Ian Buruma in the Churchill Complex charts the special relationship between British Prime Ministers and American Presidents from roughly WW2 to present. But rather then it being strictly a Churchill Complex, I consider this book more of an examination of the British trying to play a meaningful role in global affairs from 1945-present through relationships with American presidents. Churchill himself is either vaguely in the shadows or curiously non-existent throughout much of the book. But the period he lived seems very much alive.

The second curious thing about this book revolves around the “special relationship” the UK and the US have with each other. For such a special relationship, it has sure seemed to be quite rocky at points in time as individual leaders have failed to connect mostly because of variations in personality and or background. But what sticks out in every chapter is Britain grasping to have a substantial role in a world that rivals even in a small way where they where in the time of Churchill.

It's a very useful examination of the personalistic US-UK relationship, just not something that one might’ve expected out of a book called the Churchill Complex.