The Churchill Series – Sept. 17, 2007

(One of a series of weekday posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)

Someone recently asked about the publication date of the much anticipated third volume of William Manchester’s Churchill biography, The Last Lion.

As many of you know, Manchester was at work on it when he suffered a stroke which prevented his completing the book before he died.

However, shortly before his death Manchester and his publisher agreed the third volume would be finished by author Paul Reid.

These New York Times and Tryon Daily Record news stories provide background information.

You see in the TRD story which appeared in 2006 that Reid anticipated he would complete the manuscript by Fall 2007.

That hasn’t happened.

In preparation for this post, I very recently spoke with someone who knows Reid. That person tells me Reid’s not finished the manuscript. The person was reluctant to ask Reid if he had a new completion date.

Once the manuscript goes to the publisher, a very complex editorial process will begin. There'll be literally thousands of incidents, quotes and sources to check, proofing, pre-publication readings by experts, etc., etc.

It's safe to say the book won’t be coming out for at least another year, and very possibly much later than that.

Sorry to give you this news. I know we are eager to read the book.

The person who gave me the information about the current status of the manuscript promised to let me know when there’s information which will update what I’m reporting here.

Tomorrow I’ll respond to another reader comment. The day following, I'll post on Churchill and Greta Lovisa Gustafsson a/k/a Greta Garbo.