THE FOLIO SOCIETY

‘Stands out amongst the finest personal testimonials in literature’
MAX HASTINGS

‘Like most young fools, I was looking for trouble, and only hoped that something exciting would happen. It did!’

For those who know Churchill only in his later years as a dignified statesman, the story of his early life is an unexpected delight – the stuff of a Boys’ Own adventure. In this highly engaging autobiography, his formative years reveal a sympathetic, human figure far removed from the iconic leader he became. Although born into one of Britain’s grandest dynasties in 1874, young Winston was not groomed for high office. He adored his parents, but his father Randolph was a distant figure. Unhappy schooldays at Harrow are recalled, interspersed with moments of mischief – throwing Leo Amery, a future Cabinet colleague, into the Harrow swimming pool, for example – which cast the miseries of Latin and the birch into relief.

Randolph, a Conservative MP, supported his son’s army ambitions because a legal career was thought too much for him. Winston’s first postings to Cuba and India, and seeing action on the North-West frontier, the Sudan and South Africa, are all vividly recounted. In November 1899, while accompanying British troops as a war correspondent, he was ambushed and imprisoned in Pretoria. The report of Churchill’s escape, during which he hid in coal trains and a rat-infested mine, made him a household name. Soon after, at the age of 26, he entered the House of Commons, and the rest is history. Widely acknowledged as Churchill’s finest book, My Early Life describes his military adventures with enormous zest, but also paints a poignant picture of life before the First World War.