A History of English Speaking Peoples by Winston S. Churchill

Name: Winston S. Churchill

Year Won: 1953

Read: "A History of English Speaking Peoples"

Original Language: English

Reason: "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values"

About: "A History of English Speaking Peoples" is a history of England and English colonies and post-colonies (e.g. the US, Australia, Canada) that spans from the beginning of time until the modern era. I ended up picking up the 3rd volume, which covers the reign of Queen Anne, King George the Mad, the US Revolutionary War, William of Orange, and other leaders.

What I liked: It's clearly written and easy to follow. It's also very, VERY thorough. If you wanted to know the full history of England, these volumes will do it for you. It was also rather entertaining reading about Queen Anne/Sarah/Abigail from a historian's POV (after having watched The Favorite.

What I Disliked: It's very dry. And, like many books of its era, it cares mostly about the major leaders and not so much about what life was like for anyone other than the leaders. It's very "this happened, then this" with far less emphasis on entertaining the reader.

Should it have won a Nobel: It's hard to say. I suspected, when I saw Churchill's name, that the award was given in large part as thanks for having stood up to the Nazi's and helped win WWII. After reading this, I feel that my suspicions are confirmed. With that said, Churchill did give a lot of lovely speeches and this isn't terrible bad, the way some of the winners have been. (It's an impressive achievement, after all, just less revolutionary than The History of the Roman Empire and dry enough besides.)

Next Up: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway