The Gathering Storm by Winston S. Churchill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the first volume in Churchill’s 6-volume history of World War II. It begins with the roots of the conflict in the Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI, and the difficulties faced by the Weimar Republic as a consequence. This led to the rise of Adolph Hitler, the capitulation at Munich, and finally the declaration of war following the German invasion of Poland. During this period, Churchill was on the outside, almost literally the “voice in the wilderness” warning the world about what was to come.

It is valuable as a view from a participant in the events of the war. As Churchill once said “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it,” and he did do just that. That said, while he was a participant, this is clearly not a disinterested reading of history, and should be looked at with a small grain of salt, and supplemented with good collection of works from professional historians if you want a more balanced view. Churchill is always concerned to make himself look good, so you need to keep that in mind. Still, he is such a good writer that I enjoyed the whole series.

I listened to this as an audio book.



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