Terrific reviews for two agency titles
31 Jul 2013

There were two great reviews for agency books in Saturday’s Times:

"A work of meticulous scholarship…" Roy Hattersley on Sean McMeekin’s July 1914

"James, an expert chronicler of imperial history, shows how Churchill never wavered from his belief that the Empire was “a precious asset, not just for Britain, but for civilisation as a whole”. He analyses from this perspective the whole of Churchill’s career, bringing fresh insights even to oft-examined episodes such as the Boer War and Gallipoli. One of the many strengths of his magisterial survey, based on extensive research in primary sources — especially the records of the intelligence services — is its objectivity…. The portrait of the final years is both compelling and sad, as Churchill had unwillingly to come to terms with the fact that, “however loudly the lion roared, it needed America’s permission to pounce”. James has written a pioneering biography of Churchill from a central, specific point of view that reveals his strengths and weaknesses in an entirely new light. It will be of abiding interest to all those concerned with Britain’s past and how it influenced the world in which we live today. " DR Thorpe on Lawrence James’s Churchill and Empire