Winston Churchill (1) (1874–1965)

Churchill's news dispatches from the front line. Not just what the war looks/feels like, but a lot of insight into Churchill's psyche as well. As a war correspondent Churchill describes the suffering, blood, horror, joy of killing, the excruciating pain of boredom, the self-justifications, and the subtle insanity of war---6 month's worth of how the soldiers experienced a war that kind of lasted a two-and-a-half years. Compared to WW1 & WW2 and even the Korean War, this is more of an exhausting skirmish. It's intriguing to discover how much the two sides hated each other...and yet respected their ability to fight(?!). Wikipedia says "The Boers had refused to grant political rights to non-Boer settlers, known as Uitlanders, most of whom were British, or to grant civil rights to Africans." (And don't forget the gold & diamond mines.) All of this ugliness is amply and colloquially detailed by Churchill, providing us much insight into the mindsets of the soldiers and civilians on both sides so that we learn to both sympathize and detest both sides. If we gloss over some of the military deployment details, the book is a relatively easy read and provides much to think about, in terms of what it is that people want and are willing to pay to get it.… (more)