2nd, 1863....but the entire Gettysburg Campaign.
I felt like I was "riding with the cavalry"!!!
I could "see and hear...and smell" the day!
A WONDERFUL account...that is MUCH needed....in the annals of history!
First rate!
Well done!
You are to be commended for this written documentation...
as are all the Wolverines that fought here!

[...]

Richard L. Hamilton has written a description of the Battle of Gettysburg that is easy to follow and therefore easy to become involved with on a personal level. Telling the story from the point-of-view of a cavalry sargent gives the reader a new perspective of the rigors that these heros of our history had to contend with. If you want to learn about "Gettysburg", Mr. Hamilton has certainly given us an interesting story to lead us through the battle.

More of a book for a student studying Acupressure rather than just the general inquiry

I bought this book to work on a paper on auricular acupuncture, including its historical development, treatment modalities, important personages and writings, etc. This book was very helpful. It has lots of illustrative pictures to help understand the materials. It has more information on this subject in one place than any other resources I found.

My chiropractor recommended this book, this edition as being the best source for acupuncture points and protocol. He has been using it for several years with great success. The book is well-organized, easy to understand and thorough.

I'm really looking forward to using this book for my own health and well-bing!

THIS book is a must have for anyone practicing auricular therapy. It is the best out there, and includes scientific research to back up the theories and techniques which I have not read elsewhere. I do think that the illustrations and organization could be improved in the next edition.

This is a well organized and beautifully presented introduction to auriculotherapy. Helpful features for the practitioner include a lay-flat spiral binding (perfect for the classroom/workshop setting, where one can refer to the book while examining a real person's ear), a colorful pull-out chart (with points clearly labeled and easy to read), and points from both the Chinese and French systems. There's a useful introductory section on the history and theory of ear acupuncture. The points are grouped in multiple ways, so one can easily find points via anatomical location on the ear, functional grouping (body systems and special points), and therapeutic use (particular disorders or conditions). Interesting additional material includes a discussion of electrotherapy and ear acupuncture and suggestions for diagnosis.

Though I only have one of her books, it is subtitled "A Jane Jeffry Mystery" and I gather it is one of a series of books where an average, everyday person finds themselves continuously embroiled in the heart of murders, burglaries, and kidnappings.... Rather unbelievable as a series, but very nice for a single book. Also, for all of you Agatha Christie lovers, she sets all of the pertinent clues out for you to find - if you're smart enough, you can solve the mystery right along with the main character.

Jane Jeffry agrees to help her friend Shelley Nowack during Shelley's class reunion. Several of Shelley's former classmates will be staying at a local Bed and Breakfast that has just opened and is short on staff. Jane thinks the job will be fairly easy but she is surprised by all the gossip and innuendoes going on and even less pleasantly surprised when someone starts playing practical jokes on all the former classmates. But the gossip and practical jokes are nothing compared to murder - while doing her cleaning chores, Jane stumbles across the body of one of the classmates. All of the classmates are suspects in her murder and Jane and Shelley wonder if the murder is related to the death of a classmate who apparently committed suicide during their senior year in high school. As it turns out, all of the former classmates have secrets they'd like to keep and the murder victim may have been blackmailing several of them. It's up to Jane (with the reluctant agreement of close friend, detective Mel Van Dyne) to discover which classmate would turn to murder to keep those secrets buried.

Jill Churchill's "The Class Menagerie" is a nicely done cozy mystery. Setting it at a high school reunion is a good idea, since it not only focuses on the women now, but what they were like in high school, making them fully developed characters. The fact that a high school senior killed himself is always in the background (the Bed and Breakfast used to be his family's house) and it's easy to dismiss it without realizing how important it is to the story, which adds an element of surprise to the book. One thing I really liked in the book is Jane's reaction to finding the dead body; it was a very human and believable response. Although this is Shelley's class reunion, she disappears for large chunks of the book, so it is truly Jane's mystery. The characters are all well written and I could picture the classmates as I was reading it, especially poor Pooky and her botched cosmetic procedure. Since Jane spends much of her time working at the class reunion, we don't see as much of her family as we have in past books, but I enjoyed the glimpses we did get, especially Mike as he tries to decide what college he wants to attend. As always, I enjoy the relationship between Jane and Mel which takes a major step forward in this book. While the mystery is well plotted and well written, I did figure out who the murderer was early on in the book. However, I was completely baffled by who was playing practical jokes and Churchill deserves applause for writing that plot line so well (readers need to pay attention to what may seem liking meaningless action in the book).

"The Class Menagerie" is another winner by Jill Churchill.

This is the third Jane Jeffrey mystery I have read and so far it is the best! Jill Churchill introduces several interesting characters which make the suspense even greater. This is a fun mystery with a bit of comedy from Jane and her friend Shelley. I hated to put this book down! After reading this I went out and bought the rest of the series. I can't wait to get started on the next one!

# 4 in the Jane Jeffry series, THE CLASS MENAGERIE, takes on a classic life event, the class reunion. I can't think of an author or character more suited to gently expose the nightmarish psychological essence, the foibles and fun of high school friends re-uniting after decades of battles with the War of Time. Why is this potentially such a horrifying event, requiring more courage (and providing more raw pain) than childbirth itself?

If youth is lost, what has replaced the waste. If hope has diminished, what has replaced the naivete. If humans are vulnerable during the years of the hormones, they're quintessentially vulnerable during an aged return to the wounded memories. Is there another event more humbling that meeting friends not seen since they lost all their pheromones?

Why do so few of us (if any) attend such a reunion with a warm interest in discovering beauty buried in old friends. Why do so many of us focus on faking stuff to strut in one-upmanship?

Jane came to this reunion in a unique position, since this was Shelley's reunion, not Jane's and since Jane, being a family-traveling-military-brat, would not have a true reunion of her own to attend. What an opportunity to develop rich characters, exposing their "table manners" by the way they respond to Jane's position in the group. I was warmed by the situations in which Jane's easy compassion was expressed through listening skills as she singled out each woman in the group, with no malice in her intentions. Even the normal suspicions during a murder investigation were somehow subdued by Jane's honesty in wanting to know the "good sides" in these women, possibly more than dark sides which might have led them to do harm.

Since I can think of few dreads more dreadful than class reunions, I enjoyed immensely being part of one in a position once removed from Jane, yet accompanied by her wit and wisdom in observation of human folly (with her appealing, natural caring often overcoming the wit this time).

I enjoyed the easy in of chapter 1 opening in the middle of an intriguing conversation between Jane and Shelley, in which Shelley was cajoling Jane into the web of this emotionally chaotic situation. Much to the reader's surprise, Shelley the teen had an opposite personality to Shelley the woman, wife, mother, neighbor, adult friend. Painfully, pitifully SHY? Shelley? Too many of us know how easy it can be to fall back to what we were "then" no matter what we've become now. BIG ugh.

Of course this surges both sympathy and curiosity in the reader.

Churchill used an ingenious ploy of working the event through a small group of women who called themselves the Ewe Lambs, who met a couple days ahead for event prep and fund raising. In this way each character could be focused in the semi "closed room" of the ambiance of a Bed & Breakfast Inn (in which one of the owners was a chef par excellence and worked a few meal concoctions in front of Jane and her drooling reader).

I hate to admit that I identified with one of the characters with whom I would NOT want to identify, but only during the first description of her (she wasn't the murderer). As the characters grew in clarity I couldn't identify with any of them, though parts of all of them fit. This didn't prevent me from enjoying the story through spunky Jane's eyes, though, as usual.

Aging, failure, death (suicide/murder), needs for approval and compassion rather than rejection and pity. A class reunion would seem to be the WORST situation in which to deal in any successful way with these life passages. Yet, might a slight chance exist that this could be the best situation in which to get unstuck, heal, and grow? Is that why some of us succumb to attend these frightening (phoney) landmarks of time and culture? (I enjoyed Jeff's comments on to attend or not.)

Is the situation like a gauntlet? If one could pass through every horrifying hour of a class reunion and never once feel little or less than... Well, if one could do that, then would one have arrived at a place called actualization?

I was once honored to share a short visit in the home of a woman in her 20's (when I was holding that age as well, but with caution). This woman, I quickly discovered, was able to point out her insecurities for scrutiny, then laugh gleefuly, warmly at herself as she owned those liabilities... which were transformed into assets by that open, loving laughter, tinged only slightly with healing shame.

That might have been the most freeing moment of my life. I realized that we all have insecurities; I wasn't the only lost, sensitive soul. Others, I began to see, were naturally bent on hiding, while I had always had to fight internal pushes to face the truth, face fear, and find simple, hopefully painless ways out of hormonal shrouds.

Prior to that visit I had known too many peers, myself reluctantly included, who hid insecurities like leapers wrapping themselves in rags and hiding in shadows.

Okay, folks, "now" has arrived. Here I am. Unadorned, unadulterated. Take it or leave it. I'm aging. I'm grey. I fart and burp. Whatever.

Whoever can say a toilet lid never hit them in the behind, feel free to take the first step off this page.

Whoever can look in the mirror and see absolute and eternal beauty is one who is wrinkled, flabby, and grey, but the easy smile and sparkle in the eye carries the day ... and age fades away.

As anyone would know who has read even one of Churchill's Jane Jeffry novels, Jill's a perfect author to write about a high school class reunion, get the nuance right, and elevate the play into rambling redemption.

Don't be put off by this one due to its subject matter (as I was). It'll heal the wounds; it won't make more.

It's always a joy to read a novel that says something within the guise of a fast, entertaining read.

And, in this 4th novel, it seemed to me that the culprit was set up to be a perfect Sherlock Holmes type pick. There was no other viable choice for villain. Given every detail not only in the plot, but about Jill Churchill and Jane Jeffry, who they are, what they value and believe in, this murderer is the antithesis to the Nth Degree of the essence of what Jane is, and subtly exposes the revulsion of everything Jane finds disgusting and false. Well, now that I think about it, Thelma does a better job of that (of course she's not the murderer, and appears in this one only in the shadows of Jane's mind).

Sometimes authors rise to a destiny of being cultural healers. Judicious insertions of ridiculous humor work well, sometimes sarcastic, always sensitive at the core.

Even so, I avoid reunions like the plague. Why else would I live on a mesa in the middle of nowhere with an unlisted telephone. I didn't need Stephen King to show me why I don't need a (padded) cell, though I do admire his work ... and what would HE be like at a class reunion? I might go to that one, just to see the crowds swirl around him, with flickers of caution.

But, yeah, going to someone else's class reunion. That would be the thing to do. Maybe.

Come to think of it, though Jill Churchill is a great author to work this theme (through Jane Jeffry), any of the authors I've reviewed could put an interesting slant on it.

Speaking of reviews, one of my Amazon Friends, L.E. Cantrell, calls mine "reveries." I was honored by that remark. Thank you, Larry. Will this one do?

On this special Mother's Day, thank you, Mom, for my life, and for your warmth and belief in me ...

But especially for the fat,juicy coconut donuts and Chop Suey Rolls (from which Bear Claws were named and were an incomplete copy of Mom's original sweet roll which has 4 additional, secret ingredients never discovered) which slid steaming onto the shelves of your professional bakery...

And for coming up with the idea and purpose of The SLOPPY JOE sandwich in our Malt Shop in the 50's, so Annie Rocchio could perfect those first drooling, red drippers, and I could name them after Uncle Joe, who wasn't sloppy, the sandwich was/is.

Coming soon as an Amazon Short from me, COAL & COCA COLA, the "rest of the story" about Marge (Rocchio) Hudnall's (my Mom's) bakery connection to the Sloppy Joe sandwich, which proves where that sandwich originated.

We both know you can see me now, Mom. I see you in the blue birds flying by my windows, up high, on a mesa in Colorado. Salute!

A Mantra I designed for myself: "Be where I am and see the significance."

There was a reason for me to post this particular review on this Mother's Day; that reason involves the ultimate mystery of life. Margie was a great Poker Player. She was lucky at cards, and studied each hand she dealt or drew.

Living in the clouds of the mind, which we each step through daily to do what we do,
Linda G. Shelnutt

Jane Jeffry is a suburban mother who is asked by her friend Shelly to help out at a gathering of her old high school club called the Ewe Lambs. Jane can't help hearing the Lambs gossip about the good old days and, as they are reminiscing, she picks up dirt on old crushes, lies and the mysterious death of a high school heartthrob on Prom Night. Then one of the Ewe Lambs is found murdered and Jane is determined to find out why and, wouldn't you know it, I was just as involved in the mystery as Jane was as I eagerly turned page after page to see what happened next.

I bought this book for my first echo rotation, this book is easy to understand and cover many basic principles of echocardiography. This is a great book for your first 2-4 weeks of Echo learning , but the benefit of it will get much smaller as time go by.

This is a great book for beginning Echo students or someone who just wants a simple overview of Echo. But, if you are an Echo tech that wants a much more advanced reference this is not it. Doesn't go into advanced cardiac abnormalities or congential diseases.

Echo Made EasyThis book has helped me to better understand echocardiography. It explains in simple terms and it's an easy read. It is small and travels well. I take it with me and read when I have a little time to kill. I only wish I had bought it sooner.

Just as the title implies, this easy to understand paperback on echocardiology gives students and clinicians the basics to use as building blocks in understanding the more technical textbooks on the complex subject.

As everyone I started out with Jae k Oh manual of ECHo and found it painfully slow and hard to digest, one of my colleagues suggested that I buy this book and let me tell you that it is worth its money on gold, it makes things simple, rather then starting with hi-fi things this explains basics of echo and once you read and understand this book, Jae K Oh is much easier to read and understand.

I reccomend this book to all begginers who are learning ECHO.

I've got the book after a delay, but now it is here it is what I wanted

This book is a wealth of information on the diseases that are present in the patients you will be anesthetizing.

I am training to be a nurse anesthetist at a top medical school. I need to have the wits of an advanced practice nurse and the knowledge of a med student. This book is an invaluable resource. It's straightforward, but not "anesthesia for dummies". Comprehensive. Everything I need.

This book is very good for the integration of patient care with pathophysiological conditions or co-morbidities. A must have before addressing your patients with higher ASA number assignments.

This is now the fourth edition of this textbook that the reviewer has purchased. The first edition was the reviewer's companion during the senior year of medical school and residency training, when the appropriate sections were read whenever encountering patients with one of the discussed diseases. The second edition was the reviewer's most-used texbook during preparation for the anesthesiology oral examination. Most recently, a second copy of this most recent edition was purchased as the required textbook for a resident rotation in preoperative evaluation. This book has a place on the shelf of any anesthesiologist who is preparing for the oral boards or in practice.
The pathologic "horses" are well discussed, which makes this book an excellent starting point for a reasonably bright medical student interested in anesthesiology. A number of "zebras" are also presented, but there is not much detail concerning the "unicorns". The emphasis is a bit heavier on adult diseases than pediatric disease. For the real "unicorns" in adults and children, there are books devoted exclusively to the anesthetic implications of uncommon diseases in general, or genetic diseases in particular.

A must have for NP school. Great book. Thanks Amazon for providing the best prices and great services.

Useful basics for any professional whose work with patients requires cooperation. Health practitioners working to improve their ability to assess, motivate, and educate patients as partners for better health outcomes will want to read this honest, practical yet reflective book twice - and then again - while trying out its ideas, practicing, and growing into its approach to care. Useful both for persons in training and already in practice.

It's a bit unusual for me to agree with customer reviews that both praise and criticize a book, but in this case I do. On the one hand, Rollnick et al, have done an amazing job of applying motivational interviewing and stages of change theory to the short interchanges common with patients in a medical setting. For those readers already well-versed in stages of change, this is an excellent and thought-provoking approach. I believe many "counselors" of various stripes would benefit from the applications advocated in this book.

On the other hand, I found the theoretical foundation wholly inadequate. While I appreciated the attempts of the authors to carefully distinguish between evidence-based substantiation of their guidelines and the weaker suggestions based on clinical practice, I felt that there was a preponderance of the latter.

I was also overwhelmed by the repetition included in the three final "application" chapters. Surely there is a better way to present this material! Frankly, the final chapters are so tedious to read that I suspect the average medical professional tends to conclude this volume with a less-than-enthusiastic feeling regarding the guidance.

My advice is to read through chapter 5, at the most, and to consult chapters 6-8 only after encountering specific problems in applying the techniques provided.

This book gave helpful perspectives regarding doctor-patient communication, but was not very enlightening. The problem might be that it was written from the perspective that the doctor is always correct, and the patient is always some poor sap who needs to be enlightened and trained as you would a child. I don't see this book awakening the human within some budding physician and transforming the physician into some effective communicator. The worst part was how many pages it took to convey helpful information.

This is surprising because the motivational interviewing video training from these authors is exemplary. Maybe the video approach did not transfer well to book.

I gave it more than one star because it does have good strategies in it, and I believe reading it would be better than reading nothing.

A simple, easy, and yet deep, thought-provoking book. ONLY ONE of this kind.

I am tring hard to implement some of their methods in Japan.

This book makes everything so much more clear and uses British English which is clearly the only proper way to go.

In my opinion this is the standard pharmacology textbook for all med students, pharmacist and drug researchers. Each chapter starts of with an introduction in detail to refresh the readers (it assumes u have prior knowledge, so does not explain technical terms).

It has good chapters on addiction, antibiotics and drug resistancce.

An excellent and detailed read. Its something you can refer to without thinking "is that right??"

This book is a GREAT reference. My only complaint is that it's not the most up-to-date.

This book is an excellent introduction to pharmacolgy. The redaction is clear, and the format of the book makes easy learn all the basic concepts of the pharmacology. It is a very good option to learn pharmacology.

This is a great textbook if you want as little detail as possible; it tells you exactly what you need to know and no more. The readings are short and easy. The best part about the textbook is the review boxes at the end of each section. The online access is also a plus because you are able to download and print the figures, which become useful study aids. I would definitely recommend this textbook. It should be supplemented with Pharmacology flashcards or charts, which is why it is only a four out of five stars.

This final book in Winston's study of the Second World War was first published in 1954. This book was indeed a tremendous effort in the light of the fact that Mr. Churchill was in office as Prime Minister for the second time.
Churchill describes D-Day and all its trepidations. He describes his disputes with the U.S.A. as to the Southern France landings which in the end America got her way. The description on the second Allied Meeting at Yalta is in itself priceless. Winston goes on to describe the final victory in Europe. Indeed Mr. Churchill should take a bow. He however does not.
His take of Potsdam and his ouster of office is all described. His relationship with Harry S. Truman continues and Winston goes further to warn the World of the Russian Bear. His Iron Curtain speech, in Fulton Missouri, warns the Western World of the Cold War.
Truman stood like a rock, Eisenhower continued the vigilance. In the end President Bush saw the Berlin Wall falling.
Winston warned us! Truman was right in his ways to navigate through these difficult times. Truman conceived the Berlin Airlift and threaded through the hazards of the Korean War. Eisenhower was wise to just chill and let the Cold War continue without a major conflict. Ronald Reagan huffed and puffed. George Bush I saw the house blown down. It was Winston in 1945 who was prescient enough to see this happening.
Winston dies in 1965, along the Thames all the Cranes were bowed in reverence at his funeral procession. His legacy will live forever. 5 Stars No Problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Volume 6 "Triumph and Tragedy" covers the time frame of June 6, 1944 to July 26, 1945 and closes Churchill's account. The war is moving towards its' climax as the Allies land and push forward towards Paris and then on towards Berlin. Failure in Italy to pursue the Germans was reached as `Anvil', Riviera landing Southern France, reduced troop strength and was one of the factors that change the future of Poland and the rest of the Balkans. The Moscow conference has Churchill and Stalin discussing percentages of influence. At Quebec Churchill was very anxious to forestall the Russians in certain area of Central Europe. Unfortunately Churchill's influence consisted mainly in a warning voice. He was caught between a rock and a hard spot as he tries to appease Stalin and also not to sever England's life line with FDR and America. Yalta brought hopes and promises to a war weary world. Perhaps if Roosevelt had lived maybe these could have been achieved but his death left many agreements open ended and unfulfilled. Truman steps into office and the problems of `Unconditional Surrender' surface as surrender with Germany and Japan becomes eminent. Poland, one of the main reason for England's entering the War, is once again on stage for their sacrifice. The future of Europe and the World is being decided and the Cold War stands in the wings.

Churchill's and England's influence has waned. Even as Potsdam was failing all he can find is a concerned voice. England was deep in debt and tired of War. With Germany surrendering, there was no more desire to fight another battle especially with Russia. The Atomic bomb is dropped on Japan's two cities and Churchill finds that he has been voted out of office. On July 26, 1945 he bids farewell to the Nation that he served and steps out of what he considered as an unfinished office. He states that the "power to shape the future would be denied him". He wished he could have stayed to help with the needed peace but out of office all he could do was speak. He was not to return again for another 6 years and by then it was to late for another coalition government.

This is an important volume and series in understanding a great deal about WWII history and the start of the Cold War. The volume is well name. Victory blocked Nazism and then unleashed the power of the atom. The World would never again be the same. Old fears were replaced with new ones and national hegemony reared its' ugly head. The peace that Churchill wanted was not to be. Well worth reading and adding to the history shelf.

I was born toward the end of world war two, and I'll never forget how this brilliant and intrepid man, through his daily, radio speaches, made the British people feel that they would never be defeated by Hitler. Winston Churchill, saw, before anyone else in England, that Germany would invade the rest of Europe and Great Britian in his iniquitous bid to conquer, control and kill millions of innocent people, without a thought of anything else but his evil ideas of what he, a mad-man, wanted at any cost.
As I grew older, my family told me more about the war. An uncle, who was in the Royal Air force, had his plane shot down and he spent nearly five years in a German P.O.W camp. My mother, when the dreaded dozzel bug bombs bombarded London day and night, had one drop very near her. She was pushing a pram with my twin sister and me in it, two older sisters were with her as she heard the engine stop and watched it fall; it was a dud and never exploded or we wouldn't be alive today. What terror she must have felt; I can not imagine. But Winston Churchill's daily radio addresses made her and so many other people gather their courage and continue on despite the very real danger of living in London.
Winston Churchill was a hero, beyond compare, to the people of Great Britain, during its time of greatest peril.
So many brave Americans went to fly for the Royal Air Force before America had entered the war. And so many of them perished -- such heros!!! To fight and die for England and freedom before they had to: brave crusaders!!
Then America also was at war with Germany and brought so much hope to the British people. They fought and so many of them died.
I read so much about this time in history. And these books, although definately not light reading, tell about a time when not only the men, but the women and even the children did whatever they could to rid this world of such evil. And so much of the braveness, the will to go on, despite everything, of the British people was because of this great man: Winston Churchill, who told them, and made them believe, every night by his radio speaches, that they could and would beat the Nazi threat.

Having read the first five volumes of Churchill's magnificent history of the war that he was so instrumental in winning, I looked forward somberly to the last volume, fully expecting the "tragedy" in the title to refer to the fate of the Jews in Germany and throughout Europe. But as I worked my way through that volume, I found almost no references to this true tragedy of humanity. The tragedy in question was Churchill's ouster at the end of the war. I finished the volume in disbelief. Checking the index to see if somehow I'd slept through this portion of his tome, I found no reference to holocaust, none to concentration camps, none to the Final Solution, and the only references to Jews are their organizing of a fighting force, their mistreatment in Hungary and an escape in Greece. I have long wondered at this terrible omission, and long to read what the New York Times had to say about this book when it was first published.

I just had to add my two cents after finishing the sixth volume all of about 15 minutes ago. I ask my fellow reviewers who accuse Churchill of a completely selfish designation of "tragedy" on his loss of power in Britain to make sure they have actually read the right book; I can't see how it can be anything other than incredibly obvious that the "tragedy" he refers to is the inability of the Allies to halt Russian encroachment and lay the foundation for a peace which wouldn't be eventually and unavoidably interrupted by the potential for World War Three. This conclusion to Churchill's brilliant series is once again fantastic in scope and offers invaluable perspective. Most importantly, it is also incredibly prescient, as shown by 30 years of Cold War which we only escaped a decade ago.

A good review and background of famous quotes of Churchill. It also showed him to be a good husband and sober man, despite the rumor otherwise.

The wise and witty words of Winston Churchill ring throughout the 20th Century.Any that knew him personally or had anything to do with him must have waited with anticipation of hearing what he would say anytime he opened his mouth.This held true for Kings,Presidents,Generals and yes even for his family,including his grandaughter.At times, his use of silence could be as cutting
a reply as anything he could say.No doubt, he took as much enjoyment in his words as anyone he was aiming them at.It wasn't all one way either,he seemed to love a well delivered line,even if he was the object.
He neither claimed to be nor in fact was an'educated man',he
was similar to Mark Twain,in that he could cut to pieces,people of much greater formal education,if they tried to engage him in 'a battle of words'.
In his book "My Early Life" he said."It's a good thing for an
uneducated man to read books of quotations" and described how he read "Bartlett's Quotations".It is obvious that he often used and modified others quotations.
His friend Lord Brinkenhead quipped,"Winston has devoted the best years of his life to preparing his impromptu speeches."
"One of Churchill's most famous speeches is that of June
1940:'We shall fight on the beaches,we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,we shall fight in the hills...' It is said that,as he paused in the great uproar that greeted these words,Churchill muttered to a colleague next to him,'And We'll fight them with the butt ends of broken beer bottles because that's bloody well all we've got!"
A great little book reminding us of the words of one of the great voices of the 20th Century.

I am a long-time admirer of Sir Winston Churchill. As a leader he had few (if any) equals, but I have always been impressed with his sharp wit and stinging retorts. One can learn much about the man from what is found in this little book, not only from the quotes attributed to him, but also from those zingers hurled his way by friend and foe alike.
This book is an easy read. It can be picked up for a few moments' pleasure without distracting from the greatness that is Sir Winston Churchill.

You do have to think about many of his quips, most are very funny in a dry, perhaps a bit cynical manner. It is sometimes difficult to place his statements in the context of WW-II (I was born in 1944 and I do have a memory of that era because it was the biggest event in my parents lives - they talked about it all the time).

After a session with Mr. Churchill, I often wish American politicians had a bit of his prespective (though I reall doubt they would ever get elected).

I received this book as a birthday gift from my lovely wife. I loved this book so much I bought is twice more as a gift for a departing superior and for a friend of 10 years. Anyone who has a love of history (particularly this era) will love this book, anyone in possession of a sense of humor will appreciate this book as well.

Recommended for a quick, witty read and as a gift for anyone you know with an 'off' sense of humor. We all know someone like that, are related or married to them, or publicly disavow any association with them. Regardless, buy them or yourself (ii case its you who is openly disowned) this book.

This book reads like the city lives: Wild, smart, laidback, funny, quirky, non-p.c., liberal, random.

You realize that New Orleans didn't get all its personality just recently. This place was full of stories from day one, and the streets are permanent monuments to this. Read this book, and each street sign points to a world of interest and humor.

Definitely one of the top ten NOLA books you will want to read and share.

If you are interested in history and/or New Orleans (is there a difference?), read this book. A very entertaining look at the history of the city.

The following made me doubt seriously the possibly accuracy of the information in this book:

In it, John Churchill Chase refers to Native Americans as "wolfish redskins" (page 12), "heathens" (page 11) "timid Indians" (pages 7,8), accusing them of "astounding immorality and promiscuity" (page 11), and also "they were a dirty and vermin-ridden crowd" (page 11). I wonder if he took into consideration the fact that we can not assume the position and mentality of people who are not here to defend themselves when he wrote "...even among a nation of people who don't give a damn."..."there were no families, they were all just one family-or maybe they should be called a kennel." (pages 11,12).

John Churchill Chase also mentions that "smallpox and plagues frequently wiped out whole villages...all [this] characterized a people who were well on their way to what is commonly termed the bow wows" (page 11). To imply that some of the afflictions that killed so many Natives were a "characterization" and not due to the diseases the Europeans brought to virgin soil, is incredibly ignorant.

This being only some of the racist, opinionated and ignorant content of the first few pages of this book, I could not go on reading for I could not trust the rest of the book's content would be anymore accurate.

I am reading this for a class, but after that, I'm giving it to my mom to read. If you are into history at all, this is very interesting and easy to read.

Although I am a New Orleans native, I had no idea there was so much fascinating history behind the names of the streets. Chase is legendary, and his stories have the same amusing light bite of his political cartoons. Great reading, and you don't have to be familiar with the city to enjoy it.