The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm
The concluding volume of Manchester's monumental Churchill biography, covering 1940 to his death.
The Verdict
The triumphant close of the great literary life of Churchill, completed against the odds. William Manchester's monumental biography reached its final volume — Churchill from 1940 to his death — only because, after Manchester fell ill and died, the journalist Paul Reid finished it from his notes and outline. The result still carries Manchester's sweeping, novelistic grandeur: the war years rendered as the proving of a destiny long prepared. For readers who want Churchill as epic, this is the culmination.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- The literary biography of Churchill at war and after
- Readers who want grandeur and narrative sweep
- The conclusion of Manchester's trilogy
- Churchill from 1940 to 1965
Look elsewhere if you want
- A concise life (it runs over a thousand pages)
- Readers wanting cool analytical distance
- Those put off by a heroic frame
Why We Rated It 4.5
Historical Context
Defender of the Realm is the third and final volume of The Last Lion, covering Churchill from 1940 to his death in 1965. William Manchester, who had written the first two volumes, became too ill to complete it; the journalist Paul Reid finished it from Manchester's research and notes, and it was published in 2012.
Events Covered
Editions & Reading Notes
Read It Alongside
Collector's Corner
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0316547703
Read This Against
The same events seen from a different vantage point. The fullest understanding often lives in the space between accounts that don't agree.
Other Books About the Same Events
More by William Manchester
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who actually wrote the final Last Lion volume?
- William Manchester planned and researched it but died before completing it; Paul Reid wrote the finished text from Manchester's notes.
- Do I need the earlier volumes first?
- It can be read alone for the war years, but the trilogy in order gives the full arc of Churchill's life.