Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Dire Warning: Churchills First Speech as Prime Minister | 
| Author: John R Lukacs
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 3249
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 147
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.8
ISBN: 0465002870
Dewey Decimal Number: 320
EAN: 9780465002870
ASIN: 0465002870
Publication Date: May 12, 2008
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Product Description
On May 13, 1940, Winston Churchill stood before the House of Commons to deliver his first speech as Prime Minister. Europe was in crisis: Three days earlier, Germany had invaded France and the Low Countries. Facing only feeble resistance, Hitler’s armies were rapidly sweeping westward. Accused of mishandling the war, Neville Chamberlain’s government collapsed, and Churchill was chosen to succeed him. Churchill had little support within the new government when he rose to address it on May 13. “I have never believed in him,” wrote one MP. Another described Churchill as a “disaster.” In fact, Churchill lacked confidence, both in himself and in his ability to lead his nation to victory, for he recognized far earlier than most the military genius of Adolph Hitler, and the potency of the German military. “I hope it is not too late,” Churchill had confided to his bodyguard on May 10. “I am very much afraid that it is.” In Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat, the eminent historian and master storyteller John Lukacs recreates this pivotal moment in world history, and reveals Churchill as he has rarely been seen before: as a man both unsure of himself and deeply fearful of his nation’s defeat. Churchill made no promises to his country in his speech, because he knew he had none to make. And yet he rallied England onward in the face of a vicious enemy. For Churchill-and Churchill alone-understood what was at stake: the fate not only of nations, but of civilization itself.
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| Customer Reviews:
Insight Through Context July 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Few men have used the English language with such grace and to such good ends as Winston Churchill. John Lukacs focuses on the key phrase in Churchill's first speech before Parliament as Prime Minister to provide some wonderful insights into both Churchill's thinking and the nation's state of mind as continental Europe crumbled before the onslaught of Hitler's armies and Britain began to realize it was the last, lone defender of the free world.
Churchill's speech was little appreciated at the time. In fact, the man was himself Prime Minister almost by default. Chamberlain was still the leader of the Conservative Party, Halifax probably could have had the post had he really wanted it since he was the first choice of King George VI, and it was only through Labour's insistence that they would not join a national government unless it was led by Churchill that the question was finally decided. One of the many telling details Lukacs reveals is that Chamberlain was wildly applauded when he entered the House to hear Churchill speak on May 13, 1940; Churchill's entrance was mostly ignored.
The speech was significant, Lukacs says, not so much for its poetry as for what it tells us about Churchill's vision of history as it shaped his leadership both throughout the war and afterward. Early on, Churchill recognized the power of Hitler's war machine and the strength of the German nation. He also had a truly terrifying vision of a world plunged into darkness by the very possible Nazi victory in Europe. The cold, black science of Fascism would mean the end of civilization, and Churchill knew that Britain was at the very beginning of a long, hard struggle whose outcome was far from certain.
Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo
typo problem in the first batches May 30, 2008
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have received the book, but it has blank pages on page #67, 70, 71, 78, 79, 82, 83, 86, 87, 90, 91, 94, 95, 98 & 99. Think it is probably due to printing/binding errors. Thus I have just requested for a replacement copy from Amazon today.
The Power of Words May 23, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This concise book goes beyond the actual speech of the title and allows for Professor Lukacs' informed and strong views about Prime Minister Churchill's bedrock thinking on the immense issues of civilization that were at stake in 1940.
I think this book will be most enjoyed by those readers having a fair prior understanding of the dismal political realities in Europe and America at the start of World War II.
 Worth the read May 18, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Thankfully weighing in at only 147 pages, Lukacs looks at Chuchill's speeches during the desperate days of May and June 1940 , puts them in context, and gives us this Big Idea: only Churchill really understood what was at stake and that defeat would mean a new Dark Age. To fight on, even if defeated, would give hope and be a symbol for those hundreds of years later who might rise up and emerge from the darkness. Also of interest: why the way he treated Chamberlin after he was voted out and Churchill voted in made all the difference in preventing a peace at any price with Germany. Churchill was magnanimous to him, and Chamberlin appreciated it and so became an ally(albeit one who did not so much overtly support Churchill as one who did not obstruct his leadership). Lukacs quotes a bit of the speech that Churchill gave after Chamberlin died. I have read it before and it is powerful, the grasping of the gist of this truth: don't second guess, today's hero is tomorrow's goat, and back again. And then this gem:"The only guide to a man is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions." Worthwhile read.
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