Winston Churchill is viewed as one of the great men of the 20th century. He is considered the greatest Briton of that century and often listed as the greatest person of the period.
“Mirrors of Greatness: Churchill and the Leaders Who Shaped Him,” by David Reynolds, reexamines Churchill through the lens of his great contemporaries. It looks at how 11 other prominent figures shaped Churchill’s personal life, his career, and posterity’s estimation of him. The book includes chapters on his mentors, political rivals, and contemporary national leaders—both allies and adversaries.
Mentors include his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, and David Lloyd George. There also chapters on Neville Chamberlain, Mahatma Gandhi, Clement Attlee, and political contemporaries. Chapters on international leaders examine Churchill’s relationships with Hitler, Mussolini, Roosevelt and de Galle. His wife, Clementine Churchill, merits a separate chapter. The book concludes with a final chapter examining Churchill through his own eyes.
The book shows how these 11 individuals affected Churchill’s life and career. It also shows how perceptions of Churchill differed over his lifetime and how those perceptions differ from the contemporary view of the man.
Churchill started out by trying to live up to his father’s political legacy. He is also shown as a major force in rehabilitating his father’s reputation. Churchill viewed Lloyd George as his master, even when Lloyd George was in eclipse and he was Prime Minister. Chamberlain, Attlee, and even Gandhi shaped Churchill’s Parliamentary career. Churchill’s interactions with other national leaders shaped world events, yet exposed his strengths and weaknesses. Clementine proved his anchor and strongest political supporter.
It also shows that Churchill’s contemporary reputation differed greatly from the regard in which he is held today. Throughout his life Churchill was controversial, extravagantly admired and extravagantly reviled. (The closest 21st century political example is Ukraine’s current President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.) Had Churchill died in 1939, he likely would have been remembered as a failed politician.
This book shows Churchill was frequently his own worst enemy. His stances supporting King Edward VIII and opposing Indian autonomy cost him critical support and revealed his worst instincts. His penchant to insult others alienated potential supporters. Even so, the book reveals his true greatness, the bulldog determination to press on when he was right.
“Mirrors of Greatness” reflects on the best and worst about Churchill. Reynolds reveals the truth of Churchill’s assessment of himself. “We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow-worm.”
by David Reynolds Basic Books, Jan. 23, 2024 Hardcover: 464 pages
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