Boris Johnson is the very popular and internationally known Mayor of London. Educated at Oxford, he began his career as a journalist, writing for the Times and the Telegraph (for whom he still contributes a regular column), and working his way up to editor of the Spectator. He is the author of Johnson’s Life of London (Riverhead, 2012) and The Churchill Factor (Riverhead, 2014). He was elected to the House of Commons in 2001 and served there until he was elected Mayor in 2008. Johnson is a regular on British television and radio. He lives in London with his wife and four children.
Praise for The Churchill Factor:
“[The Churchill Factor] isn’t another potted biography… [Johnson]
clearly admires his subject, and his book has a boyish, innocent
quality that is also an essential part of Mr. Johnson’s political
appeal.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Filled with vivid observations” —The Washington Post
"Fascinating...[Johnson's] interpretation of [Churchill] is
interesting on every page." —Freakanomics
“A full-throated celebration of human greatness and perhaps the
best (and certainly the funniest)…introduction to Churchill yet
written… delightful and effervescent…[Johnson’s] writing crackles
with vivid metaphors and similes… [A] rumbustious, hilarious, but
altogether sound…tribute to the vast, cathedral-like dimensions of
Churchill’s greatness.” —The Daily Beast
"Buoyant, quick-witted and vastly entertaining" —The Economist
“Confessing to a reverence for his subject that has burned since
boyhood, the mayor has written a book on Churchill …that may be the
most fun… His narrative voice resembles an art gallery docent’s, as
he explains vignettes from the prime minister’s life in captivating
detail… Mr. Johnson’s voluptuous prose and passionate affection for
his subject makes the audience a willing Dante to his Virgil.”
—Washington Times
"London Mayor Boris Johnson digs into the character of Winston S.
Churchill to develop a fascinating book that lays out what made
Churchill tick. In the process, Johnson offers up plenty of
anecdotes, some new, most old, but all still lots of fun.” —The
Cleveland Plain-Dealer
"A short, fast-paced life that captures its subject’s exuberant
personality, taste for adventure and pivotal role in World War II."
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“[Johnson’s] many ribald, eccentric, action-packed anecdotes bring
Churchill to life so vividly, as such an august character, that the
reader is enticed to acknowledge, but finally to cast away negative
judgments of him… Johnson’s writing is florid and funny, and he
truly loves his subject. …[A] great read” —Brooklyn Rail
“Johnson is no buttoned-down academic historian. Like his more
famous subject, the mayor has a journalist’s eye for detail and ear
for conversational language…his book succeeds in identifying the
ways in which Churchill’s personality proved as important as his
policies in helping Britain cope with the dark task of winning
World War II… it would be hard to read this book and imagine how
today’s world could have come into existence without his highly
personal stagecraft.”—The Carolina Journal Online
“An interesting study of a truly fascinating historical figure…
[Johnson] is a good, sound writer with a very distinct, unique
voice…It is as if [he] were sitting with you on a long night in a
pub over pints telling you everything he knows and think of
Churchill.” —PopMythology
“A characteristically breathless romp through the life and times of
our greatest wartime leader, Winston Churchill…as high on
entertainment as it is on providing an appraisal of the great man’s
achievements…Johnson’s distinctive writing style is unlike any
other used in the countless books that have been written on
Churchill… It reads at times like a mixture of Monty Python and the
Horrible Histories.” —The Telegraph (4 stars)
“Johnson has knocked this project out of the park. With this book
Johnson has not only managed to create the most readable
non-fiction prose I have read all year, but he has managed to
clarify myth, destroy recent revisionism and unearth new material.
The book amuses and educates in equal measure with a deftness of
touch and lightness of learning that is beyond most people. He has
done this while holding down one of the country’s busiest and most
high-profile jobs.” —Quadrapheme
"A lively, and pertinent, introduction to [Churchill]… readers…will
benefit not only from this book’s wealth of lore and information,
but from Johnson’s corrective opinions and analysis.. Journalist,
wit, parliamentarian, mayor of London since 2008, Renaissance man,
and prospective prime minister, Johnson has painted his portrait of
Churchill with light, learning, and good sense, a wise aggregation
of present and past.” —The Weekly Standard
“[The Churchill Factor] is both paean of praise and irreverent
romp, with analysis of Churchill's smorgasbord of achievements… Its
stress on the importance of political bravery, and doing what is
morally right, rather than what the polls and press dictate, is a
timeless message.” —The Jewish Chronicle
“Combine[s] bathos with humour and a welcome clarity of historical
argument…there is much to commend in this spirited, entertaining
tale.” —The Guardian
“A book by Boris Johnson, like almost any book about Winston
Churchill, is bound to be interesting. The combination of this
author with this subject cannot fail to be a good read—nor does
it…a mine of useful vignettes”—The Churchill Centre
"A bravura performance...Johnson has not only celebrated Churchill
in this book: he has emulated him with comparable panache." —The
Financial Times
“The Churchill Factor would have been a worthy contribution without
the political overtones. Like Sir Winston – who somehow published
43 books (and won the 1953 Nobel Prize for Literature) while not
busy leading the defeat of Hitler – Mr. Johnson is a superb writer.
Despite the heavy subject matter, The Churchill Factor is a light
and quick read... [Johnson's] brisk style of writing...helps keep
the book moving, challenging readers with occasional
get-out-your-dictionary words and rewarding them with the odd belly
laugh” —The Globe and Mail
"Like all Johnson's work [The Churchill Factor] is beautifully
written, particularly as, in this case, he rises to the linguistic
standards set by his subject...it is clear that he not only admires
Churchill enormously, but that he was also determined to make a
really good job of a timely reassessment on the eve of the 50th
anniversary of Churchill's death." —Saga Magazine
"Churchill's own energy - his indefatigable pursuit of excitement,
glory, place and power - demands a writer of fizz and passion to do
history justice. Johnson is that writer." —Mail on Sunday
“Irresistible…chatty, enthusiastic and as funny as you would
expect.” —The Spectator
“Riveting. It would be a fascinating read [even] without the
Johnson Factor – [but] Boris is a superb, accessible writer, with
an easy, good-humoured touch. … The result is entertaining,
informative and teasing.” —The Independent
"Readable, engaging and often funny." —The Evening Standard
“While there are many accounts of Winston Churchill and his
political savvy, one would be remiss to ignore this sprightly
written volume…Johnson’s history of Churchill is well crafted,
amply researched, and a pleasure to read.” —Library Journal
"Reading about Churchill is always a delight, and Johnson is an
accomplished, accessible writer." —Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Johnson’s Life of London
“A sparkling blend of history, biography, and geography . . .
Johnson’s exuberant paean makes a persuasive case that genius
breeds genius.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Boris Johnson is Britain’s most popular politician. He is also its
wittiest—and most erudite. . . . Not since Winston Churchill has a
future prime minister of Britain written so well.” —Michael Wolff,
Vanity Fair
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