This is a chronicle of the life and times of Winston Churchill during 1921.  It was a make or break year for his political career after it seemed to end when he was demoted in the Cabinet after the 1915 Dardanelles invasion fiasco.   In 1921 he was appointed as Colonial Secretary which brought him into dealing with the Middle East -- Iraq, the Palestine issue in relation to the Balfour Declaration.  He did not limit himself to his cabinet portfolio much to the chagrin of the Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon when he "meddled" in Foreign Office affairs.   He took on a role in the Irish problems too.  Churchill never shied away from his opposition to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia.  He had strong views on the British Empire and its role in the world. 

In addition to his political life, readers learn about his personal life and his strong family ties.  In 1921 he suffered the loss of his mother and his daughter Marigold.  Both deaths deeply troubled him and he was supported throughout his grief by his wife Clementine and brother Jack.       He liked to spend money and in 1921 he came into an inheritance which relieved many of his financial worries.  Painting was his greatest avocation and there was a successful exhibition of his pictures in Paris.  All in all, Churchill is shown as an energetic and multi-talented individual, albeit sometimes lacking in judgement.

This book an excellent introductory biography of Churchill.  So many books have been written about him that it's difficult to know where to go first if you want to read up on him.  This book is a good beginning because it's readable, informative, and a balanced account without being fawning or over-critical.  

Recommended.
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The publisher provided a complementary advance reading copy of this book through Netgalley.  The comments about it are my own.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oblivion or Glory is a detailed examination of Churchill’s life in the year 1921 – politically and personally. It explores his travels internationally, his work done in London and elsewhere, his painting, and the changes that happened in his personal life. Busy and full of successes, failures, triumphs, and personal losses, 1921 was a year in which Churchill’s actions and negotiations did much to pave his eventual pathway to election as Prime Minister.

I felt this was a fascinating book. Knowing little about Churchill personally, the details that Stafford provides are illuminating and intriguing. While there are scores of people that Churchill interacts with, they are carefully introduced so even the most unfamiliar-with-British-history reader can orient themselves. The political events are well-depicted and understandable, and Stafford’s smooth way of shifting from one topic to another is seamless and effortless to follow, making the book very readable, and the deeply human portrayal of Churchill makes it an engaging and enjoyable read.

I did find the book’s chronological liquidity difficult at some points. Oblivion or Glory seems to be carefully structured by season, but as you read the events depicted, it becomes clear that Stafford refers to events more in thematic context than chronological. This aids understanding of how everything came together, and in how some political aspects were dealt with, but at the same time it means that there is some unforeseen mental re-arrangement to put everything that’s happening together chronologically. Also, ultimately, I spent much of the book searching for some authorial insight about how, specifically, the events of 1921 were so pivotal for Churchill, as is argued in the book’s subtitle (1921 and the Making of Winston Churchill). Alas, my search for this specific information was not to be fruitful – Stafford does finish the book with a paragraph about how the events of 1921 shaped Churchill, but beyond that small summation, the reader seems left to their own perceptions – augmented by not only the in-depth exploration of 1921, but chapters devoted to the events leading to 1921 and the events rippling away from that date – to put together how the various threads of Churchill’s life that year were impactful not only to Churchill himself as a person, but to those in the government, the electorate, and internationally, all of whose interactions twined in the future, of course, to take him to the office of Prime Minister, and a well-deserved place in the history books.

I always enjoy reading about Winston Churchill. This was well written and interesting. Very glad that I had a chance to review this one.

I've tried to download this "galley" several times, to no avail. It's supposed to be a PDF, but Acrobat Reader says it's unacceptable or corrupted. A pity. The subject is one that especially interests me, and that I often blog about.

I really wanted to read this book but it is not available in a Kindle edition. I do not read books on PDF files.