This book has been a great reading experience. Thanks to the author and the publisher for bringing this book to life.

In Becoming Winston Churchill, McMenamin and Zoller focus on the years between 1896 and 1913 and Winston Churchill’s relationship with American politician Bourke Cockran, who also happened to have an affair with Jennie Jerome Churchill (Winston’s mother). Referencing a variety of speeches and letters by both men and quoting heavily from both, McMenamin and Zoller characterize this years-long friendship as one of kinship, political similarities, and mentorship, highlighting the many similarities between Churchill and Cockran’s political beliefs, particularly around free trade, Irish home rule, and international alliances. McMenamin and Zoller’s reliance on primary documents adds a first-personal element to the book, but the weighty and long quotes are not necessarily expanded upon by the authors, who instead rely on the writer and reader to break down and understand the letters. The book does not wholly focus on this political and personal relationship, working in Churchill’s relationship with his parents and a couple young women and Cockran’s relationship with Jennie Jerome Churchill and other women. McMenamin and Zoller also weave in other big historical figures into the text, such as Neville Chamberlain and Theodore Roosevelt, as required to highlight the increasingly globalized world that Winston Churchill experienced as a writer and new politician.

Mary Soames once wrote that she owed her father what every English person owed him - Liberty. This is the greatest gift of all. One wonders if Churchill could have achieved what he did in the Second World War without the influence of his friend and mentor, the American, Burke Cochran, when he was young. This book relates how this brilliant orator and adviser to two Presidents took Churchill under his wing, and gave him excellent advice, especially when Churchill left the Conservatives for the Liberals. It includes actual letters of the two men.

I especially liked the way in which each chapter began with a fictional account of the situation. Some of the politics was a bit dry, I thought, but it’s a story well-worth telling. Not many people have heard of Burke Cochran these days, which is a pity.

This is recommended, especially for any fan of Churchill.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Such a fascinating book! I love learning from people of history.

Winston Churchill was influenced by Bourke Cockran. Cockran was Churchill's widowed mother's lover and friend. He took Winston under his wing and gave him unusual insights into the politics of the time. This relationship shaped Churchill;s thinking and political outlook.

This story is biographical and also fiction. That made it a little confusing but it is still a great read.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy.

The story of Winston Churchill, even the young Winston Churchill has been told many times. This biography finds a new angle by exploring the future war leader's life through the prism of his early association with the 19th century American politician, William Bourke Cockran.