Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat

Oct 12, 2024 12:24 AM

Author:Winston Churchill,David Cannadine

The most eloquent and expressive statesman of his time - phrases such as 'iron curtain', 'business as usual', 'the few', and 'summit meeting' passed quickly into everyday use - Winston Churchill used language as his most powerful weapon at a time when his most frequent complaint was that the armoury was otherwise empty.

In this volume, David Cannadine selects thirty-three orations ranging over fifty years, demonstrating how Churchill gradually hones his rhetoric until the day when, with spectacular effect, 'he mobilized the English language, and sent it into battle' (Edward R. Murrow).

Reviews

Outrageously readable . . . a fascinating riot of a book

—— Simon Sebag-Montefiore

Fascinating . . . A vivid sans-culottes history, from the street up

—— David Starkey

Magnificent and entertaining . . . riveting

—— Jason Burke , Observer

Deftly written and meticulously researched... packed with detail and anecdote

—— John Thornhill , Financial Times

Well-written and thoroughly researched... There is as good an account as you could want of the rivalry in the 18th century...and of the Napoleonic wars that took the story into the 19th... A satisfying and intelligent book, packed with information and provoking in its assertions and conclusions

—— Simon Heffer , Daily Telegraph

This is an important book... Gripping, magnificently informative... with a delicious streak of dry humour

—— Adam Thorpe , Guardian

A very readable history... Marshall rightly argues, as an enabler of scientific, artistic and mystical insight, Rudolf has no peer

—— Gary Lachman , Independent on Sunday

It was a magical moment in the history of Western civilization, when anything was possible. Mr Marshall brings it all wonderfully to life

—— Stuart Ferguson , Wall Street Journal

An entertaining description of life at the heart of a Europe stained by the clash of new and old ideas... an enjoyable description of what was an extraordinary epoch

—— Greg Neale , BBC History Magazine

An insightful and perceptive record of a city that revolutionised culture and science

—— Prediction

Fascinating

—— David V Barrett , Independent

Previous Article：A History of Wales Next Article：Fatal Purity

Comments

Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.