Troublesome Young Men, Lynne Olson
Troublesome Young Men, Lynne Olson
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Troublesome Young Men
The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England

Author: Lynne Olson

Narrator: Dennis Kleinman

Unabridged: 14 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/16/2018


Synopsis

On May 7, 1940, the House of Commons began perhaps the most crucial debate in British parliamentary history. On its outcome hung the future of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government and also of Britain—indeed, perhaps, the world. Troublesome Young Men is Lynne Olson's fascinating account of how a small group of rebellious Tory MPs defied the Chamberlain government's defeatist policies that aimed to appease Europe's tyrants and eventually forced the prime minister's resignation.

Some historians dismiss the "phony war" that preceded this turning point as a time of waiting and inaction, but Olson makes no such mistake, and describes in dramatic detail the public unrest that spread through Britain then, as people realized how poorly prepared the nation was to confront Hitler, how their basic civil liberties were being jeopardized, and also that there were intrepid politicians willing to risk political suicide to spearhead the opposition to Chamberlain—Harold Macmillan, Robert Boothby, Leo Amery, Ronald Cartland, and Lord Robert Cranborne among them. The political and personal dramas that played out in Parliament and in the nation as Britain faced the threat of fascism virtually on its own are extraordinary—and, in Olson's hands, downright inspiring.

About Lynne Olson

Before Lynne Olson began writing books full-time, she worked more than ten years as a journalist, including stints as Moscow correspondent for the Associated Press and White House correspondent for the Baltimore Sun. Four of her five books-all works of history-have dealt in some way with London during World War II. Among her titles are A Question of Honor, Troublesome Young Men, Freedom's Daughters, and the national bestseller Citizens of London. Olson has won the Christopher Award and has been shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in history. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean

This book tells the familiar story of the countdown to 1939. Olson has chosen to tell the story using interconnected biographies of Harold Macmillan, Anthony Eden, Duff Cooper, Bob Boothby, Bobbety Cranbourne, Ronald Cortland, Harold Nicolson and Leo Amery. Each of these had their own political ambi......more

Goodreads review by Steve

An outstanding history that focuses primarily on a number of second tier historical figures (almost all of who are British MPs) that were instrumental in bringing Churchill to power. Of course, bringing Churchill to power meant bringing down Mr. Peace-In-Our-Time, Neville Chamberlain. It's a story I......more

What a fascinating book! Through my recent glom of books about Churchill, I learned that he was held in low regard by much of his Tory party. This book tells the story of a handful of Tories — the “troublesome young men” — who conspired for months to get rid of Chamberlain and install Churchill as P......more

Goodreads review by Paula

With Olson,you're guaranteed to get impeccable reasearch,lively writing and passion about the subject in question.......more