The Last Titans
How Churchill and de Gaulle Saved Their Nations and Transformed the World
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
A compelling dual biography of Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle that shines new light on two of the greatest figures of the 20th century.
Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle were thrown together by war. They incarnated the resistance of Britain and France to the existential threat from Nazi Germany, and their ultimate victory over Hitler has ensured their achievements will never be forgotten. But, as The Last Titans shows, that is only a part of a complex story. Both men influenced their countries, and the world around them, long after the war was won.
There was a paradox in the parallel and intertwined lives of these extraordinary men. De Gaulle—tall, gauche, and incorruptible—exhibited qualities often associated with the English. Churchill—short, charming, witty, and a bon vivant—resembled the quintessential politician of the French Third Republic. Their working relationship was rarely smooth, but they appreciated each other’s stature: de Gaulle said Churchill was “the great artist of a great history,” while Churchill recognized de Gaulle as “l'homme du destin.”
Richard Vinen explores what made these men exceptional and how profoundly they were influenced by their national cultures. Beyond personal intrigue, Vinen makes a wider point that Britain and France are both haunted by perceptions of past greatness. He retraces the paths of two leaders who once helmed superpowers but lived to see their nations weakened by two world wars and the loss of empires.
Written with extraordinary narrative verve, The Last Titans offers a fresh exploration into the lives of de Gaulle and Churchill. By bringing their two stories into one, each man is seen anew and we gain fresh insights into their achievements and their legacy today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this incisive dual biography, historian Vinen (1968) paints British prime minister Winston Churchill and French general Charles de Gaulle as having moved along opposite trajectories. As Churchill grew into the indomitable leader who rallied Britain to persevere against the Nazis, de Gaulle's wartime exploits were less glorious. Exiled to London and often sidelined by the Allies, he managed, through clandestine intrigues and a carefully cultivated aura of destiny, to position himself as France's leader. The relative statuses of Churchill and de Gaulle changed drastically in postwar decades, however. Churchill's second stint as prime minister in the 1950s was a study in fecklessness and physical decrepitude, in Vinen's telling, while de Gaulle's presidential term from 1958 to 1969 was a triumph: he presided over an economic boom; turned France into a modern, efficient technocracy; and faced down military revolts and assassination attempts to grant Algeria its independence. Vinen's colorful portraits note resonances between the two leaders: both were conservatives and unreconstructed racists with theatrical streaks who grappled with imperial decline. But he depicts de Gaulle as the more perceptive and realistic statesman, ushering France into a less ambitious but prosperous and independent new dispensation while Churchill wallowed in nostalgia. The result is a fresh and illuminating reconsideration of two statesmen who helped build the modern world.
