Developing the subtitle “How Churchill and de Gaulle Saved Their Nations and Transformed the World” makes for fascinating reading. I’ve not really read a joint biography myself, but I’ve heard of a few good ones and decided to take the plunge here. To be sure, I really enjoyed it–both the subject and the format. The length (330 pages) was a plus as well. I’ve got some favorite large tomes, but this book made for a nice changeup for me. It didn’t take a massive commitment of time, yet I felt I gained real insight into these two men both individually and in relation to each other. If you’re like me, you never seem to get enough of that time period.

Perhaps I can speak from two perspectives; the one where you know a lot about the subject and one where you don’t. Churchill has long intrigued me. On the other hand, I hardly knew anything about de Gaulle beyond his being French. On both counts Vinen held my attention. I gained a few reinforcements and clarifications on Churchill while feeling I came to know de Gaulle. More specifically, though I admire Churchill, that he really had a hubris element to himself that defines so much of who he was is clear. In the raw, it’s both ugly and childish. It’s the childish side that became more clear to me in this work. de Gaulle had maturity in spades, and though he had certain characteristics that fall on the humility side of the ledger, his essential belief that he was destined to lead France could be seem as illusion of grandeur; unless, of course, you remember it all fell together as he anticipated it would. He could be quite conniving to gains the heights he felt were his as well.

Churchill at least has the epic days of 1940 to hold up. I’m not clear on what great thing de Gaulle ever did to merit his position. The failure in both men’s stories before their ultimate fame staggers the mind. How did this happen? I don’t know the answer, but I enjoyed watching it unfold in the pages of this book.

For most of the book, the author’s political beliefs were not overt. Only occasionally did they seep through. Though I am to the right of the author, he was disciplined enough not to read current politics into it to enough bother me. The reader’s perspective, then, will not greatly alter your enjoyment of the work. Only at the very end did he lose that focus, but by then the value of the book was already in hand. One other minor quibble is that at times I wondered if he even liked either man. At least this isn’t hagiography!

Here is one to enjoy. You will have a lot to think over at its end.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255