Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 26
 Your finest hours will be spent reading this book!!! August 25, 2003
chris meesey Food Czar (The Colony, TX United States)
55 out of 56 found this review helpful
Be forewarned. The words of Sir Winston Churchill are not for everyone. If you are too timid, sensitive, politically correct, Victorian in outlook, or do not drink, you are not the ideal audience for this book. However, if you love stirring speeches, great epigrams, and explosive wit, then Winston is your man. Divided into several sections, the first deals with epigrams concerning subjects in general, for example; History--"A nation that forgets its past has no future." The next section deals with excepts from his most famous speeches: Their Finest Hour, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, etc. Then, Coiner of Phrases, a section dealing with famous words or sayings first attributed to him, such as Destroyer, for "light search and destroy vessel." Next, Saints and Sinners, a section reserved for his opinions of the great (and nearly great) of the world; his opinion of former Prime Minister David Lloyd George: "He could talk a bird out of a tree." Finally, the last (and best) section, Escapades and Encounters (aka Winston's Wit). Yes, here we have the famous Lady Nancy Astor story (I won't spoil it for you here), another famous (and politically incorrect) encounter with Labourite Bessie Braddock, and the hilarous story The World Is Not My Oyster, in which the eighty-six year old Churchill blames his indisposition on the oysters served at the Savoy Grill, not the numerous glasses of wine he consumed there. So, grab a glass of your favorite port or sherry (or a snifter of brandy, if you must), sink into a comfortable chair with a favorite snack and this book, and INDULGE YOURSELF. Trust me, it will be one (or more) of your finest hours.
Brilliance and Hilarity in One Package February 21, 2000
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
While I expected to be swept away by Churchill's superb grasp of the English language and his intelligence on a multitude of topics, I was suprised at how much I laughed out loud at this book. Churchill's wit was truly timely and amazing, and it is well-packaged here.One notable quote was missing, however. Churchill was once reported to have said, after meeting Eleanor Roosevelt: " I have faced war, and I have faced Eleanor. I prefer war."
Words, wit, Winston, Wow ! June 7, 2003
Marc Cenedella (East Village, New York, NY United States)
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
I am a big fan of these types of collections, and have been distressed in recent years as series publishers have pumped them out. James C. Humes, however, avoids the path of ready material and produces a book of Churchilliana as comprehensive and broad as the man himself.There are all the favorites here: the Lady Nancy Astor tea story, the acerbic prepositional rejoinder to the supercilious editing of an assistant, the choice between sherry and adultery, and so on. More importantly, one begins to acquire a notion of the extent to which Churchill, as Shakespeare before him did, has shapped our language, our thoughts, and our clichés: "trade no aid", Iron Curtain, and "blood, sweat, and tears." Every page is a gem, and this is the perfect book for bed or bathroom, if you are a lover of words, wit, and Winston. p.s. The very nice, concise introduction by Richard M. Nixon is a quirky little joy as well.
Reader from Boston, MA December 5, 1999
26 out of 27 found this review helpful
This book is an excellent compendium of the wit of Winston Churchill. Often acerbic, frequently self-deprecating, but always humorous and witty while exactly on point, Churchill's humor and wit collected in this book would be of great value even to professional comedy writers. The book also tells much about the man, Churchill, himself, and his inner strength, sense of proportion, his mastery of the English language and his uncanny ability to use the English language masterfully and to its maximum affect -- the qualities that made Churchill such an effective and potent world leader during the bleakest days of World War II.
The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill March 15, 2001
John D. McCall (Alexandria, VA United States)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
A wonderful album for a wonderful man. Many little verbal snapshots, but I couldn't break off reading. Lots of good reasons for reading this book. For history. For style in speaking and writing. For political insight. For personal strength. Just don't come expecting a shrine. It cites the words that saved the world. But this book, like the author's Wit and Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, moves from quotations to essays, and eventually to sometimes titillating and often hilarious annecdotes. This deviltry brings his subjects closer to us -- what's closer seems larger. This is an enlarging book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 26
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