The Churchill Factor
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''The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History'' is a book by British politician, journalist and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, in which he details the life of former Prime Minister Sir
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
. It was originally published on 23 October 2014 by
Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint (trade name), imprint of Hachette (publisher), Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs ...
.


Plot

Throughout the book, Johnson details the life of statesman, soldier and writer, and former Prime Minister Sir
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
. Johnson praises Churchill's efforts as the leader during the Second World War, writing that "he alone saved our civilisation".


Reception

In the wake of its publication, John Kampfner of '' The Observer'' said the book featured "not so subtle" attempts to draw a parallel between Johnson and Churchill. In '' The Daily Telegraph'',
Con Coughlin Con Coughlin (born 14 January 1955) is a British journalist and author, currently ''The Daily Telegraph'' defence editor. Early life Coughlin was born in 1955 in London, England. He read Modern History at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he spe ...
wrote "While Johnson is clearly an admirer of Churchill, it can be difficult to see what new insights he brings to the study of the statesman. The obvious subtext, of course, is that Johnson is seeking to compare his own reputation as a political maverick with that of Churchill, which poses the question: what would Winston Churchill have made of Boris Johnson?" Another review said "like its characterisation of some of Churchill's own writings, this book is 'crisp, punchy, full of the kind of wham-bam short sentences that keep the reader moving down the page'."
Sonia Purnell Sonia Purnell is a British writer and journalist who has worked at ''The Economist'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', and ''The Sunday Times''. Her books include ''Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill'', which was chosen as book of the year by ...
, in '' The Independent'', said "He does have a certain genius – as displayed in his previous '' The Dream of Rome'' book – for making history, in that dreaded term, 'accessible'... The book says perhaps less about Churchill than it does about the ambition and self-image of Boris ohnson In history-book terms, it is an opportunity missed. For Johnson's career, it will no doubt work wonders." In the '' New Statesman'',
Richard J. Evans Sir Richard John Evans (born 29 September 1947) is a British historian of 19th- and 20th-century Europe with a focus on Germany. He is the author of eighteen books, including his three-volume ''The Third Reich Trilogy'' (2003–2008). Evans was ...
said "The book reads as if it was dictated, not written. All the way through we hear Boris's voice; it's like being cornered in the
Drones Club The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British humorist P. G. Wodehouse. It is a gentlemen's club in London. Many of Wodehouse's Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members. Various members ...
and harangued for hours by Bertie Wooster." '' The Times'' also noted the book's "Bertie Woosterish voice", while describing its approach as "never boring, genuinely clever in parts, hopelessly biased in its judgments and sometimes irritating to the point of call-in-the-stretchers exhaustion in its verbal bumble". Dominic Sandbrook, reviewing the work for the '' Evening Standard'', wrote that ''The Churchill Factor'' "bears about as much relation to a history book as an episode of ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' does to a BBC4 documentary".
British Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
MP and Churchill's Grandson Nicholas Soames commented, Johnson's book was a "Good book, very readable, but not a work of great scholarship nor anything new in it".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill Factor Biographies of Winston Churchill 2014 non-fiction books British books Political books 21st-century history books Hodder & Stoughton books Books by Boris Johnson