How Winston Churchill Changed the World

By: Michael Shelden, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Michael Shelden

Great Britain’s most celebrated statesman, Winston Churchill, didn’t just live history - he made it. In these 24 lectures that unfurl like a great story, enjoy a thorough, multifaceted exploration of Churchill’s life, accomplishments, complexities, and legacies.

Guiding you chronologically through the life and times of this master statesman, Professor Shelden takes you from the dawn of Churchill’s political career to his final years in a much-changed geopolitical landscape. You’ll examine Churchill’s beginnings as a young liberal statesman, his rise to the Admiralty and his relentless push for an imposing naval force, his fight against the Nazis, his equally dramatic postwar career suspended between two different cold wars (against the Soviets and Britain’s Labour party), and more.

You’ll also get fascinating insights into Churchill’s iconic public speeches, his philosophies of freedom and history, and his early realizations of the dangers of both Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia. But these lectures never shy away from examining how Churchill’s preference for the backward glance of history occasionally distorted his view of the future, leading to missteps and disasters, including his failure to understand the rise of independence movements in the British colonies and his controversial World War II bombing campaigns in German cities like Dresden.

Poet, historian, statesman, soldier, prime minister, husband - Churchill played many roles throughout his life. And these lectures bring them all together to create a fascinating, multilayered biography.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 The Great Courses (P)2018 The Teaching Company, LLC

Great man great history great course

Never tired of Churchill
If one tired of Churchill, he or she missed a lot .
Thanks prof.

Outstanding

Great biography of a fascinating and courageous giant of history. Performance is on the same high plane as the story. One of the best organized and delivered courses I have listened to from the Great Courses.

Good listen

I am a Churchill fan and I found this book to be very entertaining and insightful.

A Great, Great Couse

These lectures were some of the best history lectures I heave ever heard. The professor clearly loves his subject but can give you an unvarnished picture of Churchill. I also doubt you can find one source with so much information about Churchill short of reading his definitive biography, something I now intend to do. Totally loved it and plan to listen to it many times over!

GREAT FOR STUDENTS 👍👍👍

Great overall I wouldn't compare to any of his own biography's nor others , but its a different format and worth the purchase.....👍👍👍

A rhetorical perspective

Before listening, I read the reviews posted by others. Some suggested the author was too much in love with Churchill, and others questioned his objectivity. Contemporary philosophies, psychologies and even neuroscience demonstrate that none of us is completely "objective." We all have our biases. The topic interested me, so I listened.

This was a very informative and thoughtful presentation. The author clearly had passion about the topic, and his own perspectives, which he owns. I would rather listen to someone who has an opinion than some bland reporting of common facts and broadly held views. The telling of this tale seemed to me to be balanced: the author recognized Churchill's multiple flaws, mistakes and contextual challenges - he was, after all, a Victorian in his upbringing, and a descendent of nobility.

What I most appreciated was the rhetorical attention here. The author well weaves the oratorical gifts of Churchill into the story, and demonstrates how his learning, his gift of language, his deep appreciation of and commitment to history were tactical weapons he could deploy with enormous effectiveness.

Overall very satisfying. There were a few places the performance could have been better edited, but that is nit-picking. If you are interested in a great overview of Churchill without having to move through 50 hours of listening [other options], for the Churchill neophyte, this is a splendid initiation.

very very good

Today's youngsters need to hear this. We take our freedom for granted. Excellent narrator.

Recommendation

This was a very engaging biography. I’d not realized Churchill was criticized after the war and called a warmonger by some. Very enlightening.

Wonderfully interesting and insightful

I have done some reading on Winston Churchill previously and this series of lectures I found to be fantastic. They contained insights that I had never heard before that were very interesting and and helpful in enriching the understanding of Churchill’s character.

Engaging and enlightening

So educational. I highly recommend it. It’s not just for students but for all lifelong learners.