Churchill Wanted Dead or Alive

"""A bestseller in the U.K., this portrait of Winston Churchill, written by his granddaughter, unapologetically presents the future prime minister as an action hero in the Boer War. It's rousing reading. Sandy's affection for her grandfather is obvious, but she shows enough of his grandiosity to maintain a reader's trust. . . . Sandys is fully aware of the extent to which her grandfather had a finger to the political winds during his exploits: he sought the limelight as aggressively as he chased adventure. Because of Sandys's brisk narrative, as well as their knowledge of the man Churchill later became, readers will not hold young Winston's ambition against him.""--Publishers Weekly -- (03/29/2013) ""A few years ago, Celia Sandys set herself a daunting task: Write something fresh and relevant about her famous grandfather, Winston Churchill. So far, she has succeeded. . . . In doing so, she is carrying on the family tradition: The Churchills have a rich and varied literary heritage, much of it focused on the family itself. . . . The flame-haired, thrice-married Celia became interested in writing about her grandfather, whom she called 'grandpapa, ' a few years ago when she found a treasure trove of his letters from ages 6 to 20, which had gone undiscovered by historians. . . . 'I decided to write a book, based on these letters, on his boyhood.' The result was 'From Winston with Live and Kisses: The Young Churchill, ' which revealed his lonely, introspective, sometimes miserable childhood. . . . Sandys planned next to write about her grandfather's young adult life as revealed through his letters. On a trip to South Africa, she encountered many people and places that recalled Churchill's career as a war correspondent in the Boer War. . . . Young Winston was captured by the Boers but escaped with a price on his head, hence the title of the lively book, 'Churchill Wanted Dead or Alive.' . . . glowing reviews of that stirring account with new detail--notable for its depiction of young Churchill, warts and all, as a very human character . . . .""--New York Times -- (03/29/2013) ""During his nine-month stint in South Africa, Churchill, though officially classified as a noncombatant reporter, managed to send stirring dispatches to the Morning Post, engage in several bloody skirmishes with the enemy, be captured and incarcerated as a prisoner of war, and make a suitably sensationalized, yet nonetheless daring, escape from prison. Written in a lively narrative style, this affectionate biographical portrait of a very young, very spirited, and very enterprising Winston Churchill succeeds in foreshadowing the magnitude of the renown he eventually achieved. A rip-roaring good read chockfull of action, suspense, and history.""--Booklist -- (03/29/2013)"