Literant.(Criticism and interpretation Greatness: Reagan, Churchill, and the Making of Extraordinary Leaders)

Books about Ronald Reagan tend to inspire a Pavlovian reaction among conservative readers. So do books about Winston Churchill. So in writing a book about both Reagan and Churchill, Steven Hay-ward is guaranteed to make the salivary glands of many on the Right kick into overdrive.

Is Greatness: Reagan, Churchill, and the Making of Extraordinary Leaders worth drooling over? A great deal of the book details similarities between the two men, and the parallel courses their lives often took. Much of this is familiar terrain: their early flirtations with liberalism, their optimism and belief in democratic capitalism, their unyielding patriotism, and of course, their strong hatred of communism.

But it is in recounting the smaller, more obscure similarities between these two men that Hayward shines. For example, each used carefully prepared speech notes, complete with stage directions. Churchill's were particularly specific, containing such gems as "pause; grope for word" and "stammer; correct self." And he wasn't even the professional actor of the duo.

At times, however, the parallels seem a bit strained. Hayward writes that "both men owed their initial political success to prior fame." Churchill was well known for his heroic exploits during the Boer War, while Reagan had been a Hollywood star. Those are rather dissimilar paths to celebrity, however, and in general the public has quite different views (thankfully) toward war heroes versus actors.

Some of the details recorded by Hayward have a kind of "Mysteries of the Unknown" quality. Did you know that both Reagan and Churchill dug "fishponds of nearly identical dimensions" at their homes in the country? Neither did I. But I'm wondering if that information might help me beguile a struggling College Republican into digging a koi pond in my backyard for ...