NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
‘In a single volume, Roberts has captured the essence of one of the world’s most impactful, most memorable statesmen. It is the crowning achievement of his career – and it will become the definitive biography of his subject.’
Dr Henry Kissinger
‘All told, it must surely be the best single-volume biography of Churchill yet written.’
Richard Aldous, New York Times Book Review
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/books/review/andrew-roberts-churchill-winston-biography.html
‘Unarguably the best single-volume biography of Churchill … No reasonable person will write a Churchill biography for years to come…The book is a brilliant feat of storytelling, monumental in scope, yet put together with tenderness for a man who had always believed that he would be Britain’s savior.”
Tunku Varadarajan, Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/churchill-walking-with-destiny-review-a-life-at-full-pelt-1542372879
‘Walking with Destiny should stand as the definitive one-volume Churchill biography. Roberts’s biography does honor to the historical profession.’
Prof Barry Strauss, City Journal
‘Churchill’s life was a tour de force. This book does him justice.’
The American Magazine
‘Roberts is a master story-teller’
James Schneider, The Weekly Standard
https://www.weeklystandard.com/james-schneider/churchill-writ-large-and-small
‘Andrew Roberts has written the best single-volume biography of Winston Churchill to date.’
Francis Sempa, New York Journal of Books
https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/churchill-walking-destiny
‘Andrew Roberts gives readers the full and definitive Winston Churchill, from birth to lasting legacy, as personally revealing as it is compulsively readable.’
Danielle McMannus, City Book Review
https://citybookreview.com/churchill-walking-with-destiny/
‘Readers will not completely understand the greatest political leader of the 20th century (and one of the most endearing) without reading Andrew Roberts’ Churchill.’
Robert E. Tyrrell, Washington Times
‘Read the historian Andrew Roberts’s “Churchill: Walking With Destiny.” A review last month in The [New York] Times called it “the best single-volume biography of Churchill yet written,” but it’s more than that. It’s an antidote to the reigning conceits, self-deceptions, half-truths and clichés of our day.’
Bret Stephens, New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/opinion/andrew-roberts-winston-churchill-book.html
‘Roberts’s research is outstanding, based on archival and primary sources, What emerges is a man full of complexities. Roberts’ book is full of insights and facts that provide a deeper understanding of Churchill.’
Tom Hallman, The Oregonian
https://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2018/11/winston_churchill_walking_with_destiny.html
“A well-researched and exceptionally well-written biography… This compelling book is likely to become a standard text on Churchill and will be difficult to keep on the shelves.”
David Keymer, Library Journal Review
‘Fantastically readable prose, which flows along in a pitch-perfect combination of erudition and eloquence…In brightly engaging chapters, Roberts takes readers through all the stages of Churchill’s adventurous life as a soldier of the empire and then as a professional politician…Roberts is a shrewd and experienced biographer.’
Steve Donoghue, Christian Science Monitor
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2018/1122/Churchill-takes-reader-through-stages-of-Churchill-s-life-in-brightly-engaging-fashion
‘Widely praised as the best single-volume biography of Winston Churchill ever written, historian and commentator Roberts draws on previously unavailable journals and notes for the robust, engrossing, and nuanced history of the great British leader.’
National Book Review
https://www.thenationalbookreview.com/features/2018/11/18/5-hot-books-a-timely-look-at-how-to-get-rid-of-a-president-churchill-and-more
‘Winston Churchill’s character flaws and career missteps were, like everything about him, outsize. But Andrew Roberts, in this immensely readable biography, uses those imperfections to illuminate his many achievements. “The last aristocrat to rule Britain,” as the author calls him, embodied the ethos of the Old World but helped to usher in a new one.’
Wall Street Journal, Ten Best Books of 2018
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-fiction-and-nonfiction-of-2018-1544101122
‘Like all of Andrew Roberts’s histories, Churchill is massively researched and exquisitely written. The author’s sharp sense of humor is often in evidence and warmly complements Churchill’s own. This is a brilliant work, by a very fine historian, on a permanently heroic and always fascinating figure.
Conrad Black, New Criterion
https://www.newcriterion.com/issues/2018/12/the-indispensable-man
‘While it doesn’t shy away from criticism, the book paints a vivid picture of Churchill’s legendary wit, loyalty, and devotion to his wife. It’s an exhaustively researched study in the contradictions of a man who basked in his ability to be contradictory.’
Mental Floss
http://mentalfloss.com/article/564922/best-books-2018
‘Roberts’ new biography stands tall, re-illuminating the well-etched contours of Churchill’s monumental life with scrupulous scholarship and a flair for unearthing the telling detail; looking twice where most biographers have been content to glance once.’
Barry Singer, USA Today
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2018/12/10/winston-churchill-new-biography-andrew-roberts-book-review-churchill-walk-destiny/2207960002/
‘This biography gives readers a fuller and more definitive picture of the British war leader than ever before. Roberts, the bestselling author of Napoleon, gained access to exclusive materials, such as transcripts of War Cabinet meetings, diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs, that he pieced together to reveal formerly hidden intricacies and nuances of Churchill’s storied life.’
NBCNews.com
NBCNews.com https://www.nbcnews.com/better/pop-culture/best-books-give-everyone-your-list-ncna943061
‘I didn’t think we really needed a new Churchill biography, or, having read so many, that I would find a new one catching up my attention, but Roberts proved me wrong. In addition to new source material, Roberts’s judgments about Churchill, and his keen selection of the most salient details about Churchill thought and action, are superb.’
Steven Hayward, Claremont Review of Books Christmas Reading List
https://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/the-2018-crb-christmas-reading-list/
‘Drawing on new sources, Roberts breaks some new ground, but what distinguishes his book is its judicious treatment of every important question relating to Churchill’s life and career. Taking advantage of his window into Churchill’s mind, Roberts does much to deepen our understanding of the statesman’s character and achievements.’
James Mueller, Claremont Review of Books Christmas Reading List
https://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/the-2018-crb-christmas-reading-list/
‘Andrew Roberts, who knows how to make big books engaging despite their length, has done it again with Churchill: Walking with Destiny. The great man himself would find it praiseworthy; so will you.’
Michael Uhlmann, Claremont Review of Books Christmas Reading List
https://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/the-2018-crb-christmas-reading-list/
‘Winston Churchill was perhaps the greatest leader of the twentieth century and a person who never ceases to fascinate and inspire. Widely hailed as the best single volume biography of Churchill ever written, historian Roberts’ magisterial biography captures the unfailing spirit of the man who saved Europe in all his flawed brilliance.’
The Octavian Review Holiday Reading List 2018
https://octavianreport.com/rostrum/2018-holiday-reading-list/
‘The best one-volume biography of Churchill, and a deeply engaging and fun read.’
Elliot Abrams, Mosaic Books of the Year
https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2018/12/the-best-books-of-2018-chosen-by-mosaic-authors/
‘Roberts makes the hard choices to condense Churchill’s life into less than 1,000 pages, plus notes, and hardly one of those pages goes by without some fascinating anecdote or witty observation, not all of them from Churchill himself. Roberts’ narrative roams widely but intelligibly between the formative elements of Churchill’s life and later events in which they would prove so invaluable.’
Matt Buckingham, Williamette News
https://www.wweek.com/arts/books/2018/11/30/a-new-biography-examines-the-impressive-rights-and-many-wrongs-of-winston-churchill/
‘Andrew Roberts delivers the exhaustively researched, comprehensive and balanced biography Churchill clearly deserves. Thanks to Andrew Roberts, we can celebrate him as a flawed genius, master of the English language, passionate but cool under fire, who at age 65, when almost everyone dismissed him as a has-been, seized the moment, and helped save Liberty and Democracy.’
Glenn C. Altschuler, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/books/2018/12/11/Churchill-Walking-biography-Destiny-Andrew-Roberts/stories/201812040123
‘Roberts’s writing technique and style now seem to have reached perfection. … His reasoning is crystal-clear, with absolutely no jargon and many witticisms à la Churchill. Unreservedly recommended to students at all levels as well as academic colleagues – all University Libraries should have a copy. Also a choice present for friends and relatives interested in Churchill.’
Antoine Capet, Cercles
http://www.cercles.com/review/r84/Roberts.html
‘Though Roberts frankly acknowledges Churchill’s blunders, political and military, this riveting narrative ultimately burnishes the iconic statesman’s reputation. A masterful biography, rich in detail and insight.’
Bryce Christensen, Booklist
‘The most comprehensive single-volume biography of Churchill that we have in print and a boon for any student of the statesman and his times.’
Kirkus
‘This biography is exhaustively researched, beautifully written and paced, deeply admiring but not hagiographical, and emphatic and balanced in its judgements – a magnificent achievement.’
Publishers Weekly
‘Andrew Roberts’s brilliant new biography of Winston Churchill.’
Joe Queenan, Wall Street Journal
‘What a warm and splendid book Mr. Roberts’s biography is. It is intelligent and fluid; he doesn’t lard things up to show you the depth of his research, but tells you what is important, with verve and sympathy. As you read you trust his judgment.’
Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/churchills-adversaries-werent-his-enemies-11545350705
‘Andrew Roberts’s Churchill: Walking with Destiny entirely deserves the acclaim it has received since its recent publication. It has been rightly judged the best one-volume comprehensive biography of Winston Churchill.’
Brad Tolppanen, A Blog on Winston Churchill
https://winstonchurchillblog.wordpress.com/2018/12/22/book-review-41/
‘Churchill: Walking with Destiny at last uncovers the true essence of a leader whose stature has yet to be rivaled.’
History Book Club
‘Andrew Roberts was supremely qualified to write a life of the man who helped the world by standing up to Hitler when all seemed lost. And he has justified his qualifications with his wonderful, masterly Churchill: Walking with Destiny.’
John Steele Gordon, Commentary
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-glow-worm/
‘Walking with Destiny is a complex and compelling depiction of one of the most important political leaders of the 20th century, one sure to enlighten and provoke both those familiar with Churchill and those who may know little beyond, as a recent film puts it, Britain’s darkest hour. One of the distinctive contributions of Roberts’ book is that it manages to speak to our own times. It avoids hagiography and bitter revisionism yet shows full awareness of the intellectual and political currents that distance us from Churchill’s passionate belief in the fundamental goodness and greatness of the British Empire. Walking with Destiny is a tour de force. Roberts has given us a great gift. He presents a Churchill in all of his complexity. What makes this book essential for those who care about reviving and defending liberal democracy in our time is that it reminds us that, even at moments when old hatreds burn bright and few are willing to swim against the current, it is still possible for great leaders to emerge.’
Jeffrey Herf, American Interest
https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/01/22/churchill-in-all-his-complexity/
‘With nearly a thousand pages of chiseled prose, Roberts allows himself the room to lay out all the highlights and not a few sidelights of his subject’s long and varied life. The result is a tour de force of scrupulous selection and astute appraisal, perhaps the best full-scale biography to date in a field where the competition has been crowded and stiff.’
Tracey Lee Simmons, National Review
https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/02/11/churchill-walking-with-destiny-book-review/
‘Andrew Roberts’s Churchill: Walking with Destiny is the best single-volume biography written on the great British leader and exhibits not only an historian but also an artist working at the top of his form. It is a work that cannot be praised too highly.’
Edward Short, City Journal
https://www.city-journal.org/andrew-roberts-winston-churchill-biography
‘In an excellent new single-volume biography Churchill: Walking With Destiny, historian Andrew Roberts argues that it was Churchill’s lifelong admiration for the Jewish people, a rarity for somebody of his social class at that time, that actually helped him foresee the threat posed by Hitler when his colleagues could not.’
Philip Klein, Washington Examiner
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/how-winston-churchills-love-of-jews-helped-him-foresee-the-nazi-threat