"In England There Was Such a Man"

"In England There Was Such a Man"

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume 3: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

by William Manchester , Paul Reid

Narrated by Clive Chafer ,Paul Reid

This was written by William Manchester and Paul Reid. Manchester died before he could complete his biography of Churchill. And Churchill’s life story must be told. Reid was Manchester’s hand-picked co-author for this capstone to the biography and this book has a character all Reid’s own. The second volume takes us to the brink of war, Hitler is rampaging through Europe. Britain is standing alone against the Axis powers. We all know how it all came out, but at the time the end result was far from certain. Winston Churchill must be given his due: he must be allowed the fight he was built for. Events at this time of history are moving swiftly and Churchill is at the center of them all. He is the architect of the Allied victory but not even he can be said to deserve all the credit. In this third volume, the events of WWII take center stage so this volume becomes more history at times than biography, but that is to be expected. You must first understand the times before you can understand the man. This capstone of the biography trilogy is essential. Without it Winston Churchill would be like the Flying Dutchman, forever poised on the brink of cataclysm, never victorious. It is necessary that Churchill be vindicated, in print at least. Any listener of the first two volumes will be compelled to see Churchill through to the end. 

The first two hours of this book, covering the prologue, are narrated by the author Paul Davis; who has a pleasant and decidedly American voice. The remainder of the book is narrated by Clive Chafer who has the appropriate British accent and does a yeoman’s job in delivering the over one-thousand pages of print material to the spoken word. His voice has a pleasant tone which is mandatory for such a weighty tome.