The Adventurous Life of Winston Churchill

New York: Julian Messner, Inc, 1958. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. Phillippe Halsman (DJ rear photograph). 256 pages. Illustrated endpaper, with some discoloration (newspaper cllipping). Illustrations. A Chronology of His Life. Index. Ink notation inside rear board. DJ has some wear and soiling. Geoffrey Bocca (1924-1983) was an English novelist and historian who resided for many years in the United States. Mr. Bocca worked for a London newspaper before writing books full time. He was a writer-in-residence at several American universities. Bocca wrote several biographies including studies of Winston Churchill, Harry Oakes and Diosdado Macapagal, and covered subjects as diverse as the French Riviera and the assassination of John F. Kennedy in his non-fiction. Bocca wrote two royal biographies on Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, and Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He also wrote a series of Nazi themed novels featuring Commander Amanda Nightingale, an English spy. Derived from a Kirkus review. The author deftly reviews Sir Winston's early years: the unpromising performances at Harrow and Sandhurst; his reputation as a soldier of fortune in Cuba in 1895, in India and in South Africa for the Boer War -- events about which he wrote, lectured and made a great deal of money. The phenomenal political rise which equaled and was to surpass his father's is recorded: his maiden speech in Parliament as a Tory in 1901; his switch to the Liberals in 1904; First Lord of the Admiralty in 1914 at 39; the Gallipoli disaster; Chancellor of the Exchequer under Baldwin. But, by 1931, after having controlled for a time, sections of the Armed Forces, administered the Colonies, run the Board of Trade and the Home Office, his political fortunes were at their lowest, until Chamberlain appointed him, again, Lord of the Admiralty, and until he succeeded Chamberlain as Prime Minister at the age of 66. This survey concludes with Churchill's retirement in '55 with some brief mention of his private life. A lively handling of an enduring subject.