Stan's neighbor, Bud, who haunts the second-hand book market, has recently acquired a rare set and has magnanimously overlooked Stan's envy enough to loan him a tome from time to time.
Stan has just completed a re-read of his second volume, -- 750 pages of Churchill's prose entitled "Their Finest Hour," and was about to exchange it when the Christmas break intervened.
Lo and Behold, beneath the tree was the newly-released hardback titled "The Last Lion -- the final volume of William Manchester's masterful account of Winston Churchill."
An armistice has been declared, a pause in the winter campaign to re-read Churchill's five volumes in order to first read the last installment of a biography of the great man himself, who once said:"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it."
Manchester died before he finished his final Churchill volume, it was actually completed by another writer. It's an enjoyable, compelling read, filled with the minutia that nourishes good historical narrative.
There's a local twist.
The newly-elected prime minister needed to address the empire over the BBC in the solemn hours as France fell.
"After forty years in the House of Commons, Churchill instinctively swung his head from left to right."
This would never do in front of the fixed desk microphone in the small radio room. So actor Tyrone Guthrie stood behind him and held Churchill's ears firmly as he spoke.
We note that Churchill went on to lead the nation to victory, while his talented ear-holder went on to found the famed Minneapolis Guthrie Theatre in 1963.
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See. It's a good book. A bound, first edition. Thanks, Kathleen. Maybe Bud will want to borrow it.
