William Manchester and Paul Reid: The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

Greg Burns interviews author Paul Reid about his book collaboration with William Manchester. Manchester was a tremendously successful and popular historian and biographer whose books include The Last Lion: Visions of Glory, The Last Lion: Alone, Goodbye Darkness, A World Lit Only by Fire, The Glory and the Dream, The Arms of Krupp, American Caesar, and The Death of A President. Sponsored by The Churchill Centre. 

WILLIAM MANCHESTER was an American author, biographer, and historian. He was the author of 18 books which have been translated into over 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the Abraham Lincoln Literary Award. In 1998, after completing much of the research for the final volume of The Last Lion, Manchester suffered two strokes that left him unable to write. Manchester sought a writer with a reporting background to complete his work. In 2003, Manchester asked his friend Paul Reid to complete Defender of the Realm.

PAUL REID had spent many years as a feature writer for the Palm Beach Post before Manchester chose him to complete Defender of the Realm. Reid augmented Manchester’s voluminous notes with extensive research of his own about Winston Churchill and the result of his effort is the most thrilling volume of The Last Lion triptych.

GREG BURNS is a member of the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, specializing in business. He previously served as a business columnist and blogger, senior correspondent and editor responsible for all business coverage. Before joining the Tribune, Burns wrote for Business Week magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times.