Young Titan: The Making of Winston Churchill - Softcover

Michael Shelden is the author of four previous biographies. For twelve years he was a features writer for The Daily Telegraph (London) and a fiction critic for The Baltimore Sun. He is currently a professor at Indiana State University.

“Perceptive and entertaining.” Source: Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

"A vivid portrait of a young man on the make, as ambitious as he was gifted. . . Enthralling." Author: DailyBeast.com [Newsweek digital edition]

“Much has been written about Winston Churchill, but there is still much to learn, especially about those early years when he seemed destined for greatness. Michael Shelden now thoughtfully explores those years in Young Titan....An engaging as well as perceptive take on the man who believed that while we are all worms ‘he was a glowworm’ — a belief history would splendidly vindicate.” Source: Richmond Times Dispatch

“Entertaining and erudite.... Shelden is full of sharp literary insights about Churchill, as one would expect from a literary biographer of his rank.” Source: Wall Street Journal

“[A] solid biography covering the first four decades of Winston Churchill’s life, marked by both ambition and heartbreak....Shelden offers an unadorned account of Churchill’s dogged pursuit to build his legacy against some long odds.” Source: Kirkus Reviews

“Swiftly narrated.... Shelden, a noted biographer whose 1992 Orwell was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, explores the young titan in entertaining depth, with deep regard for Churchill's achievements and no end of colorful detail.” Source: USA Today

“Michael Shelden has done the nigh-impossible: he has found original things to say about the man Isaiah Berlin called ‘the largest human being of our time’—Winston Churchill. In this entertaining and deeply researched book, Shelden paints a memorable portrait of the young Churchill’s life and loves.” Author: Jon Meacham, author of American Lion

“Young Titan gives us an exciting, needed look at Winston Churchill in his years as a Liberal. Breaking with the Conservatives, he battled for better working conditions, for unemployment insurance, for improvements in education. He waged a two-front war: against the Tories on the right, the socialists on the left. It is the young Churchill at his best, a great foretelling of what was to come when Britain and the world needed him most.” Author: Chris Matthews, author of Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero and anchor of MSNBC’s Hardball

“For history buffs, Winston Churchill is the gift that keeps on giving, and in Young Titan Michael Shelden has given us the gift of Churchill’s fascinating formative years. It’s all here—the boy wonder, adventurer, romantic, orator, and eloquent man in the arena. I didn't want it to end.” Author: Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation

“A biographer of note, [Shelden] actually found a fresh angle on England's man with the big cigar that should appeal to avid history fans.” Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram