a great book. ( )

What a wonderful book. I learned so much about the Churchills that I didn't know. What a complex family. So many smart and talented people. Even Winston was more than just a politician and statesman. He was a writer, speaker and artist. Some folks just have too many talents, where others can barely find one. I highly recommend this book and it has provided me with two additional books about the Churchills that I'd like to read. I was particularly fascinated by the relationship between Winston and Clementine. ( )

Excellent book. Stays with you, such a pleasure to read. ( )

A superb and enthralling book. The marriages are gripping, not least because of their ghastliness. As with her other family subject - the Mitfords - it's has all the delight of a soap opera that is true. ( )

I've read several excellent biographies of Winston Churchill, but Mary S. Lovell has gone out on a limb here by attempting a biography of the Churchill family from the time of the 1st Duke of Marlborough without devoting too much space to the most famous Churchill of all. By and large she achieves her goal, although by the time she reaches the early 20th century it becomes almost impossible to write anything without the gargantuan shadow of WSC hovering over every aspect of his family's story. Never mind, what she produces is a highly readable expansive, gossipy tale of a middling aristocratic family of the Victorian/Edwardian/Georgian eras, with much attention paid to their romantic hits and misses, and also the fact that they could be exceedingly nasty to one another upon occasion. It's not what I'd call an outstanding work of family history, but it is warm, funny, entertaining and sentimental. All in all, a great read. ( )