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My Early Life

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My Early Life

By: Winston Churchill
Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
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About this listen

One of the classic volumes of autobiography, My Early Life is a lively and colourful account of a young man's quest for action, adventure and danger. Churchill's schooldays are undistinguished, but he is admitted to Sandhurst and embarks on a career as a soldier and a war correspondent, seeing action in Cuba, in India, in the Sudan - where he took part in the battle of Omdurman, of which he gives us a stirring account - and finally in South Africa.

Taken prisoner by the Boers, Churchill makes a daring escape. Back home he embarks on the political career that is to make him one of Britain's most distinguished parliamentarians.

First published in 1930, when Churchill's most testing time still lay ahead of him, My Early Life is memorable both as an adventure-story and as an account of the events and influences that helped to shape the career of a great Englishman.

©1930 Charles Scribner’s Sons (P)2014 Audible Studios Europe Great Britain Historical Politicians Politics & Activism England Winston Churchill War Imperialism Cuba

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All stars
Most relevant  
Very entertaining and very informative, covers both sides of the Boar War. Winston really is the Greatest Briton. Someone who looked at both sides of the story and was not afraid to say so.. Fully recommend.

Top notch

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The mind bogglingly entertaining origin story of one of the great men of history. Beautifully written and narrated with great panache.

Brilliant

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Churchill’s brilliant use of the English language conveys his observations and ideas through which he displays his unique logic and sense of history.
This book should inspire generations of readers to ‘never give in’ even when struggling against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Inspiration from a truly great man

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I enjoyed the narrator, but I wish he'd done his homework on how to pronounce Afrikaans/Dutch names and place names, of which there are many.... There is simply no excuse for this.
Churchill's casual racism is startling. How far we've come in 100 years.

A rollicking story

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Churchill had a remarkable life and is a terrific writer, often very amusing and quite self deprecating.

Fascinating

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I have a new and heartfelt appreciation of Winston, after listening to his account of his childhood, school days and early military career, leading onto the earliest times of his outstanding and later political service. Unforgettable!

A truly remarkable account of Winston’s early life

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What made the experience of listening to My Early Life the most enjoyable?

A combination of a real biography and a tail of true adventure. I thought I new a little of WC but I knew nothing of what shaped him through his first quarter century. Very enlightening.

What was one of the most memorable moments of My Early Life?

An engaging journey from his first memories of childhood through to his early political career.

What about Frederick Davidson’s performance did you like?

Being read by a very plausible voice alike of the man himself gave extra gravity to this book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listen to this book every day using my one hour commute until it was finished.

Any additional comments?

A most excellent book that I would have no hesitation in recommending, in fact only my second audio book and it helped me become hooked into the concept.

A very good listen

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all action story esp his escape from being a PoW in the Boer War, some dated attitudes and words to see past

great story

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This is truly boys own stuff. Living in the comparatively safe, sterile, politically correct 21st century you cannot imagine such an experience and the way it formed Churchill’s later life and opinions. I have travelled the world for business but rarely been out of my comfort zone and virtually never been in anything approaching a life threatening situation, with probably my most stressful experience being getting lost in a foreign city when you are really not lost at all. To be in battles, get captured, escape and the somehow have the strength of character to wander around what was a primitive South Africa in a period of war and somehow manage to reach safe territory seems like the plot of some far fetched novel, but instead it was the reality of life in the Victorian era and start of the 20th century. I hate to use the phrase, but a truly awesome story and well read.

I could only imagine such a life!

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Given that the outline of the story is so well known, the detail and occasional touches of humour made this both informative and a pleasure.

Top end of our expectations

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