"Chasing Churchill" by Celia Sanders (2003)

This little book, penned by Winston Churchill's granddaughter, Celia Sandys, is a wonderfully candid look at one of the most powerful, and quirky, leaders of the 20th century. It is also the story of a changing world, going from aristocracy to a nascent middle class; under the careful tutelage of both Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Roosevelt; as the two battle in unison for victory over the Nazi's during World War Two.

All of the stories which you have heard about Churchill are true. He liked to dictate his letters in a flowered dressing gown, often finding it hard to keep a stenographer for very long. At the beginning of the Second World War he is assigned a young woman who managed to "stay the course", and when she was unavailable Sir Winston sometimes used his daughter Mary, who was serving in the British Armed Forces at the time.

From his earliest years traveling as a correspondent in the Boer Wars, and later as a soldier and statesman, there is not much missing from this surprisingly brief, 260 page book. His famous car accident in New York, in which he was struck by an automobile, while looking the wrong way before crossing the street, is recounted here in a more accurate way than I had previously read. And Ms. Sandys' accounts of being a passenger aboard Aristotle Onassis’s' yacht in the late 1950's and early '60's, are a rare look into the world of the rich and powerful people who control the commodities, and the cartels, which rule our lives.

The World War Two years are of great interest. At the age of 66 in 1940, Sir Winston logged more than 112,000 nautical miles, in addition to an almost equal number of air miles in the prosecution of the war. He was very much present at the front, even having to be recalled at the demand of the King when he attempted to land at Normandy on the first day of D-Day in June 1944.

His wit and wisdom are on full display, as in the time he returned to Canada after 50 years, and was asked if Niagara Falls looked any different to him after so many years; his reply was a succinct "Well, the principle seems to be the same. The water keeps falling over."

From his many foibles, to his passion for painting, Ms. Sandys' has done a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of Winston Churchill, as well as the indomitable strength of the British people, in facing the ravages of the Great Depression and the Second World War. It is hard to imagine that success without his presence and direction.

"The New Deal" by Michael Hiltzik

Reviewing this book is a difficult task, simply because it is so well researched and detailed. While I cannot say that I understood every word in it, I can say that this is one of the most complete pictures of the Great Depression, and what we did to get out of it. I had expected the book to be more of a comparison to what was done about the failing economy then, to what hasn't been done now, during the current economic downturn. But it's not. It's an absolutely unbiased account of what ideas were tried, which ones failed, and which ones were challenged by the Supreme Court.

The credit driven 1920's, with it's burgeoning car loans, made in the same ill concieved manner as the housing bubble decades later, began a period of consumer over confidence. This over confidence, along with reckless speculation drove the price of gold up from it's standard of $20 per ounce, thus devaluing the dollar. As the dollar shrank, so did jobs, investments and everything that goes with it.

Bank passbooks were offered for sale at 50 cents on the dollar during the "bank holidays", the idea being that if your bank didn't make it, you would at least have some cash on hand. Meanwhile, the person buying the account stood a chance to double his money. The banks, and the percentages being paid for their respective passbooks, were actually listed alongside of the stocks in the newspaperes of some cities.

Crops were plowed under, in an effort to make them more profitable, and cattle were slaughtered for the same reason. Nothing seemed to work. The banks were repeatedly bailed out, but like today, that approach only seemed to prolong the problem. The idea that business would carry the country through to renewed prosperity didn't work then, and isn't working now.

Roosevelt inherited a nation as divided as we are today, and through trial and error, was able to get the country back on it's feet, just in time for the Second World War. If there is something that seems familiar here, or any lesson to be learned from this book, it is one of deja vu. We have all been here before.