Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2019 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — History, Geography & Area Studies — Latin America & the Caribbean

Acclaimed author and historian Andrew Roberts has produced a striking cradle-to-grave biography of Churchill. Churchill biography is a crowded field but, drawing on previously untapped sources, Roberts's contribution is well worth the read. Roberts is the first Churchill biographer to examine King George VI's extensive notes from his weekly meetings with Churchill throughout the Second World War. He also had exclusive access to transcripts of War Cabinet meetings, unpublished diaries, letters, and memoirs from Churchill's contemporaries, as well as Chequers visitors' books during Churchill's premierships and his wartime monthly engagement cards. The familiar elements are all here--the dramatic background of great events, the dominating figure of the famous statesman glowering his invincible determination--but we also see his vulnerability as a child, his humor, and his generosity toward political foes. Criticisms and mistakes are also dealt with. No doubt the percentages of this blend will not satisfy everyone, but one must appreciate how enormously difficult it must be to encapsulate in a single volume a life that was by no means uneventful and intersected some of the most momentous events in human history.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above; general readers.

The fifth volume (of a projected six) in historian and biographer Peter Ackroyd's "History of England" set (following Foundation, 2013; Tudors, CH, May'14, 51-5226; Rebellion, CH, May'15, 52-4987; and Revolution CH, Apr'18, 55-2950), Dominion addresses English politics, reform, and the problems of empire from the aftermath of Waterloo to the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. During these decades, England was deep in its so-called second industrial revolution, and technological innovation (e.g., railways) proceeded at such a reckless pace that skeptics everywhere warned of the pending collapse, disgrace, or demise of England and all its historical achievements. The pinnacle of accomplishment was the 1851 Great Exhibition, a brilliant display that attracted six million visitors to its thousands of exhibits and showcased all that progress and English ingenuity could produce. Naysayers warned that the crowds of viewers would surely be baked in the greenhouse-like structure, as they admired the displays of "locomotives, microscopes, air pumps, and cameras" (168). Ackroyd breathes life, color, and wry humor into political clashes and social movements, including the 1832 Great Reform Act, Chartism, the further extension of the franchise, the limitation on working hours for women and children in the factories, and the provision for compulsory education for children to 13 years of age.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.

The novels of Hilary Mantel and the stage and television productions based on them have made Thomas Cromwell into a figure known to millions. However, much of what Mantel writes about Cromwell--especially his early life--is invention. MacCulloch (Oxford) argues that Cromwell's sojourn in Italy as a young man shaped his steely character and educated him about the world of trade, finance, and politics. His service as factotum to Cardinal Wolsey could have been disastrous after the latter's fall from power, but Cromwell's hostility to the papacy and experience in despoiling monastic houses earned the favor of Henry VIII. Cromwell's genius in improvising the policy and legislation that established the royal supremacy over the Church of England gave him unrivaled power at court. MacCulloch recounts how Cromwell evolved from religious conservative to evangelical, and how he secured the king's permission to publish an English translation of the Bible and reach out to radical reformers in Germany and Switzerland. It was the failure of the Cleves marriage that moved the king to execute the man he later called "the most faithful servant he ever had." A superb book.Summing Up: Essential. Advanced undergraduates and above.