Winston Churchill and Winston Churchill

I recently finished a novel, written in 1904 by Winston Churchill, called The Crossing. The book (if I may pose an opinion) started off great, became long in the second third, and partially redeemed itself at the end. Briefly, the story follows a kid from early teens through fifteen or so years as his experiences are narrated by himself. The action takes place in Kentucky around the 1780's and his travels spin him from Michigan to New Orleans, fighting Indians, land grabbers............
I was surprised that Churchill, in his early thirties when the book was written, should have such a grasp of American History. Well, ----- he probably didn't. The Brit you are assuming I'm writing about didn't write the book (however, he did earn a Nobel in Literature). Another Winston Churchill, an American version, a contemporary to the other, (they actually communicated over the name confusion, where the Brit offered to inject a middle initial to his work, which he did) wrote The Crossing and several other books during his career. His natural style of writing, (if you're into writing techniques you might be interested) relatively rare at the time, made him very successful and wealthy. I posit, though early on he was better known than his counterpart, that his success later in life might have been better linked to name association than to quality writing. I suppose, though, that I should read more than one of his books before I label the guy. To be fair, I'll shoehorn in McCarthy's The Road so as to give me a fresh perspective on another Churchill book.