The Last Lion: Alone - Tension Done Right

(This clip is from the movie "The Gathering Storm" and portrays Churchill's moment of return to relevance after he was finally heard on the merits).

The best nonfiction books can be as riveting as the most intense of adventure stories.  And, the very best authors can make something that would induce sleep on C-SPAN into an explosive jolt for a reader.

For some reason, two of my most intense nonfiction reading experiences were set in British Parliament.  One was H.W. Brands' description of Benjamin Franklin's moment of transformation from Brit to rebel.  The other was William Manchester's description of Winston Churchill bursting back into relevancy after years in the political wilderness when he informed the public by force of will and ruined political careers with one speech. 

I read and loved The Last Lion, volume one: Visions of Glory.  But, The Last Lion, volume two: Alone is taking me to wonderful places.  Most nonfiction books about a topic of interest are fascinating, but only the best can do what William Manchester can do.  I got so fired up reading this scene that I read the whole section out loud to Jen.  She was either genuinely riveted or the best and most patient and tolerant person I know.  (for the record, she said it was "very interesting" - glowing praise from Jen).

In this installment, and the scene that made my week, Manchester takes the reader into a parliamentary debate about armaments.  To set the scene, Churchill has been wandering in the political wilderness for the better part of four years.  He was ignored, mocked, and shunned despite his accurate information.  Then finally, FINALLY, Winston gets his chance to make the case he has been building for years.  And, for the first time in years, the ears arrive to take him seriously.  


He waited years for this moment, and Manchester walked me through every part of the speech.  It was engrossing.  He introduces Churchill's moment with this:

"Now, nearly forty years later, abandoned by his party, betrayed by friends, and stripped of office, Churchill himself had grasped and mastered rhetorical skills, and in the RAF debate of 1936 his range, force and depth held the House rapt and brought Stanley Baldwin to his knees."

Manchester explains that "Churchill intended to weave locusts in and out of his speech," and made certain that he did not spare even those who cheered him on now lest they forget they ignored the threat before.  Manchester paints it perfectly.  This was about abdication of duty and failure to bow to facts.  It was no simple, "I told you so" (although that was there too).  Rather, it was like taking a nation by its collective ear and shoving its obstinate face against the window to take a look at reality.

He stumbled for notes purposefully as he unleashed scripted barbs.  He paused for drama.  He singled out "the guilty."  He proved what they knew (they absolutely knew) and destroyed their excuses.

He shoved one particularly and egregiously broken promise up the nose of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and his cabinet so utterly and thoroughly that Baldwin admitted in open session that he chose appeasement to win election.  Specifically, Baldwin said: "I cannot think of anything that would have made the loss of the election from my point of view more certain (if he preached anything but appeasement)."  (emphasis added).

Manchester describes the gravity of that moment intensely.  He lets those who were there describe the scene from their notes and from newspaper accounts.  All describe the humiliation Churchill unleashed on the government.  You can almost see Baldwin's career dip itself in shame on the pages.

Churchill wrote of that moment as follows:

"It carried naked truth about his (Stanley Baldwin's) motives into indecency.  That a Prime Minister should avow that he had not done his duty in regard to national security because he was afraid of losing the election was an incident without parallel in our political history."

I cannot do this section justice.  It was amazing.  Alone is a long book that covers only eight years, but it is as riveting as anything I have read in a long time.  The final book will cover the war years and his time as Prime Minister.  I look forward to that as well, but I do not expect it to be as compelling as the story about a fight to educate a population that is very comfortable in its ignorance of the growing menace.  

I am only half way through and appeasement will take yet another terrible turn because I am still a year away from the Munich agreement.  But, Winston's foot is in the door and it is looking for asses to kick while he takes names from outside the door.

On a final note, I must add that the level of appeasement, when described day to day as Manchester does, is more stomach churning than I ever knew.  If you like the movie "The Gathering Storm," its sequel "Into the Storm" (although with a different actor as Churchill) was also very good.  That clip is below.

Hold your seat when you get to parliamentary scenes.  Better yet, read this series.