"Weaving the life stories of nearly 30 Churchills and Kennedys into a seamless narrative, Maier smartly anchors his reportage on the clans’ larger-than-life cornerstones: Winston Churchill and Joseph Kennedy. The sheer accumulation of colorful anecdotes in “When Lions Roar” makes for riveting reading from start to finish.... Maier documents the two patriarchs’ ups and downs during the war quite well. It rains espionage, skullduggery, adultery and parlor gossip in the World War II chapters. But it’s Maier’s ability to substantiate various bold claims with original Cold War-era research that is most impressive. His most startling revelation has to do with Churchill’s clamor to drop atomic weapons on the Soviet Union in the early Truman years. Although estranged during World War II, Churchill and Kennedy became Cold War allies in their searing distrust of the Soviet Union. Maier writes brilliantly about Churchill’s historic visit to Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., on March 5, 1946. ...By the 1960s, the drama shifts to Churchill’s son Randolph, as well as Kennedy’s son Jack. Maier does an admirable job of documenting JFK’s lifelong obsession with all things Churchill.
"Weaving the life stories of nearly 30 Churchills and Kennedys into a seamless narrative, Maier smartly anchors his reportage on the clans’ larger-than-life cornerstones: Winston Churchill and Joseph Kennedy. The sheer accumulation of colorful anecdotes in “When Lions Roar” makes for riveting reading from start to finish.... Maier documents the two patriarchs’ ups and downs during the war quite well. It rains espionage, skullduggery, adultery and parlor gossip in the World War II chapters. But it’s Maier’s ability to substantiate various bold claims with original Cold War-era research that is most impressive. His most startling revelation has to do with Churchill’s clamor to drop atomic weapons on the Soviet Union in the early Truman years. Although estranged during World War II, Churchill and Kennedy became Cold War allies in their searing distrust of the Soviet Union. Maier writes brilliantly about Churchill’s historic visit to Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., on March 5, 1946. ...By the 1960s, the drama shifts to Churchill’s son Randolph, as well as Kennedy’s son Jack. Maier does an admirable job of documenting JFK’s lifelong obsession with all things Churchill. 
