The Young Churchill: 0the Early Years of Winston Churchill

Most Churchill biographies pay scant attention to the statesman's formative years and the childhood influences on his character and personality. In this charmer of a book, Sandys, his granddaughter, has assembled early writings and artistic efforts, family letters and school reports, along with Churchill's mature recollections and her own illuminating commentary, to fill the gap. Winston's letters from boarding school reflect extremes of mood from cockiness to utter dejection, presaging the depression that plagued his later years. The collection includes revealing interchanges with his mother and with his beloved nanny, and stern letters of correction from his adored but hard-to-please father. The book covers the years from his birth in 1874 to his coming of age in 1895, when Churchill was commissioned into the Fourth Hussars cavalry unit. Generously illustrated with photos, facsimiles of letters, school reports, sketches and Churchill's later oil paintings of childhood haunts. (Oct.)