The Extraordinary Story of a Young Winston Churchill in the Boer War, as Told by His Granddaughter
In this lively biography of a dashing, brash twenty-five-year-old Churchill, Celia Sandys chronicles her celebrated grandfather's adventures as a correspondent and combatant during nine months of the Anglo-Boer War-events that took him from the bivouacs and battle sites of Transvaal to his incarceration as a prisoner of war in Pretoria and ultimately to a bold escape across the border into Mozambique.
Using both British and South African sources of testimony, which reveal the dauntless Winston alternately as a courageous ally or foolhardy foe, Sandys recounts the exploits of a Churchill that history has largely forgotten. With historical authority, narrative vigor, and singular charm, she offers both a fully drawn portrait of the ready adventurer who would become England's legendary prime minister and an illuminating account of the turbulent events that defined South Africa for modern times.
"Sandys, Winston Churchill's granddaughter, introduces readers to the youthful-and quite often cocky-adventurer who would eventually become one of Great Britain's most successful and admired prime ministers. . . . Written in a lively narrative style, this affectionate biographical portrait of a very young, very spirited, and very enterprising Winston Churchill succeeds in foreshadowing the magnitu
Booklist
"Fascinating narrative. . . . The romantic stuff of Victorian adventure fiction, but it has the virtue of being true."
New York Times Book Review
"A gripping narrative of Churchill's adventures as a young journalist. . . . An exciting tale that should be read, if for nothing else, for the fun of it."
