Winston Churchill Reporting: Adventures of a Young War Correspondent

Of all the books about Winston Churchill, this is the first dedicated to his years as a war correspondent between 1895 and 1900. Journalist Read (Human Game) introduces this work with "Winston Churchill as Indiana Jones," a line that becomes reality within the first few pages as Churchill grows tired of waiting for experience in battle to make his name. While in the Hussars (cavalry) and using his mother's great influence, along with his own charm and wit, Churchill succeeded in obtaining a press pass to cover the native uprising against Spain in Cuba, the Pashtun conflicts in India's northwest frontier against British sovereignty, a slaughter against the dervishes in Sudan, and finally the Second Boer War in South Africa. Read uses Churchill's letters to his mother, the actual newspaper articles he wrote as a correspondent, and his later writings to detail each step in those journeys. From the terrible sea voyages, the hot jungles, and the scorched deserts, Churchill proves himself in battle, as a leader and afterwards as a writer.