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Articles
1100 Titles: An Annotated Bibliography of Works about Churchill
- By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
- | January 9, 2021
- Category: Books Resources The Literary Churchill
Introduction
In Churchill: Walking with Destiny (2018), Andrew Roberts wrote that works about Sir Winston had exceeded 1000. This catalogue piles on, listing more than 1150, about 900 of which we have annotated. Winston Churchill was the subject of his first biography in 1905 when he was 30 years old. The flow hasn’t stopped. Here in the 21st century, 100 years later, some years see over 20 new Churchill titles.
The word “works” denotes any item individually published, from brief pamphlets to books large and small. Compiling and describing them is the purpose of this online listing, which will be updated seriatim. I hope it will serve as a living guide to the vast literature on the Greatest Briton.
This catalogue would not exist without the efforts of two bibliographic pioneers, H. Ashley Redburn (1914-1996) and Curt J. Zoller (1920-2014). They worked separately, and then together, updating their findings through the Churchill Societies. Curt also co-authored (with Michael McMenamin) Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Winston and his American Mentor. Ashley’s work abides, not least with the Hillsdale College Churchill Project. See “Remembering Richard Haking: The General Who Saved Churchill’s Life.”
Curt Zoller’s Annotated Bibliography of Works about Sir Winston S. Churchill (M.E. Sharpe, 2004) contains the full publishing history of works through that date. It also offers several additional lists not covered here: books and articles “substantially about” Churchill (e.g., the Alanbrooke Diaries); reviews of Churchill’s own works; dissertations and theses. His book remains available, and is the best source for this data.
Nomenclature
For books with contributions, contributors are identified, although their full titles may be edited for space. The word “Reprints” means only that a work was reprinted, hardbound or softbound. Consult the Zoller Bibliography for complete publishing histories. The word “e-book” indicates either a Kindle or other electronic edition.
Annotations (✸) and Acknowledgements
Annotations were written only for books personally examined. Through 2004, all save a handful (bylined) were written by me for Zoller Section A: “Works Entirely about Winston S. Churchill.” From 2005 on, bylines are supplied, most frequently: Antoine Capet (AC), Paul H. Courtenay (PHC), Michael McMenamin (McM), William John Shepherd (WJS) and myself (RML). Other bylines are spelled out. Links to reviews are provided for Hillsdale and other publications with which the writers are connected.
The efforts and assistance of many contributors were profound. I am particularly grateful to Antoine Capet, Dave Turrell, Soren Geiger, and the Hillsdale College Churchill Fellows for kind assistance and corrections. Professor James Muller, University of Alaska, Anchorage, valuably proofread and made numerous corrections. The remaining errors are all mine. —Richard M. Langworth
How to search this list.
Please do not attempt to find items by scrolling. Instead, use the search box on your browser. On Macs, click Command-F or Apple-f. A box will appear where you can enter an author, title, date or topic. PCs offer similar browser searches.
Works about Winston Churchill
1905
Scott, A. MacCallum. Winston Spencer Churchill. London: Methuen, 1905, 270 pp. Reprints. ✸ The first biography, written by an admirer when Churchill was only 31. Though untainted by knowledge of future greatness, the author wrote favorably about young Winston and predicted that he would eventually become prime minister. Crudely reprinted by photocopy in 2010.
1907
Leech, H.J. Mr. Winston Churchill. Manchester: Abel Heywood, 1907. ✸ Churchill was “deselected” as Member of Parliament for Oldham after he defied its Conservative majority by becoming a Liberal in 1904. Denied the Tory nomination in Oldham for the general election of January 1905, he was invited to stand as a Liberal for North West Manchester, one of nine Manchester seats, with a tiny electorate of 10,000, a third of whom were Jewish. Churchill spoke strongly for Free Trade, popular in Manchester’s mill industries, and was duly elected.
1909
Batchelor, H. Crouch, compiler. Mr. Winston Churchill on the Radical Party: Before He Donned Their Livery and Accepted Their Pay. London: Pall Mall, 1909, 4 pp. softbound. ✸ An attack by a Conservative critic of Churchill’s early career as a Tory before he “crossed the floor” to the Liberals in 1904. Batchelor dwells on Churchill’s earlier critiques of the party he now spoke for.
1910
Unknown. Soldier and Statesman: Complete Life of the Rt. Hon. Winston L. Spencer Churchill. London: The Self-Help Press, 1910, 96 pp., softbound. ✸ A brief pamphlet-biography praising Churchill in five chapters, ending with his advocacy of “The People’s Budget” in 1909. Not a political tract, this was part of a series of booklets designed to encourage personal initiative.
1912
“A Young Scot.” Mr. Winston Churchill’s New Part. Edinburgh: Darien Press, 1912, 16 pp., softbound. ✸ “Mr. Winston Churchill, who advocated Army Reform and economy so eloquently as a Tory in 1900 and 1901…has now come out in all the panoply of a full-blown Jingo.” Churchill had fought for naval economy in 1908-10; as First Lord of the Admiralty beginning October 1911, he viewed the developing German High Seas Fleet with alarm and began advocating more spending, to the disappointment of his Liberal constituency of Dundee.
1916
Scott, A. MacCallum. Winston Churchill in Peace and War. London: Newnes, 1916, 162 pp. ✸ An updated version of Scott’s 1905 biography; still full of admiration, it includes details on the Dardanelles campaign. The author argues that Churchill’s plan for forcing the Dardanelles and taking Turkey out of the war in 1915 was the correct strategic vision: that it failed through lack of military celerity on the scene and political support at home.
1919
King, Joseph. The Political Gambler: Being the Record of Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for War. Glasgow: Reformers’ Bookstall, 1919, 8 pp., softbound. ✸ In the kind of political irony for which he was well known, Prime Minister Lloyd George made Churchill war minister in 1919 after World War I had ended. Undeterred, Churchill supported the “gamble” of Allied military operations on behalf of the Whites against the Bolsheviks in Russia, but was eventually forced to bow to Cabinet pressure and to bring the British troops home. On the plus side, Churchill was responsible for the successful demobilization of millions of troops from the Western Front.
Sitwell, Osbert. The Winstonburg Line: 3 Satires. London: Bomb Shop, 20 pp., 1919, softbound. ✸ This anti-Churchill polemic publishes verses by Sitwell in the pro-Labour newspapers The Nation and Daily Herald. “A Certain Statesman” attacks Churchill’s actions in Russia, Gallipoli, Antwerp and Sydney Street; “More about Morale” and “The Governess of Europe” add criticism over the Allied military operation in Russia.
1924
Captain X [Gibb, Andrew Dewar]. With Winston Churchill at the Front. Glasgow: Cowans and Gray Ltd, 112 pp., 1924, softbound. New edition subtitled Winston in the Trenches 1916. Barnsley, Yorks.: Frontline Books, 256 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill took his command in Flanders, dubiously as an exiled politician, but soon earned his soldiers’ respect. Gibb, who served with him, expounds favorably on the transformation. Gibb’s original was a slender volume. The new edition is an odd but useful amalgamation of Gibb’s 1924 text with extractions or rewrites from Sir Martin Gilbert’s The Challenge of War in the official biography. —WJS
1925
Keynes, John Maynard. The Economic Consequences of Mr. Churchill. London: Hogarth Press, 32 pp., 1925, softbound. ✸ A powerful and important critique of Churchill’s direction of Britain’s economy as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the post he held from 1924 to 1929. Keynes particularly attacked Churchill’s decision to return Britain to the Gold Standard, although in doing this he was following the prevailing advice of his financial experts.
1927
“Ephesian” [Roberts, C.E. Bechhofer]. Winston Churchill: Being an Account of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. London: Mills and Boon, 1927. Reprints. ✸ One of the earliest full biographies, concluding during his service as Chancellor of the Exchequer: a fascinating view of Churchill in mid-career, with some novel predictions. Later editions updated the story, the last (1940) covering Churchill’s fight against the India Act, the gathering threat of Nazi Germany, and his appointment as prime minister.
1928
A Member of the League to Enforce Public Economy. Mr. Churchill’s Budget Pledges and Performances. London: Cobden-Sanderson, 1928, 18 pp., softbound. ✸ A critique of Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer, who by now was viewed by some Conservatives to be spending and taxing at unacceptable levels.
Muir, John Ramsay B. Rating Reform: The Right Way and the Wrong Way. An Examination of Mr. Churchill’s Proposals. London: Liberal Publications Department, 1928, 78 pp. ✸ An opposition critique of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s proposals to reform the fixing of rates or property taxes.
Sydenham of Combe, Col. The Lord, et al. ‘The World Crisis’ by Winston Churchill: A Criticism. London: Hutchinson, 192 pp., 1928. Reprints. ✸ A critique of Churchill’s The World Crisis, vol. 3, 1916-1918. Contributors also consider the Dardanelles campaign in Churchill’s vol. 2. An important critical work, sufficiently powerful that Churchill replied to it in part in his 1931 abridged edition of The World Crisis. Contributors: Admiral Sir R. Bacon: “Mr. Churchill and Jutland.” Major-General Sir W.D. Bird: “Mr. Churchill’s Opinions: Some Other Points of View.” Major-General Sir F. Maurice: “Joffre, Galliéni and the Marne.” Sir Charles Oman: “The German Losses on the Somme.” Lord Sydenham of Combe: “Mr. Churchill as Historian.”
1931
Germains, Victor Wallace. The Tragedy of Winston Churchill. London: Hurst and Blackett, 1931. 288 pp. ✸ An early but typical critique for its era concludes that Churchill is clever but not wise, and that ventures as the Dardanelles caused consequences “irreparable, disastrous and appalling.” Very reflective of contemporary attitudes in the early 1930s.
1932
Martin, Hugh. Battle: The Life Story of the Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill. London: Sampson, Low and Co., 1932, 246 pp. Reprints. ✸ One of only two biographies to appear during the 1930s, when Churchill was considered politically finished. This work should be read alongside Germains (1931) for a distinct contrast in views over Churchill’s future. Includes Churchill letters.
1934
Hay, Malcolm V. Winston Churchill and James II of England. London: Harding and More, 1934, 66 pp. ✸ An attack on Churchill’s portrait of King James II in Volume 1 of Churchill’s biography, Marlborough. Accuses Churchill’s ancestor, the First Duke of Marlborough, of disloyalty to the King, based on earlier arguments by Macaulay.
1939
Rose, Franz Karl Anton. Das Ist Churchill [This Is Churchill]. Munich and Berlin: J.F. Lehmanns, 1939, 96 pp., softbound, text in German. ✸ The first of many anti-Churchill propaganda works, this one attacking his ancestors as well as himself (“Der kleine Marlborough”). It is interesting that he was already considered a menace by the Nazis months before he became Prime Minister.
1940
Arthur, Sir George. Concerning Winston Spencer Churchill. London: William Heinemann, 1940, 200 pp. ✸ One of the first of many hagiographic songs of praise of Britain’s new war leader, well written, by a soldier who had served in Egypt and the Boer War.
Broad, Lewis. Winston Churchill: Man of War. London: Hutchinson, 1940, 128 pp., softbound. ✸ First appearance of what would become extensive writings by the biographer Lewis Broad, who would develop his story to comprise eventually two thick volumes.
Buchan, William. Winston Churchill. London: Pilot Press, 1940, 96 pp., softbound. ✸ A brief paean to Churchill’s leadership. “Whether or not you agree with the principles by which Winston Churchill has guided his political life, you will, if you consider his work and writings fairly, be bound to admit that he has been a remarkably true and courageous prophet.”
Cole, Lloyd. Mr. Churchill and the Church. Sussex, Privately printed, 1940, 32 pp., softbound. ✸ The author draws on Churchill’s speeches for “lessons which I am convinced the Church in some senses needs to learn to-day.” The author’s object is to draw church-folk into support for Britain’s war effort.
Dawson, R. MacGregor. Winston Churchill at the Admiralty, 1911-1915. Toronto: Toronto University Press, 1940, 36 pp., softbound. ✸ Offers Churchill as an example in considering the role of a cabinet minister.
De Stäel-Holstein, Baron Lage Fabian Wilhelm. Mr. Churchill and the Opinion of America. Stockholm: Stockholms Bokindustri, 1940, 168 pp., softbound, text in English. ✸ Stresses the importance of America in the political equation of 1940.
Ferrão, Carlos. Churchill: Os Homens a Guerra [Men at War]. Lisbon: Parceria A. M. Pereira, 1940, 62 pp., softbound, text in Portuguese. ✸ Volume II in the collection “Os Homens da Guerra.” Volume I was “Daladier” by Francisco Velloso; volumes promised were “Reynaud” by Artur Portella and “Hitler” by Carlos Ferrão.
Hughes, W.M. Winston Churchill: Warrior-Statesman. Sydney, Australia: John Sands, 1940. ✸ Brief hagiography.
Kraus, René. Winston Churchill. Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1940, 366 pp. Many reprints. ✸ A European writer working in the United States, Kraus was highly respected as a biographer of modern figures. Although generally without criticism, his best-seller provides some firsthand views of Churchill and Britain at war. A Japanese edition was published just before Pearl Harbor, an interesting sidelight on Churchill’s standing in what was soon to be an enemy nation.
Persich, Walter. Winston Churchill: Ganz ‘Privat’ [Totally ‘Private’]. Berlin: Otto Schaffer, 1940, 292 pp.; expanded to 336 pp. in 1942, text in German. ✸ The title refers to a series of negative assertions disguised as revelations by the German press. Translations: Czech.
Phelan, James Leo. Churchill Can Unite Ireland. London: Victor Gollancz, 1940, 120 pp. ✸ Argues that the Second World War was Churchill’s opportunity to complete the unification of an Ireland divided by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. WSC himself thought so, cabling Eamon de Valera on 8 December 1941: “Now is your chance. A nation once again! I will meet you wherever you wish.” There was no response, and the Irish Republic remained neutral.
Schmidt, Wolfgang. Politische Gewalten in England: Das Kabinett Churchill [Political Forces in England: The Churchill Cabinet]. Bonn: Scheur, 1940, 54 pp., text in German. ✸ German propaganda negatively comments on Churchill’s Coalition Cabinet.
Sencourt, Robert (pseudonym for Robert E.G. George). Winston Churchill. London: Faber and Faber, 1940, 310 pp. Translations: Hebrew. ✸ An excellent account of Churchill’s life: racy, readable, highly colored. This work includes a chapter on the quality and power of Churchill’s writings.
Treffz, Hermann. Winston Churchill: Das Leben des Generalverbrechers der Weltgeschichte [The Life of the General Criminal in World History]. Fellbach-Stuttgart: W. Baltrusch, 1940, 64 pp.. softbound, text in German. ✸ The Churchill as seen through Nazi eyes reminds one of similar warped visions circulating on the “Twitterverse” 80 years later.
Unknown. A List of the Printed Works of the Prime Minister. London: W.J. Bryce, Ltd., Booksellers, 1940, 4 pp. ✸ An early bibliography-catalogue which confirms that Marlborough was selling for £7, a Malakand Field Force first edition at 7/6 and The River War at 30/-.
Unknown. Paroles dorées de Mr. Churchill adressées à la Nation Française [Golden Words of Mr. Churchill Addressed to the French Nation]. Paris: Comité d’Éclaircissement sur les Relations Franco-Anglaises, 1940; 10 pp., texts in English and French. Reprints.
“Watchman” [Samuel Vyvyan Trerice Adams]. Churchill: Architect of Victory. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1940, 24 pp., softbound. ✸ An essay based on the chapter “Mr. Winston Churchill” in the author’s book, Right Honourable Gentlemen. Adams was praised by Labour’s Daily Herald as an acute examiner of political personalities, but the Sunday Times wrote: “Certainly fulfills one of the two objects which the author had in writing it—to entertain.”
1941
“Allan Junior.” The Premier’s Clarion Calls to Courage. Dundee and London: Valentine and Sons Ltd., 1941, 16 pp., softbound. ✸ A miniature booklet, 2 1/2 x 4,” containing an introduction, poem and commentary by the unidentified author, combined with quotes from Churchill’s 1940-41 speeches.
Broad, Lewis. Winston Churchill. London: Hutchinson, 364 pp.; “Pocket Library” Series, London: National Book Association, 1941, softbound. Reprints and extended editions through 1956; published in two volumes 1958; republished in one volume, 1970. ✸ A long-running, often-extended biography. Heavily pro-Churchill, Broad nevertheless convened an impressive number of resource documents to construct what ended as a good reference work, but not judgmental.
Chaplin, E.D.W. Winston Churchill at Harrow. Harrow: The Harrow Book Shop, 1941, 102 pp.; revised with new introduction, 1941. ✸ An illuminating little book with extensive details and photographs documenting Churchill’s days as a Harrow schoolboy. The later edition adds new material.
Davis, Richard Harding. Young Winston Churchill. New York: Scribners, 1941, 42 pp. ✸ A reprint of the author’s chapter on Churchill as a war correspondent in his Real Soldiers of Fortune (1906). Published to take advantage of Churchill’s World War II fame. Illuminating and useful account by a Boer War contemporary.
Ferdi, Katip. Çöçil Diyor Ki [It Declares Churchill]. Ankara: Cankaya Basimevi, 1941, text in Turkish. ✸ The first biography in Turkish.
Fletcher, J.W. A Condensed Life of the Right Honourable Winston Spencer Churchill, C.H.: Prime Minister of Great Britain. Sydney: New Century Press, 1941, 92 pp. ✸ Brief and fulsome, “with impressions formed from a study of his Literary Works and from collateral reading.”
Guedalla, Phillip. Mr. Churchill: A Portrait. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1941, 348 pp.; several later editions and translations. ✸ A best-seller in its day, written by a onetime severe critic turned admirer. Lacking in archival documentation but well written, this is a useful example of how Churchill was held by most of his countrymen during his finest hours.
Hronek, Jiří. Churchil, život bojovníka [Life Fighter]. London: Nâakladem Czechoslovâaka, 1941, 64 pp., text in Czech.
MacAlpine, Michael. Mr. Churchill’s Socialists: the Evidence and Some Conclusions. London: Lawrence, 1941, 186 pp. ✸ A critique of Labour members of the Churchill coalition.
Manning, Paul and Bronner, Milton. Mr. England: The Life Story of Winston Churchill, the Fighting Briton. Philadelphia and Toronto, 1941: John C. Winston, 250 pp.; several reprints. ✸ A physically beautiful binding containing an engaging if uncritical wartime biography, written from the American viewpoint. A period piece in appearance and style.
Moir, Phyllis. I Was Winston Churchill’s Private Secretary. New York: Wilfred Funk, 1941, 232 pp. Reprints, several translations. ✸ The American author served Churchill only briefly, on his USA lecture tour in 1931. One of the few staffers not devoted to him, she found WSC rude and oblivious of those around him, but says his wife kept him under control. An important personal account, the first by a member of his secretariat.
Nott, Stanley Charles. The Young Churchill. New York, 1941: Coward McCann, 306 pp. ✸ An early attempt to describe his youth relies overmuch on Churchill’s own autobiography, picking up the errors and exaggerations. Still, it has a more comprehensive approach than Davis’s Young Winston Churchill (1941).
Pasemann, Ernest, compiler. Churchills Reden und Taten im Scheinwerfer der Presse und Karikatur [Speeches and Acts in the Spotlight of the Press and Caricature]. Leipzig and Berlin: Lühe Verlag, 1941, 104 pp., text in German. ✸ An attack on everything he stood for, with cartoons to illustrate.
Peralta, Carlos. Winston Churchill: Nervio, Cerebro y Corazón de Gran Bretaña [Nerve, Brain and Heart of Great Britain]. Lima, 1941, 10 pp., softbound, text in Spanish. ✸ A brief tribute, the first (and only) one from Peru.
Reade, John Collingwood. Man of Valour, Winston Spencer Churchill: A Critical Appreciation. Toronto: Canadian Association of Broadcasters, 1941, 32 pp., softbound. Translations: French. ✸ A rare, nicely produced tribute with a scarce portrait by Forbes reproduced in color on the cover.
Soward, F.H. Moulders of National Destinies: Winston Churchill: Freedom’s Champion. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1941, 20 pp., softbound. ✸ An uncritical hymn of praise: “Today, with his wealth of experience, Winston Churchill directs war strategy as no British Prime Minister has ever done in history….”
Torriente y Peraza. Cosme de la Winston Churchill. Havana, Cuba, 1941: Historical Academy of Cuba, 20 pp., softbound, text in Spanish. ✸ As above.
Unknown. Armed Forces in Iceland, 16 August 1941. Reykjavik, 1941, 36 pp., softbound. ✸ An illustrated pamphlet describing Churchill’s visit to Iceland on his way back from conferring with Roosevelt at the Atlantic Charter conference in Newfoundland.
Unknown. Englische Urteile über den Bolschewismus sind gewiss unverdächtig. Churchill sah ganz klar, Deutschen Sieg oder bolschewistisches Chaos [English Judgments about Bolshevism Are Certainly above Suspicion. Churchill Saw Clearly German Victory or Bolshevist Chaos]. Strassburg: Oberrheinischer Gauverlag und Druckerei, 1941, text in German. ✸ Disputes published statements by English sources concerning Bolshevism.
Unknown. La Triste Histoire de Winston Churchill descendant de John Churchill Duc de Marlborough pour servir á l’edification des Jeunes Français [The Sad Story of Winston Churchill Descendant of John Churchill Duke of Marlborough to Serve the Edification of French Youth]. Paris: G. Mazeyerie, 1941, text in French. ✸ A propaganda piece produced in occupied France.
Unknown. Was wollte Churchill auf dem Balkan? [What Did Churchill Want in the Balkans?]. Berlin: Makadruck, 1941, 26 pp., softbound, text in German.
Wells, Herbert George. Churchill. Rio de Janeiro: Norte Editoria, 1941, text in Portuguese. ✸ Extracted from something Wells wrote in English first, likely critical; not examined.
Ya’ri-Polaskin, Jakob. Winston Churchill. Tel Aviv: Ishim u-meora’ot, 1941, text in Hebrew.
1942
Cunningham-Reid, Capt. Besides Churchill—Who? London: W.H. Allen, 1942, 128 pp., softbound. ✸ The author was a Member of Parliament who had been highly critical of the appeasement of the Chamberlain government, yet also critical of its successor: in September 1942, Cunningham-Reid asked whether Churchill was unwilling to bomb Rome owing to “Catholic susceptibilities.”
Gallacher, William. The Second Front and Mr. Churchill. London: Communist Party of Great Britain, 1942. ✸ Communist Member of Parliament Willie Gallacher was widely acknowledged to be a Soviet spokesman. (Churchill once retorted: “Shut up, Moscow!”) Here he argues for an early launch of the second front, which Stalin was demanding and Churchill was resisting.
Gibbs-Smith, C. Harvard. Churchill. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1942. ✸ A booklet produced by the British Library of Information, containing photographs of Churchill ranged against excerpts from speeches from May 1940 through March 1941.
Hawthorne, Hildegarde. Long Adventure: The Story of Winston Churchill. New York and London: D. Appleton-Century, 1942, 346 pp. Reprints. ✸ A scarce wartime biography which, unlike most, spends 80% of its text on Churchill’s life up to World War II. Well written and researched with some new information for the time, and several novel photos.
“I.K.” Winston Churchill. Istanbul: Hilmi Kitabevi, 1942, text in Turkish.
Josyar, G.R. Winston Churchill. Mysore, India: Coronation Press, 1942, 24 pp., softbound. ✸ Argues the irony of Churchill opposing both Gandhi and Hitler.
Kiernan, Reginald H. Churchill. London: George G. Harrap, 1942, 212 pp. ✸ A modest wartime account which spends considerable space on WSC’s early adventures in Africa and India; with a good bibliographic note in the back.
Mendoza, illustrator. The Early Life of Winston Churchill. London, Cheltenham and Melbourne: E.J. Burrow, 1942, 56 pp. softbound. ✸ Horizontal format comic book for young people, illustrations by Mendoza. Three-quarters of the pages deal with events from birth through the Boer War, with a little on World War I at the end.
Unknown. Genije Cercil? [Genius Churchill?]. Belgrade: Prosveta, 1942, text in Serbo-Croat.
Unknown. The Prime Minister on India: An Examination of Mr. Churchill’s Statement on India in the House of Commons on the 10th September 1942. London: India League, 1942, 20 pp. ✸ Expresses doubt about Churchill’s attitude toward Indian independence after the war.
Unknown. Winston Churchill: Mein Bundesgenosse. Aussprüche aus zwei Jahrzehnten [Winston Churchill: My Ally. Sayings of Two Decades]. Berlin: Nibelungen Verlag, 1942, 110 pp., softbound, text in German; several translations, including Mon Allié Staline in French. ✸ Forward by “Victor” [Arnold Littmann]. German propaganda, quoting Churchill’s anti-Bolshevik writings from pre-World War II years, with reproductions of political cartoons, which offer many a ripe irony indeed. The “Ally” was Stalin.
Viganó, Giacomo Carlo. Trinomio del Crimine [Trio of Crime]: Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin. Rome: Edizioni Augustea, 1942, 32 pp., text in Italian. ✸ An attack on the “trinity of criminals” by the Italian fascists.
Wingfield-Stratford, Esmé Cecil. Churchill: The Making of a Hero. London: Victor Gollancz, 1942, 252 pp. ✸ A well-written pro-Churchill polemic taking us through the Wilderness Years. Recommended for the contemporary viewpoint of the Labour press.
1943
Alessio Robles, Miguel. Winston Churchill. Mexico City: Ediciones La Véronica, 1943, 78 pp. Text in Spanish.
Burbidge, W.F. The Right Honourable Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. Bognor Regis and London: John Crowther, 1943, 52 pp., softbound. ✸ A discussion of Churchill’s published works, incompletely listed.
Morton, H.V. Atlantic Meeting. London: Methuen, 1943, 160 pp., several editions and translations. ✸ The well-known travel writer was one of a few journalists invited to accompany Churchill to meet Roosevelt at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, for the Atlantic Charter conference in August 1941. He provides a firsthand contemporary account. Frontispiece is the illuminated scroll bearing the Longfellow verse “Sail on, O Ship of State,” which FDR had sent Churchill, signed by them both; about ten of these were signed by the two leaders at Argentia.
Paneth, Philip. The Prime Minister, Winston S. Churchill: As Seen by His Enemies and Friends. London: Alliance Press, 1943, 124 pp., hardbound and softbound. ✸ An interesting look back at how Churchill was hated and praised, depending on current events; chapters range from “Glories of the Past” to “Good Old Winnie.”
1944
Arnavon, Jacques. Winston Churchill: Ami de la France [Friend of France]. Paris: Les Éditions Universelles, 1944, 186 pp. Text in French. ✸ An admiring account published as France was liberated.
Balanya, E.S. Winston Churchill: Vida de un Hombre de Acción [Life of a Man of Action]. Madrid: Editorial Pace, 1944, 364 pp. Text in Spanish. ✸ Interesting praise from Franco’s Spain as the tide of war turned.
Clijmans, Frederik. [Francken, Fritz]. Churchill pakt aan (van landing tot bevrijding) [Churchill tackles (from Landing to Liberation)], 6 juni-4 september, 1944. Antwerp: Van Uffelen and Delagarde, 1944, 260 pp., text in Dutch. Translations: Flemish. ✸ Concerning the liberation of Antwerp in World War II.
Coulter, John. Churchill. Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1944, 134 pp. ✸ A novel effort, this book develops the script for a stage play about Churchill from birth through parliamentary career to war leader.
Duff, Charles. Spain: The Moral Touchstone of Europe: A Footnote on Mr. Churchill’s Recent Speech. London: Victor Gollancz, 1944, 20 pp. ✸ Concerning Churchill’s speech on British relations with Spain in the House of Commons on 24 May 1944.
Guerriero, Augusto. Churchill. Rome: Cosmopolita, 1944, 88 pp., softbound. Text in Italian.
Hagberg, Knut. Winston Churchill. Stockholm: Bokförlaget Natur och Kultur, 1944, 168 pp. Reprints through 1965. Translations: Danish, Norwegian, German. ✸ The first of several Swedish biographies.
Jog, Narayan Gopal. Churchill’s Blind Spot: India. Bombay: New Book Co., 1944, 228 pp., softbound. ✸ Declares that the liberator of Europe had different thoughts about the liberation of India.
Khanna, D.N. Winston Churchill. Lahore, India: Young People’s Publishing Bureau, 1944. ✸ Interest in Churchill toward the end of the war ran high in India. Although he had made friendly overtures to Gandhi in the 1930s, his opposition to the 1935 India Bill was more widely known, and Indians were unsure of his views about their promised independence. Election of the Labour Government in 1945 would shuffle such cares aside, and the new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, sent Lord Mountbatten to India to be its last Viceroy. Independence came in 1947, with much of the bloodshed Churchill had predicted.
Kraus, René. Winston Churchill in the Mirror: His Life in Picture and Story. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1944, 232 pp. ✸ The first Churchill photo documentary brings together an eclectic collection of illustrations, printed on quality paper considering the war-straitened times.
Lemonnier, Léon. Winston Churchill. Paris: Librairie Plon, 1944, 246 pp. Text in French.
McCabe, Joseph. Winston Churchill: The Man and His Creed. London: Watts, 1944, 96 pp.
Muynck, Gust de. Winston Spencer Churchill. Paris: Lumières, 1944, 256 pp., softbound. ✸ Conventional hagiography based on long-published sources, published in French and Flemish.
Needham, Richard J. The Words of Winston Churchill. Calgary, Alberta: Calgary Brewing and Malting Co., Ltd., 1944, 64 pp., softbound. ✸ Contains a biography and excerpts from various speeches.
Rio Sáinz, José del. Churchill y su Tiempo [and His Time]. Madrid: Ediciones Atlas, 1944, 532 pp. Text in Spanish.
Sá, Renato de. Winston Churchill: O homem e a sua obra [The Man and His Work]. Goa, Portuguese India: Sadananda, 1944, 368 pp. Text in Portuguese.
Unknown. Winston Churchill Prime Minister: A Selection from Speeches Made by Winston Churchill during the Four Years That Britain Has Been at War. Ottawa: United Kingdom Information Office, 1944. ✸ Despite the title, the speech excerpts are brief; the plethora of large photographs make this more of an illustrated documentary than a book of speeches.
Wierzynski, Kazimierz. Ballada o Churchillu [The Ballad of Churchill]. New York: Roy Publishers, 1944, 16 pp., softbound. Text in Polish.
1945
Agrafiotis, Chris J., compiler. Was Churchill Right in Greece? Manchester, N.H.: Granite State Press, 1945, 152 pp. ✸ Concerning Churchill’s speech of 18 January 1945, explaining his December 1944 trip to Athens, where he engineered a truce between rival factions and installed Archbishop Damaskinos as Regent of Greece. Manchester, New Hampshire has a considerable Greek population.
Allary, Jean. Un Petit-fils de [A Grandson of] Marlborough: Winston Churchill. Paris: Librairie Hachette, 1945, 252 pp., softbound. Text in French, also published in Italian.
Antuña, José Gervasio. Winston Churchill: Precursor de la Victoria [Precursor of the Victory]. Montevideo: Editorial Ceibo, 1945, 128 pp., softbound, text in Spanish.
Barker, Sir Ernest. Winston S. Churchill. London: Ministry of Information, 1945, 72 pp. Translations: Danish, French.
Bøgholm, Karl. Winston S. Churchill. Copenhagen: Steen Hasselbalchs Forlag, 1945, 268 pp. ✸ One of two Danish biographies published just after World War II. The author, a press editor, had met Churchill personally; he offers a broad picture of Churchill’s life to the end of World War II.Cartier, Raymond. Churchill. Lyon: L’Agence Gutenberg, 1945, 232 pp., softbound. Text in French.
Chown, J.L. The Life and Times of Winston S. Churchill. Wolverhampton: Whitehead Bros., 1945, 20 pp.
Davenport, John and Murphy, Charles J.V. The Lives of Winston Churchill: A Close-up. New York: Scribners, 1945, 88 pp. ✸ An interesting collection of anecdotes from the Harrow years on up.
Eden, Guy. Portrait of Churchill. London, New York: Hutchinson, 1945, 144 pp., Reprints. Translations: Dutch, Swedish, Danish and German. ✸ This fascinating little book throws new light on Churchill’s humanity. The Dutch edition contains an eloquent preface by the Haarlem scholar H.A. Lunsholf. Hutchinson updated the biography with a second edition in 1950.
Evjenth, Håkon. Han som reddet verden [The Man Who Saved the World]: Winston Churchill. Oslo: Gyldendal, Norsk Forlag, 1945, 134 pp. ✸ One of the first Norwegian biographies, relating the story from WSC’s ancestors to the end of World War II. A 1946 Swedish edition was intended for juveniles but is identical in text to a standard Swedish edition in 1953.
Henderson, Horace W. Poland, Russia and the Future of Europe: An Open Letter to Mr. Winston Churchill. Glasgow: John S. Burns, 1945, 8 pp., softbound. ✸ A warning that Soviet intentions in Poland and Eastern Europe were as sinister as Hitler’s, lamenting that Churchill seemed to be oblivious of them. Many of the ideas sound like Churchill’s March 1946 warning of the “Iron Curtain” in Fulton, Missouri.
Pelissier, J. Churchill. “Hommes et Événements du Jour” Series, Paris: La Bonne Press, 1945, 86 pp., text in French.
Rougier, Louis August Paul. Les Accords Pétain-Churchill: Histoire d’une Mission Secrète [The Churchill-Petain Agreements: Story of a Secret Mission]. Montreal: Éditions Beauchemin, 1945, 440 pp.; second edition, in two softbound vols. Also published in Italian. ✸ Suggests that there were secret arrangements between Churchill and the French Vichy government more favorable to Britain than public declarations by London.
Sparron, Budy. De Man met de Sigaar [The Man with the Cigar]. Brussels: J. Notez, 1945, text in Flemish.
Svanström, E. Ragnar. Winston Churchill. Stockholm. Kooperativa för Bokförlag Värlsdpolitikens Dagsfrägor, 1945, 32 pp., text in Swedish. Also published in Danish and Norwegian. ✸ The second Swedish biography about Churchill, by the well-known manager of a publishing company, a prolific writer on historical subjects.
Thomson, Malcolm. The Life and Times of Winston Churchill. London: Odhams Press, 1945, 320 pp., extended editions through 1965 (the latter as Churchill: His Life and Times). ✸ A photo-documentary that is also solidly written, by a protégé of Lord Beaverbrook. One of the early illustrated biographies, with many photos not often seen elsewhere. The first edition boasts color endpapers with an allegorical representation of Churchill’s life.
Tucker, Ben. Winston Churchill, 1874-1945: His Life in Pictures. London: Sagall Press, 1945, 324 pp. Reprints 1951, extended and revised edition, 1955. ✸ A vast trove of photographs printed on good coated paper; one of the better photo-documentaries, for the most part accurately captioned. The first edition was said to be “limited.”
Unknown. The Right Honourable Winston S. Churchill O.M., C.H., M.P.: A Pictorial Cavalcade of His Wonderful Life and Work. London: Pitkin Pictorials, 1945. Reprints, new editions and updates through 1965. ✸ A softbound pamphlet full of admiring photos. Though the illustrations were juggled and altered in subsequent editions, in no edition was the text extended beyond 1959.
Unknown. Winston Spencer Churchill. Helmond, Netherlands: Uitgave Boekdrukkerij “Helmond,” 1945, text in Dutch.
Vogel-Jørgensen, Torkild. Winston Churchill: sejrens organisator [Organizer of Victory]. Copenhagen: Povl Branners Forlag, 1945, 2 vols., softbound, 616 pp., text in Danish. Also published in Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish. ✸ Vol. I runs from Churchill’s birth to 1918, vol. II from 1918 to 1945. Illustrated with black and white photographs, the books were published about two months after the liberation of Denmark, a major undertaking for the publisher.
Wærenskjold, Leif. Winston Churchill. Oslo: Jøorf Engnæs Forlag, 1945, 62 pp., text in Norwegian. ✸ The proliferation of favorable Norwegian biographies after the war is an indication of the esteem in which he was held there.
1946
Brans, A.B.M. and Cancrinus, E. Winston Churchill Bezoegt: 8 tot en met 13 Mei 1946 Nederland [Visit to the Netherlands, 8 to 13 May 1946]. Leiden, Netherlands: Sythoff, 1946, text in Dutch. ✸ Chronicles and depicts Churchill’s visit to Holland, where he made a powerful speech about the need for a united Europe.
Hazelzet, Kees. Churchill: De Man die het niet opgaf [The Man Who Did Not Give Up.] Wageningen, Netherlands: N.V. Gebr. Zomer and Keuning’s Uitgeversmij, 1946, 64 pp., text in Dutch. ✸ A pocket sized hardcover in paper covered illustrated boards, containing tributes following World War II.
Hilditch, Neville. In Praise of Churchill. London: Frederick Muller, 1946, 62 pp. Reprints through 1950. ✸ A pocket-size book of tributes following the war, bound in decorated paper covered boards.
James, Ernest W. Winston Churchill: Man of Action. Kobeshi, Japan, 1946: no publisher, 18 pp., softbound, text in English and Japanese.
Miyata, Mineichi. Winsuton Chāchiru. Tokyo: Shingetsusha, 1946, 152 pp., text in Japanese.
Richter, Ota Hugo. Winston S. Churchill: Voják-Stáník-Clovék [Soldier, Statesman, Man]. Prague: Melantrich, 1946, text in Czech. Also published in German.
Sztálin, J.V. Churchill, Winston ür Beszédéröl: Beszélgetés a Pravda Tudósítójáva [By Word of Winston: Talking about the Pravda Correspondent]. Budapest: publisher unstated, 1946, text in Hungarian. ✸ Not examined, but apparently bylined Stalin; further information is welcome.
Unknown. Winston Churchill in ons Midden Zijn Zegetocht Door ons Land [Winston Churchill in Our Midst: His Triumphal Procession through Our Country] 8-13 Mai 1946. Amsterdam: Sheltens and Giltay, 1946, 16 pp., softbound, text in Dutch. ✸ An illustrated documentary on Churchill’s visit to the Netherlands, bound in decorated paper wrappers.
1947
Coote, Colin R. and Batchelor, Denzil, eds. Maxims and Reflections of the Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1947, 176 pp. Reprints through 1992. ✸ The first book of Churchill quotations, and still a model of the genre. Coote, a friend of Churchill’s with a long tenure at London’s Daily Telegraph, diligently sought the most interesting expressions from Churchill’s speeches and writings, verifying his citations, arranging them by general categories and adding accompanying notes. This is an authoritative source.
Fabre-Luce, Alfred. Le Projet Churchill: Les État-Unis d’Europe [Churchill Project: The United States of Europe]. Paris: privately published, 1947, 154 pp., text in French. ✸ Builds a case for United Europe around Churchill’s speeches on this theme at Zürich and The Hague.
Liljencrantz, Wilhelm. Fredens arkitekt [Freedom’s Architect]: Mr. Churchill. Stockholm: Argus, 1947, 48 pp., text in Swedish.
Meyer, Emil, ed. Mr. Winston Churchill in Bern, Der Besuch Des Ehemaligen Kriegspremier [The Visit of the Former Wartime Prime Minister] von 16 Bis 18 September 1946. Bern, Switzerland: Paul Haupt, 1947, 54 pp., softbound, text in German; also published in French.
Moltke, Kai. Mr. Churchill’s Anden [Other] Front. Copenhagen: Frit Forlag, 1947, 168 pp., softbound, text in Danish. ✸ A communist polemic arguing that Churchill did not favor the Second Front in World War II.
Rude, Hans. Winston Churchill. Copenhagen, Morton A. Korch Forlag, 1947, 236 pp., text in Danish; also published in Norwegian.
1948
Koizumi, Shinzō. Dokusho zakki. Tokyo: Bungei Shunjū Shinsha, 1948, 318 pp., text in Japanese. ✸ A guide to reading Churchill.
Studnicki, W. An Open Letter from a Polish Political Writer to Mr. Winston Churchill. London: privately published by the author, 1948. ✸ A critique of Churchill’s remarks on Polish aggression toward Czechoslovakia after the Munich agreement. The author is unforgiving, saying that Churchill failed to recognize the Soviets as the real danger.
Unknown. Mr. Churchill in Norway. Oslo: Alb. Cammermeyers Forlag, 1948, 56 pp., text in Norwegian and English. ✸ A photo documentary on Churchill’s postwar welcome in Norway, with many unique photographs. The book describes the visit of May 11-14, 1948, when Churchill received an honorary Ph.D. at the University of Oslo. Published in flocked red boards; also a special blue binding for the Olsen Company of Oslo.
1949
Fabre-Luce, Alfred. La Fumée d’un Cigare [The Smoke of a Cigar]. Paris: L’Élan, 1949, 246 pp., softbound, text in French; an Italian edition was also published. ✸ A critical potted biography: “Many readers felt offended at [WSC’s war memoirs’] statement of facts which seemed to them to increase England’s share and diminish that of other nations in the common effort.” Printed in pulpy, acidic paper; readable copies are now scarce.
Le Grix, François. En Écoutant Weygand: ou Comment M. Churchill écrit l’histoire [Listening to Weygand: Or How Mr. Churchill Wrote the Story]. Paris: Nouvelles Éditions Latines, 1949, 160 pp., text in French. ✸ General Weygand, Anglophobe commander of the French Army, demanded Churchill send the bulk of Britain’s air force to France in 1940 while acknowledging that the battle was lost. After the war he engaged in vigorous correspondence in the French press, insisting that he had been right about everything.
Lehnhoff, Franz. Winston Churchill: Engländer und Europäer [Englishmen and Europeans]. Cologne, Germany: Pick, 1949, 392 pp., text in German. ✸ Another work taking up Churchill’s theme of a united Europe.
Unknown. Churchill’s Visit to Norway. Oslo: J.W. Cappelens Forlag, 1949, 48 pp., in wrappers, text in English. ✸ An illustrated booklet documenting Churchill’s May 1948 visit to Norway, including some of his speeches.
Unknown. Winston Churchill. Woking, Surrey: The British Workers’ Information Bureau, 1949, 4 pp., softbound. Reprints.
1950
Bast, Jørgen Christoffer. Churchill i anecdoten [Churchill in Anecdotes]. Copenhagen: Branner oc Korch, 1950, 64 pp., softbound, text in Danish.
Ginnerup, Jørgen. Winston Churchill: rids af et portræt [Outline of a Portrait]. Copenhagen: De Unges Forlag, 124 pp., 1950, softbound, text in Danish.
Hughes, Emrys. Winston Churchill in War and Peace. Glasgow: Unity Publishing, 1950, 240 pp., softbound. Republished 1955 as Winston Churchill: British Bulldog [etc.]. ✸ Socialist MP Hughes was a violent political foe, though he and Churchill had a certain personal affection. Hughes criticizes even Churchill’s Battle of Britain speeches, makes some telling points. An excellent source on how the Labour Party saw Churchill as domestic leader.
Kwasniewski, Tadeus. An Open Letter of a Chicago Waiter to Winston Churchill. Chicago, privately published by the author, 1950, 20 pp., softbound. On the half-title: “Let’s Face the Truth, Mr. Churchill.” ✸ Another Polish open letter inside of a year, again attacking Churchill’s critique of Poland’s participation in the post-Munich dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in his first volume of World War II memoirs.
Unknown. Catalogue of the Published Works of the Right Hon. Winston S. Churchill, O.M., C.H., M.P. London: Conservative Political Centre, 1950, 8 pp., softbound. ✸ Worthy motivations but sadly incomplete, this work is of minor bibliographic interest.
Unknown. Mr. Churchill. London: Conservative Political Centre, 1950, 4 pp., softbound. “Topic of today number six….Miniature biographies number 1.”
1951
Amery, Julian. Churchill: Architect of Peace. London: Conservative Political Centre, 1951. “Topic for Today. Popular Series number 27.”
Lockhart, John Gilbert. Winston Churchill. London: Gerald Duckworth, 1951, 148 pp. ✸ A dexterously written, compact biography covering Churchill’s life through 1950, dwelling mainly on Parliament and politics.
Thompson, Ex-Detective Inspector W.H. I Was Churchill’s Shadow. London: Christopher Johnson, 1951, 200 pp., five printings through 1959, also published in French and German. ✸ A generally reliable inside account by Churchill’s bodyguard in the 1920s, who was recalled by WSC in World War II. This is the best of Thompson’s several books on guarding Churchill.
Unknown. Københavns Universitets Promotionfest [Promotion Event] den 10. Oktober 1950 for Englands Premierminister under den Anden Verdenskrig [Second World War], Winston S. Churchill. Copenhagen: Ugdivet af Universitets Rektor, 1951, text in Danish, speeches in English. ✸ Description of Churchill’s visit to Denmark in October 1950 and his receiving an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
1952
Campini, Dino. Mussolini Churchill: i Carteggi [the Correspondence]. Milan: Editrice Italpress, 1952, 236 pp., text in Italian. ✸ A recurrent fantasy is over a series of letters supposedly exchanged by Churchill and Mussolini, in which WSC is alleged to have offered Italy concessions to drop out of the war—after Italy had already joined the Axis. The letters were later exposed as forgeries.
Dubois, Pierre Hubert. Winston Churchill. Baarn, Netherlands: Hollandia, 1952, 70 pp., text in Dutch.
Mohamed, Håjinah B. Maisha ya [Life of] Winston Churchill. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Literature Bureau, 1952, text in Swahili.
Taylor, Robert Lewis. Winston Churchill: An Informal Study of Greatness. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1952, 434 pp. Reprints through 1961. Retitled The Amazing Mr. Churchill, 1962. Translations: German, Hebrew, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish. ✸ Outwardly bearing every sign of a postwar potboiler, this is actually a scholarly anecdotal biography in which Taylor found and quoted people who knew Churchill as far back as the Boer War. Though hampered by the lack of footnotes, index and bibliography, it offers many unique sources.
Versteeg, Cor. Churchill. Horn, Netherlands: V.-M. ‘West-Friesland,’ 1952, text in Dutch.
1953
Cowles, Virginia. Winston Churchill: The Era and the Man. London: Hamish Hamilton, New York: Harper and Bros., 1953, 376 pp. Reprints. Translations: German, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish. ✸ Cowles recounts her personal experiences with Churchill and interviews many who knew him as early as the Boer War. Comparatively little attention to the Second World War period, but detailed from birth to the “Wilderness Years.”
Eade, Charles, ed. Churchill: By His Contemporaries. London: Hutchinson, 1953, 528 pp.; Reprints through 1955, 462 pp. Translations: French, Swedish. ✸ Contributors: Lord Altrincham: “Churchill in International Affairs.” R. Arnison: “Churchill the Candidate.” Sir Norman Birkett: “Churchill the Orator.” Prof. Thomas Bodkin: “Churchill the Artist.” Collin Brooks: “Churchill the Conversationalist.” Ivor Brown: “Churchill the Master of Words.” Colin Coote: “Churchill the Journalist.” Richard Dimbleby: “Churchill the Broadcaster.” Charles Eade: Introduction. Guy Eden: “Churchill in High Office.” Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Churchill as an Ally in War.” Sir Ian Fraser: “Churchill and the Ex-Servicemen.” Geoffrey Gilbey: “Churchill and Racing.” A.P. Herbert: “Churchill’s Humour.” Adolf Hitler: “Churchill the Hated Enemy.” Beric Holt: “Churchill the Editor.” Leslie Hore-Belisha: “How Churchill Influences and Persuades.” George Isaacs: “Churchill and the Trade Unions.” Sir William James: “Churchill and the Navy.” Dr. C.E.M. Joad: “Churchill the Philosopher.” Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté: “Churchill the Airman.” A.M. Low: “Churchill and Science.” Sir Compton Mackenzie: “Churchill the Novelist.” Sir Giffard Martel: “Churchill and Russia.” H.G. Martin: “Churchill and the Army.” Malcolm Muggeridge: “Churchill the Biographer and Historian.” G. Ward Price: “Churchill the War Correspondent.” Paul M. Reynaud: “Churchill and France.” Eleanor Roosevelt: “Churchill as a Guest.” A.L. Rowse: “The Summing Up: Churchill’s Place in History.” G. Bernard Shaw: “Churchill the Man of Talent.” Emanuel Shinwell: “Churchill as a Political Opponent.” Viscount Simon: “Churchill as a Liberal.” G.W. Stevens: “The Youngest Man in Europe.” Mary Thompson: “Secretary to Churchill.” Walter H. Thompson: “Guarding Churchill.” G.P. Thomson: “Churchill and the Censorship.” Earl Winterton: “Churchill the Parliamentarian.” Sir Gerald Woods: “Churchill at Harrow.” Sir Evelyn Wrench: “Churchill and the Empire.” Though inevitably uneven, this is a remarkable compendium, the first of its kind, of contemporary comments pro and con by friends, enemies, rivals, and family on many aspects of Churchill’s character and career. Balanced and comprehensive, still an essential text.
Stewart, Herbert Leslie. Winged Words: Sir Winston as Writer and Speaker. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1953, 114 pp. Republished in London and New York, 1954. ✸ Considers Churchill’s literary corpus—books, articles and speeches. A handy book of some interest to bibliophiles; equally a rambling, sermonizing work which only occasionally focuses on its primary subject.
Stojiljkoviâc, Dragan. Nagib, Čerécil, Mosadik, Makarti [Neguib, Churchill, Mossadegh, McCarthy]. Sarajevo, Yugoslavia: Omladinska rijeéc, 1953, 96 pp., text in Serbo-Croat. ✸ An interesting juxtaposition of Churchill with Middle Eastern leaders, including the Iranian premier Mossadegh, overthrown by the West in 1953.
Thompson, Ex-Detective Inspector W. H. Sixty Minutes with Winston Churchill. London: Christopher Johnson, 1953, 92 pp. Reprints. ✸ A collection of anecdotes by Churchill’s longest-serving bodyguard; at 92 pages it is quickly read in a few hours. Republished with additions as Beside the Bulldog (2005).
1954
Coote, Colin R. Sir Winston Churchill: A Self Portrait. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1954, 304 pp. A Churchill Reader: The Wit and Wisdom of Sir Winston Churchill. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1954, 414 pp. ✸ The final evolution of Coote’s classic Maxims and Reflections (1947), organized under headings: Himself, Likes, Dislikes, Russia, War, Britain, Monarchy, Foreigners, America, Politics, English and Human Conduct. The American edition is printed on larger type and much better paper.
“Fieldfare” [Henry Bridges Fearon]. Poy’s Churchill. London: Argus Press, 1954, 72 pp., softbound. ✸ A short but interesting cartoon biography by the newspaper artist Poy (Percy Fearon), and a sprightly text by the author, his nephew, a “nature” columnist for the London Evening Standard. “Fieldfare” extols the “clear, cool, twinkling eyes behind 50 Poy cartoons between 1908 and 1941. —RML
Gatti, Armand et Joffroy, Pierre. La Vie de Churchill [The Life of Churchill]. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1954, softbound. Reprints. Text in French.
Ingram, Bruce. An Eightieth Year Tribute to Winston Churchill: Statesman, Historian, Sportsman, Soldier and Orator. London: The Illustrated London News and Sketch, 62 pp. ✸ A special edition of the famous weekly, published as a book, bound in decorated heavy red card wrappers, profusely illustrated with large-scale photos in color and many sketches. Very rare is a limited edition hardbound in half leather, with extra color plates tipped in.
Marchant, Sir James, ed. Winston Spencer Churchill: Servant of Crown and Commonwealth. London: Cassell, 1954, 172 pp. Translations: Swedish. ✸ Contributors: Aga Khan: “The Sportsman.” Leo Amery: “Two Great War Leaders.” Clement Attlee: “Across the House.” Bernard Baruch: “A Birthday Letter.” Violet Bonham Carter: “Winston Churchill—As I Know Him.” Viscount Cecil: “The Man of Peace.” Colin Coote: “The Politician.” Anthony Eden: “Epilogue.” Lord Fraser: “Churchill and the Navy.” Sir Alan Herbert: “The Master of Words.” Sir Arthur MacNalty: “The Churchill Heritage.” Robert Menzies: “Churchill and the Commonwealth.” Gilbert Murray: “Prologue.” Viscount Norwich: “To W.S.C.” Sir John Rothenstein: “The Artist.” Viscount Samuel: “The Campbell-Bannerman-Asquith Government.” Viscount Simon: “Churchill’s Use of English Speech.” Sir Charles Webster: “Chronicler.” A superb collection of twenty tributes from friends and colleagues on Churchill’s 80th birthday. Dust jackets contain tear-out birthday card which the reader could mail to Churchill.
Moorehead, Alan. Winston Churchill: in Trial and Triumph. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1954. Reprints. Translations: French. ✸ A brief life by the Gallipoli historian, with balanced criticism.
Neilson, Francis. The Churchill Legend. Appleton, Wis.: C. C. Nelson Publishing Co., 1954, 470 pp. Republished as The Churchill Legend: Churchill as Fraud, Fakir and Warmonger. Brooklyn: Revisionist Press, 1979. ✸ One of the first postwar attack books, by a radical who claimed to have known Churchill from early in the century. The author has nothing good to say, but his invective disrupts his logic. Dominated by a lengthy critique of Churchill’s war memoirs.
Paço D’Arcos, Joaquim. Churchill o estadista e o escritor [the Statesman and Writer]. Lisbon: Editorial Imperio, 1954, 32 pp., softbound. Lisbon: British Institute, 1955. Texts in Portuguese. Translations: English, 1957.
Royo, Villanova y Morales, Ricardo. Les Enfermedad de Churchill: Divisiones Médico-Politicas [Churchill’s Disease: Medical-Political Divisions]. Madrid: Marbán, 1954, 160 pp., text in Spanish.
Stevns, Arne, ed. Winston S. Churchill: Ord Paa Vejen [Words on the Way]. Copenhagen: Hasselbalchs, 1954, 68 pp., text in Danish. New edition, 1955. “Hasselbalchs Kultur-Biblotek” library. ✸ A small book of quotes in the style of Coote’s Maxims and Reflections, including Churchill on himself, other people, politics and parties, foreign affairs, war, humor and philosophy, with an erudite foreword by the editor.
Stewart, Herbert L. Sir Winston Churchill as Writer and Speaker. New York: Bouregy, London: Sidgwick, 1954, 162 pp. ✸ An early attempt at examining Churchill’s literary and oratorical talents.
Tsunoda, Jun. Chāchiru no “Daidōmei” seisaku to Teheran kaidan: Dainji Sekai Taisen ni okeru seisen ryoryaku no ichikōsatu [Churchill’s “Grand Alliance” policy and the Teheran conference]. Tokyo: Former Defense Agency, 1954, 128 pp., text in Japanese.
Unknown. Canada’s Tribute to Sir Winston Churchill. Toronto: Canadian Club of Toronto, 1954. ✸ Proceedings at the Royal Hotel, Toronto, November 29, 1954.
Unknown. Churchill de Man van het V-teken [the Man with the V-sign]. Antwerp: De Goudvink, 1954, 252 pp., text in Dutch.
Willans, Geoffrey and Roetter, Charles. The Wit of Winston Churchill. London: Max Parrish, 1954. Reprints. ✸ A collection of Parliamentary ripostes by Churchill at Question Time including brisk exchanges with his Labour foes, especially Bevan and Shinwell.
1955
Churchill, Randolph S. and Gernsheim, Helmut, eds. Churchill: His Life in Photographs. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, New York: Rinehart, 1955, 220 pp. Reprints. Translations: Danish, Swedish. ✸ A large-scale photo-documentary with more than 400 illustrations, all accurately captioned by Randolph Churchill, working with the photographer Helmut Gernsheim. A limited (3000) edition was bound in full red morocco with a facsimile signature of WSC on the front cover; some of these contain faked Churchill signatures on half-titles or title pages. Except for a tipped-in leaf describing the edition, it is internally identical to the trade edition.
Ferrier, Neil, ed. Churchill: The Man of the Century. A Pictorial Biography. London: L.T.A. Robinson, 1955. 96 pp. Reprints; revised edition 1965. ✸ A thin but workmanlike photo documentary taking the story to the end of Churchill’s peacetime premiership. The 1965 edition adds an “Appreciation” but deletes many original photos while adding photos of the state funeral.
Humble Scot, A. Cuts and Comments: A Set of Linocuts with Appropriate Comments Illustrating Some of the Activities of the Prime Minister during the Period 1948-1954. Edinburgh: Home Press, 1955.
Marsh, John. The Young Winston Churchill. London: Evans Brothers, 1955, 216 pp. Reprints. ✸ A juvenile illustrated with cartoons, containing a fine foreword by Leo Amery. The dust jacket of the hardbound first edition depicts young Winston in his 4th Hussars uniform.
Pegler, Dilys. Winston Churchill. Bad Dürkheim, Germany: Beacon Verlag, 1955; English edition with notes for language students, 1961.
Siösteen, Bengt. Glimtar ur Winston Churchills Liv [Glimpses of Winston Churchill’s Life]. Stockholm: Skoglund, 1955, 104 pp., text in Swedish. ✸ Written in connection with a series of radio broadcasts about the recently retired prime minister on Swedish radio.
Thompson, Inspector Walter H. Assignment: Churchill. New York: Farrar, Straus and Young, 1955, 310 pp. Reprints. Translations: Norwegian. ✸ A chatty sequel to the author’s I Was Churchill’s Shadow.
Urquhart, Fred, compiler. WSC: A Cartoon Biography. London: Cassell, 1955, 242 pp. ✸ Published to mark Churchill’s 80th birthday, this is still a standard work on Churchill political cartoons. Sources run from Nazi to Tory, Liberal to Bolshevik, tracing Churchill’s entire career from youthful war correspondent to postwar Prime Minister. Explanatory notes by the editor place each illustration in context and credit the artist and publication.
1956
Bibesco, Princess Marthe Lucie. Churchill: Ou, le Courage [or, Courage]. Paris: Éditions Albin Michel, 1956, 246 pp., text in French. Translated into English as Sir Winston Churchill: Master of Courage. London: Robert Hale, 1957; New York: John Day, 1959. Translations: Japanese, Swedish. ✸ A cousin by marriage to Elizabeth Asquith, daughter of Prime Minister Asquith, the author first met Churchill in 1914. She relates examples of his courage from childhood through resignation as PM in 1955. The English edition contains a chapter not in the French edition, and the French softbound contains three chapters not in the English edition. A detached, admiring view.
Chastenet, Jacques. Winston Churchill et l’Angleterre du XXe Siècle [England of the 20th Century]. Paris: Arthème Fayar, 1956, 584 pp., softbound; revised, 1956. Translations: Spanish, Italian.
Connell, John. Winston Churchill. London: Longmans Green for the British Council and National Book League, 1956, 44 pp.; revised edition 1965. “Writers and Their Work” series. ✸ A much sought-after booklet on Churchill as author, with a bibliography of his books.
Czarnomski, F.B., ed. The Wisdom of Winston Churchill: Being a Selection of Aphorisms, Reflections, Precepts, Maxims. Epigrams, Paradoxes and Opinions from His Parliamentary and Public Speeches, 1900-1955. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1956, 428 pp. ✸ An excellent quotations book, mainly distilled from his speeches, carefully attributed and arranged alphabetically by subject, plus a useful chronology of WSC’s life and book list. The introduction is a memorable piece of writing on Churchill’s continuing importance.
Rabinowicz, Oskar K. Winston Churchill on Jewish Problems: A Half Century Survey. New York and London: Thomas Yoseloff, 1956, 232 pp. Reprints. ✸ The first specialized work on Churchill and the Jews is a well-written, pro-Churchill account using mainly WSC’s own words to demonstrate his support for Zionism in Palestine and attempts to combat German persecution of Jews.
Tabori, Paul. Bei Whisky und Zigarre [With Whisky and Cigar]. Zürich: Diogenes Verlag, 1956, 64 pp., text in German. ✸ Familiar anecdotes about Churchill from childhood to the 1950s, including the non-WSC quote about the Cross of Lorraine being hardest cross to bear. More valuable than the text are the uncommon cartoon illustrations by David Low, Jean Effel, H.U. Steger, Sidney Strube, Jean Sennep and Victor Weisz (“Vicky”).
Wibberley, Leonard. The Life of Winston Churchill. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1956, 248 pp. Reprints. ✸ The first of numerous juveniles published around this time, when Churchill had resigned as PM; includes excellent illustrations.
1957
Andrews, Charles Titus. Senior Statesman with a Future: A Discussion of Sir Winston Churchill’s Endeavours for European Union, American-British Alliance and World Peace. Belmont, Mass.: privately published by the author, 1957, 28 pp.; revised 1957.
Broad, Lewis. The Adventures of Sir Winston Churchill: Presented as an Adventure Story. London: Hutchinson Authors Arrow Books, 1957, softbound. Reprints. ✸ An early biographer reduces the story to its essentials for young people.
Colonial Williamsburg, Trustees of. Proceedings of the Presentation of the Williamsburg Award by the Trustees of Colonial Williamsburg to the Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill at Draper’s Hall, London, December 7, 1955. Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg, 1957, 48 pp. ✸ Text of the presentation of the first “Town Crier’s bell, symbol of the people’s vigil,” to Churchill “for services on behalf of freedom”; includes the presentation speech with WSC’s response and illustrations, some in color.
Czarnomski, F.B., ed. The Eloquence of Winston Churchill. New York: New American Library, 1957, 200 pp., softbound. ✸ Differs from the author’s previous Wisdom of Winston Churchill (1956), arranging quotes by general subject, with a good index. Useful but less comprehensive than the earlier work.
De Mendelssohn, Peter. Churchill sein Weg und seine Welt [Churchill: His Way and His World]. Freiburg im Breisgau: H. Klemm, 1957, text in German. ✸ First appearance of Churchill material by the eminent German biographer (see following entry).
De Mendelssohn, Peter. Erbe und Abenteuer: Der Junge Winston Churchill [Heritage and Adventure: The Boy Winston Churchill] 1874-1914. Freiburg im Breisgau: H. Klemm, 1957, text in German. ✸ Advance text leading to the author’s 1961 English language account of Churchill’s first 40 years.
Feis, Herbert. Churchill – Roosevelt – Stalin: The War They Waged and the Peace They Sought. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press and London: Oxford University Press, 1957, 692 pp. Reprints through 1974. Translations: Russian. ✸ A balanced account of the varying objectives of the Big Three in their wartime alliance. The author offers malice toward none and charity toward all.
Higgins, Trumbull. Winston Churchill and the Second Front, 1940-1943. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1957, 282 pp. Reprints. ✸ A brilliantly written critique, still cited in many modern studies, concludes that Churchill’s concentration on the Mediterranean and foot-dragging on an invasion across France was the result of “colonial” thinking and a desire to minimize British casualties.
Malkus, Alida Sims. The Story of Winston Churchill. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1957, 182 pp. Reprints. Translations: Norwegian. ✸ A well-illustrated juvenile work for ages 8-12.
Norris, A.G.S. A Very Great Soul. Edinburgh: International Publishing, 1957, 336 pp. ✸ “A biographical study based on 15 years of research, includes detailed astrology chart.” An odd book purporting to measure Churchill’s life as influenced by the stars and planets, and said to be “tested against tabulated scientific data.”
1958
Bocca, Geoffrey. The Adventurous Life of Winston Churchill. New York: Julian Messner and Toronto: Avon, 1958. Translations: German. ✸ One the best of its genre, this biography for young people is profusely illustrated, with David Low’s charming 80th birthday cartoon decorating the endpapers.
Booth, Arthur H. The True Book about Sir Winston Churchill. London: Frederick Muller, 1958, 144 pp.; Revised edition, 1964-65. ✸ Another admiring book for young people.
De Muynck, Gust and Connell, John. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill: Redevoeringen [Speeches] 1938-1945. Gravenhage, Netherlands: Uitgeverij Heideland-Hasselt, 1958, text in Dutch.
Farmer, Bernard J. A Bibliography of the Works of Sir Winston Churchill. London: privately published by the author, 1958, mimeographed and stapled in dull green wrappers. ✸ The first serious bibliography of Churchill’s works, this pioneering study is much in demand by completists though out of date and with many errors. The worst is assigning a title to Churchill that he never wrote: “The Risings on the North West Frontier.”
Landemare, Georgina. Recipes from No. 10. London: Collins, 1958, 190 pp. Modern edition: Churchill’s Cookbook. London: Imperial War Museum, 2015, 176 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The Churchill family’s faithful cook (1939-54) published a delightful assortment of 360 starters, entrées and desserts that pleased the palate of WSC and his family. Its two printings quickly sold out, but 67 years later 250 of the recipes were reprinted. Clearly the 1958 edition is the most comprehensive, and also better illustrated —RML
Makins, Clifford, narrator. The Happy Warrior: The Life of Sir Winston Churchill in Picture Strip. London: Hulton Press, 1958. Revised edition: High Command: The Stories of Winston Churchill and General Montgomery. Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Netherlands: Dragon’s Dream, B.V. in conjunction with I.P.C. Magazines, 1981. New edition: see Makins, 2008. ✸ A juvenile in comic strip format, the most elaborate of its type.
McGowan, Norman. My Years with Churchill. London: Souvenir Press, New York: British Book Centre, 1958, 168 pp. Reprints. Translations: French. ✸ No man is a hero to his valet, except apparently Sir Winston. An inside account by the only personal servant who wrote of his experiences. Author’s name is misspelled “MacGowan” on some dust jackets, on the softbound’s title page and on the French edition.
Nel, Elizabeth. Mr. Churchill’s Secretary. London: Hodder and Stoughton and New York: Coward McCann, 1958, 188 pp. Reprints. Translations: Dutch, Norwegian. Republished as Winston Churchill by His Personal Secretary, 2007. ✸ A charming and readable account of working for Churchill during 1941-45, by a secretary who accompanied him to Washington, aboard warships and to summit meetings. Prime testimony on why Churchill’s staff forgave his eccentricities and remained devoted to him through trying times.
Tsurumi, Yåusuke. Winsuton Chāchiru. Tokyo: Dainihon’ Yūbenkaī Kōdansha, 1958, 292 pp.; revised 1965; text in Japanese.
Unknown. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Paintings by the Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Churchill. Kansas City, Mo.: Hallmark Cards, 1958, 48 pp., softbound; a limited number were also issued hardbound. ✸ Souvenir catalogue of the first exhibition of Churchill’s paintings in North America, containing original material about Churchill: Foreword by Dwight D. Eisenhower, comments by Alfred Frankfurter. A Canadian edition substitutes a foreword by Mackenzie King.
1959
Birket-Smith, Kjeld. Winston Churchill. Copenhagen: Dansk Bibliografisk Kontor and Gyldendal, Faglig Læsning, 1959. Text in Danish.
Green, David. Sir Winston Churchill at Blenheim Palace. Oxford: Alden, 1959. Several reprints. ✸ Specialized and illustrated account of Churchill’s experiences at Blenheim from birth through marriage and beyond
Ishikawa, Kin’chi. Chāchiru. Tokyo: Nihon shobō, 1959, 326 pp., text in Japanese.
Miller, H. Tatlock and Sainthill, Loudon. Churchill: The Walk with Destiny. London: Hutchinson; New York: Macmillan, 1959, 254 pp. ✸ An impressive coffee table tome with hundreds of large format black and white photographs.
1960
Broad, Lewis. The War That Churchill Waged. London: Hutchinson, 1960, 472 pp. ✸ By Churchill’s most faithful early biographer, this book was published to answer Alanbrooke’s charges in his memoirs, The Turn of the Tide (1959), that Churchill was meddlesome, vexatious and domineering. Special emphasis on the divisions between Churchill and Roosevelt over policy toward the Soviets.
Carrington, Norman T. Winston Churchill: My Early Life. Bath, Somerset: James Brodie, 1960, 72 pp. softbound. “Notes on Chosen English Texts” series. ✸ A reading and study guide for advanced students who have been assigned to read My Early Life. Includes background notes, glossary of terms, questions for study on each chapter.
Coolidge, Olivia. Winston Churchill and the Story of Two World Wars. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960, 278 pp. Translations: Dutch. ✸ A good appreciation, not without errors, written by a sometime Labour partisan who admired Churchill’s “supreme character for a crisis.”
Hisa, Tomoka. Chāchiru Monogatari. Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten, 1960, 336 pp., text in Japanese.
Moorehead, Alan. Churchill: A Pictorial Biography. London: Thames and Hudson; New York: Viking Press, 1960, 144 pp. Reissued as Churchill and His World, London, 1961, extended editions 1965, 1969. Translations: Dutch, French, German, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish. ✸ The author of Gallipoli weaves cartoons, manuscripts, numerous uncommon photos into this excellent little documentary.
Yamanoue, Shotarō. Winsuton Chāchiru: futatsu no sekai senso [Churchill: The Two World Wars], Tokyo: Seibundo Shinkosha, 1960, 20 pp., text in Japanese.
1961
Black, Edgar. Sir Winston Churchill: The Compelling Life Story of One of the Towering Figures of the 20th Century. Derby, Conn.: Monarch Books, 1961, 298 pp. softbound. ✸ Published only in softbound form; a scarce, readable biography.
De Mendelssohn, Peter. The Age of Churchill, vol. 1, Heritage and Adventure 1874-1911. London: Thames and Hudson; New York: Alfred Knopf, 1961, 626 pp. ✸ Two more volumes were planned, but never published. An excellent biography. Contains many stimulating comments on Churchill’s writings.
Gudme, Sten. Winston Churchill. Copenhagen: Stig Vendelkærs Forlag, 1961, 142 pp., text in Danish. ✸ The author, a newspaper editor who supported the Danish liberation movement, lived in London and met Churchill during World War II.
Unknown. Churchill el Inmortal. Mexico City: Editorial Argumentos, 1961, 32 pp., text in Spanish. ✸ Presents Churchill’s life in cartoons.
Vicuñia, Alejandro. Winston Churchill a través de sus Memorias [through His Memoirs]. Santiago, Chile: Editorial Universidad Catôlica, 1961, 398 pp., text in Spanish.
1962
Clark, Ronald W. Sir Winston Churchill. London: Phoenix House; New York, Roy Publishers, 1962, 128 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
D’Aroma, Nino. Churchill e Mussolini. Rome: Centro Editoriale, Nazionale Divulgazioni Umanistiche Sociologiche Storiche, 1962, text in Italian. ✸ Another volume purporting to reveal the fictitious Churchill-Mussolini letters.
Farrell, Alan. Sir Winston Churchill. London: Faber and Faber; New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1962, 142 and 158 pp. ✸ Juvenile. A clear and lively account with emphasis on the World Wars.
Harrity, Richard and Martin, Ralph G. Churchill: Man of the Century. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1962, 248 pp. ✸ A slickly produced photo-documentary with many unique images, but the captioning is not always reliable.
Le Vien, Jack and Lord, John. Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years. London: George G. Harrap; New York: Bernard Geis Associates, 1962, 412 pp. Book of the Month Club edition, 1962. ✸ Published to accompany the television series of the same name, produced by Jack Le Vien, a longtime admirer. The London edition is unique, being a coffee table book replete with photographs; the American editions are ordinary octavo size, illustrated mainly with maps and plans. Texts are identical although some chapter titles vary.
Sims, Victor, ed. Churchill the Great: The Best Stories. London: The Daily Mirror Newspaper, 1962, 112 pp. softbound. ✸ A novel approach: anecdotes about Churchill told by “ordinary people”; some may be apocryphal.
Staub, Herbert Ulrich. Sir Winston S. Churchill: Versuch eines Portraits [Attempt at a Portrait]. Winterthur: P.G. Keller, 1962, 306 pp., text in German.
Webb, J.E. Churchill: Saviour or Wrecker? Brookvale, Sydney, N.S.W.: Prior Press, 1962, 88 pp.
1963
Desai, Vasanta Santarama. Vinstana Carcila. Bombay: R.A. Maramkar, 1963, text in Mahrati.
Higgins, Trumbull. Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles. New York: Macmillan; London: Heinemann, 1963, 308 pp. Reprints. ✸ The author’s second work on Churchill examines his role in the Gallipoli fiasco—a critical work worth reading, well researched with extensive footnotes.
Fishman, Jack. My Darling Clementine: The Story of Lady Churchill. London: Allen; New York: McKay, 1963, 384 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ A family friend published this unauthorized and rambling account, containing much on Winston as well as his wife. The first biography of Lady Churchill, not greatly approved by his family, who found many inaccuracies.
Kennedy, John F. Sir Winston Churchill: Honorary Citizen of the United States of America. Worcester, Mass.: Achille St. Onge, 1963, 30 pp. Reprints. ✸ Limited edition of 1000 by the famous publisher of miniature books; reprints in 1964 in a further edition of 1500. Contains the President’s remarks conferring honorary citizenship on 9 April 1963, and Churchill’s letter of thanks. (Cohen B177.)
Maurois, André, et al. Churchill. Malakoff Seine: Miroir de l’Histoire, 1963, softbound, text in French. ✸ Contributors: Aga Khan: “L’homme de Cheval.” Lord Alanbrooke: “Devant Staline.” Pierre Bourdan: “Un grand gentilhomme d’aventure.” Jacques Chastenet: “Le soleil se couché.” Alfred Duff Cooper: “Avec de Gaulle.” Dwight Eisenhower: “Avec Roosevelt.” Field Marshal Juin: “Le Churchill que j’ai connu.” André Maurois: “Le monstre sacré.” Marguerite-Yerta Méléra: “Le romancier d’un seul roman.” Bernard Montgomery: “Il conduit la guerre….Je le fais.” Alan Moorehead: “Prophète dans le désert.” Paul Reynaud: “Churchill et la France.” Eleanor Roosevelt: “L’hôte de la Maison Blanche.” Louis Rougier: “Lés negociations de Londres.” G.M. Tracy: “La légende de Churchill.” Commandant Vulliez: “Le chef de l’Amirauté.” Certain of these essays appear to have been reprinted from Eade, Churchill by His Contemporaries (1953).
Nathan, Adele Gutman. Churchill’s England. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1963. ✸ Not a travelogue as the title implies, but a very good, semi-juvenile pictorial with interesting black and white photographs.
Pawle, Gerald. The War and Colonel Warden. London: George G. Harrap; New York: Alfred Knopf, 1963, 422 pp. Reprints. Translations: Danish, Dutch, French. ✸ Although based heavily on the diaries of Churchill’s naval aid Cdr. “Tommy” Tompkins, the text includes interviews with more than 60 people who had close contact with Churchill, “Col. Warden” (his code name on many travels in World War II).
Reynolds, Quentin. Winston Churchill: The Courageous Adventurer, the Rebellious Politician, the Inspiring War Leader. New York: Random House, 1963, 184 pp. British edition All about Winston Churchill, 1964. Translations: French, Italian, Swedish. ✸ A well-written juvenile.
Smith, Norman David. Winston Churchill. London: Methuen; New York: Roy Publishers, 1963, 108 pp. Translations: Swedish. ✸ A handsomely produced juvenile, issued shortly before Churchill’s death, ably recounts the saga.
Staub, Robert and Gudenus, Johann B. Der Letzte von Omdurman: Winston Churchill und die Pferde [The Last of Omdurman: Winston Churchill and the Horses]. Pfäffikon-Zürich: Schweizer Kavallerist, 1963, 128 pp., text in German.
Thompson, R.W. The Yankee Marlborough. London: George Allen and Unwin; Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1963, 364 pp. Translations: French. ✸ A critique perhaps overly based on recollections of Churchill’s rueful ex-friend Desmond Morton, who was dropped by WSC and never got over it. Thompson contends that WSC’s American blood gave him energy, his British blood romance, but Kirkus Reviews dissented: “That Churchill is egocentric is not a new charge, but that his was a narcissism so complete that the only person capable of interrupting his self-adoration was his Nanny is a charge repeated and examined at ridiculous length. Churchill is not supposed to have ever felt true friendship, all others in his life existed to be used, etc. The author was evidently fascinated by, rather than admiring of, the man on whom he took notes for years. As a personality portrait, this is sketchy—even naïve—guesswork. As a biography of the public man, it is a denigration.”
Woods, Frederick. A Bibliography of the Works of Sir Winston Churchill, K.G. O.M. C.H. M.P. London: Nicholas Vane, 1963, 340 pp.; revised 1969, 1975, expanded reissue 1979. ✸ The first serious bibliography, this work uncovered numerous works not even remembered by Churchill or his family, but was eclipsed in 2006 by Ronald Cohen’s majestic trio of volumes. The first edition suffered from a surfeit of detail errors, particularly in descriptions of American editions; some were corrected in the revised editions.
Wrinch, Pamela N. The Military Strategy of Winston Churchill. Boston: Dept. of Government, Boston University Press, 1963, 164 pp. ✸ A published dissertation arguing that Churchill pursued the same strategy in both world wars, namely, the “back door” approach through the Mediterranean: the Dardanelles in the first war, the Mediterranean in the second.
1964
Bauwens, Jan. Winston Churchill. Antwerp: Uitgeberij de Goudvink, 1964, text in Flemish.
Berlin, Isaiah. Mr. Churchill in 1940. London: John Murray (standard and deluxe bindings); Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1964, 38 pp. ✸ An eloquent discussion of the role of the past in Churchill’s outlook and a comparison and contrast with Roosevelt. Many critics hold this famous essay the finest single piece written about Churchill, while others call it contrived and verbose.
Bromage, Mary C. Churchill and Ireland. South Bend, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1964, 222 pp. ✸ The first study of Churchill’s bittersweet experiences in Ireland and with the Irish. Covers everything from his earliest years in Dublin through the Irish revolt in 1916, his efforts in drafting the Irish Treaty in 1921, and the problem of Eire’s neutrality in 1940-45. Well indexed and comprehensive, but alas now difficult to find.
Bruce, George. Churchill: A Life in Pictures. London: Mayflower Books, 1964. Winston Churchill 1874-1965: Honorary Citizen of the United States of America. New York: Dell, 1965, softbound. ✸ A large magazine-format photo-documentary with many interesting illustrations; one of the numerous memorial souvenirs published in the wake of Churchill’s death.
Gollin, Alfred M. From Omdurman to V.E. Day: The Life Span of Sir Winston Churchill. London: Blond Educational, 1964. ✸ Juvenile.
Hastings. Robert Pusey. Winston S. Churchill from “Naughtiest Small Boy” to “Child of the House of Commons.” Los Angeles: privately published, 1964, 22 pp. ✸ An address by the author delivered to the Sunset Club in Los Angeles, 25 March 1964.
Le Vien, Jack and Lewis, Peter. The Finest Hours: The Churchill Story in Words and Pictures Based on the Great Film Triumph. London: George Harrap, 1964, 156 pp.; softbound, 1964. ✸ Derived from the Jack Le Vien’s film by the same title.
Silberschmidt, Max. Winston S. Churchill: Leader der Freien Welt [Leader of the Free World]. Zürich: Schweizer Monatshefte, 1964, 24 pp., text in German.
Sykes, Adam and Sproat, Iain, compilers. The Wit of Sir Winston. London: Leslie Frewin, 1964, 94 pp. Reprints. Translations: Danish. ✸ A useful collection of quips and photos, chapters including war, politics, family, “the wit of abuse” and “on eating, drinking and smoking.”
Tickell, Jerrard. Ascalon: The Story of Winston Churchill’s Wartime Flights from 1943-1945 and Based on the Records of Group Captain John Mitchell. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1964, 128 pp.; softbound. Republished as Churchill’s Flights, Endeavor Press, 2013, softbound. ✸ This is the story of Churchill’s wartime flights to visit the front in Africa and Stalin in Moscow in the DC3 named “Ascalon.” The journeys would have taxed a younger man, let alone an aging statesman. Very good, gripping and humorous, but factual throughout.
Unknown. Winston Churchill: Man of Our Time. Morristown, N.J.: Silver Burdett/Time and Life, 1964, 4 pp., a leaflet containing 25 plates.
1965
Adler, Bill, ed.. The Churchill Wit. New York: Coward-McCann, 1965, 86 pp. ✸ A thin quote book with many photographs; quotes are arranged by subject: politics, the man, the war (WW2), and America.
Améry, Jean. Winston S. Churchill: Un Siècle d’Histoire [A Century of History]. Lausanne: Éditions Rencontre, 1965, 200 pp., text in French. Translations: German.
Bonham Carter, Violet. Winston Churchill as I Knew Him. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode and Collins, 1965, 496 pp. Winston Churchill: An Intimate Portrait. New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 414 pp. Reprints. Translations: Danish, Finnish, Swedish. ✸ Despite Churchill’s ups and downs with Prime Minister Asquith, his daughter Violet remained devoted to him from the early 1900s and knew him like few others. This remembrance is a modern classic, beautifully written with many perceptive observations. Unfortunately, they end in 1914.
Brennand, Frank. Winston S. Churchill. London: New English Library, 1965, 192 pp., softbound. Republished 1972 as The Young Churchill, 128 pp., softbound. Translations: Italian. ✸ The 1965 edition contains novel line-art illustrations and a passable brief biography. The 1972 edition contains the first 17 chapters through 1930, no illustrations, its cover decorated with photos from the film Young Winston.
Cawthorne, Graham. The Churchill Legend: An Anthology. London: Cleaver-Hume Press, 1965, 1124 pp. softbound. ✸ Not so much about the legend as about how it grew: a companion volume to the many collections of Churchill’s own quotes, this work collects anecdotes about him by others, arranged by general topic.
Country Beautiful, eds. of. A Man of Destiny. Waukesha, Wis.: Country Beautiful Foundation/Encyclopedia Enterprises, 1965, 96 pp. Reprints. ✸ Folio size, profusely illustrated in color and black and white, with an anthology from his writings and speeches, tributes on his death and full text of Painting as a Pastime. Sometimes found slipcased with another Country Beautiful volume on John F. Kennedy.
Daetwyler, Hans W. In Memoriam: Winston Churchill. Zürich: Römerhof Verlag, 1965, 32 pp., text in German.
Daily Mail, staff of. Churchill: A Souvenir of His Life in Pictures. London, Associated Newspapers Ltd., 1965, 52 pp., softbound. ✸ Contains “Churchill, Man of Destiny: A Tribute” by F.G. Prince-White.
Dilks, David. Sir Winston Churchill. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1965, 94 pp. ✸ First work on Churchill by the author, who was still researching, speaking and writing about WSC fifty years later.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Sir Winston Churchill: Champion of Freedom. New York: George Sas at Marble Hill Press, 1965, 6 pp. Tribute to Winston Churchill. Stamford, Conn.: Overbrook Press. ✸ A memorable speech delivered during Churchill’s state funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, 30 January 1965. Limited edition of 200; softbound.
Elliot, Ronald, ed. The Valiant Man: The State Funeral January 30 1965. London: Independent Television Companies Association, 1965, 36 pp., softbound. ✸ Still photographs from ITV’s coverage of Churchill’s funeral.
Ernst, Alfred. Churchill-Gedenkfeier Veranstaltet am [Memorial Service held on] 21 Juni 1965. Basel: Helbing and Lichtenhahn, 1965, 18 pp., text in German.
Godinho, Padre. “Sir” Winston Spencer Churchill Discurso proferido pelo Deputado Padre Godinho: em nome da Maioria na sessao de 10 de fevereiro de 1965 [Speech of Father Godinho to the Brazilian Congress]. São Paulo: Congresso Nacional, Camera dos Deputados, 1965, 12 pp., text in Portuguese.
Graebner, Walter. My Dear Mr. Churchill. Boston: Houghton Mifflin; London: Michael Joseph, 1965, 128 pp. Translations: German, Finnish, Norwegian. ✸ An excellent inside account by Churchill’s Life editor during the magazine’s serialization of his war memoirs. Graebner, a close observer at Chartwell in the late 1940s and early 1950s, provides a valuable account of Churchill as writer and country squire.
Graham, Alexander J.P. The Capture and Escape of Winston Churchill during the South African War. Salisbury, Rhodesia: Edinburgh Press 1965, 16 pp. softbound. ✸ An elusive account of the adventures Churchill himself described in his books, London to Ladysmith via Pretoria and My Early Life.
Grunwald, Henry Anatole, ed. Churchill: The Life Triumphant. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1965, 144 pp. Translations: Dutch, German. ✸ One of the more comprehensive memorial books, laden with color and black and white photos, quotes from speeches, Parliamentary repartee, Churchill paintings, with the connecting paragraphs by Time-Life editor Henry Grunwald, an admirer of Churchill’s since the war years. With laminated color covers, it was sold with and without dust jackets.
Haller, Adolf. Der Mann Unseres Jahrhunderts [Man of Our Century] Das Leben Winston Churchills der Jungen Generation Erzählt [WC’s Life Informs the Young Generation]. Aarau, Switzerland and Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany: Sauerländer, 1965, 347 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
House, Jack, introduction. Winston Churchill: His Wit and Wisdom. London and Glasgow: Collins, 1965, 128 pp. Numerous reprints. ✸ “A record of some of his sayings and writings,” with chapters on Inspiration, A Soldier’s Life, Famous Men, Politics, Peace, America, the two World Wars and their interregnum. Includes “Churchillisms,” and “Life and Death.” Commonly seen in gift shops, long in print.
Howells, Roy. Simply Churchill. London: Robert Hale. Churchill’s Last Years. New York: David McKay, 1965, 214 pp. Reprints. ✸ The author was Churchill’s male nurse in his declining years. He offers a light account, shedding little on Churchill’s medical history. The English edition is the only one with photographs; texts are identical.
James, Alfred, compiler. Churchill’s Letters to “The Times” 1900 to 1964. Wahroonga, NSW, Australia: Privately published, 1965, limited edition of 125 copies, 50 pp. Reprints. ✸ Includes an obituary, “The Prophet Lives,” by the author’s father, Francis James, and the obituary printed by The Times, 25 January 1965. This work reproduces the text of three dozen letters Churchill wrote to The Times.
Jenkisson, John, ed. The Unforgettable Winston Churchill: Giant of the Century. Chicago: Time-Life (including an “International Edition”), 1965, 128 pp. Translations: Danish, Japanese, Norwegian, Swedish. ✸ An account of the state funeral and Churchill’s life and times, with many singular color plates.
Lasic, Bozo. Uspomena Ne Cercila [Keeps Not Churchill]. Mostar, Jugoslavia: Pjesma, 1965, text in Serbo-Croat.
Liddell, Kenneth C. Winston Churchill and the Battle of Britain. London: Michael Slains, 1965, 20 pp.
McBirnie, William Stuart. Winston Churchill: Conservative. Glendale, Calif.: Voice of Americanism Publications, 1965, 66 pp. ✸ The author uses Churchill to support his personal views; Churchill defies pigeonholing and is not a good model for polemics.
Merteens, Anthony T. Qui est [Who Is] Churchill? Paris, Hatier, 1965, 28 pp., text in French. ✸ Juvenile.
Menzies, Sir Robert G. Winston Churchill. Melbourne, Australia: Wilkie, 1965, softbound. Also published as WSC in a hardbound limited edition of 500. ✸ The Australian wartime prime minister rumored by some to have angled for Churchill’s job (improbable as that seems), pens a tribute on the occasion of Churchill’s funeral, which stands in contrast to his acerbic remarks during the early years of the war. This work is, however, in keeping with Menzies’s “final view” of WSC in his memoir, Afternoon Light.
Miers, Earl Schenk. The Story of Winston Churchill. New York: Wonder Books/Grosset and Dunlap, 1965, 48 pp., softbound and a limited number hardbound. ✸ A magazine format juvenile which offers some novel photos, including one of a watery-eyed Churchill waving from his window on his 90th birthday, just a few weeks before his death.
Miller, Marvin. Churchill: Man of Destiny 1874-1965. Los Angeles: Marvin Miller Enterprises, 1965, 64 pp., softbound. ✸ A mass market magazine format documentary, of a type published in vast quantity after Churchill’s death.
Milojevic, Predrag. Cercil: Covek I Legenda [Man and Legend]. Belgrade, Yugoslavia: Sema Sila, 1965, text in Serbo-Croat.
Morin, Relman. Churchill: Portrait of Greatness. Englewood, N.J.: Prentice Hall; London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1965, 128 pp. ✸ A folio size documentary, handsomely bound in mottled red boards blocked gilt, with a good collection of black and white photos, some not often seen.
Mozley, Charles. The State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill: A Sketchbook. London: George Rainbird, 1965, 32 pp. ✸ An evocative collection of watercolor scenes at Churchill’s state funeral, from leaving Westminster Hall to the Thames cruise of the launch Havengore bearing his coffin.
New York Times, eds. of. Churchill: In Memoriam. New York and Toronto: Bantam Books, 1965, 160 pp., softbound. Translations: Danish. ✸ A modest illustrated biography, with much to be modest about.
Northcote, H. Stafford. Winston Churchill: Man of Destiny. London: Newnes, 1965, 62 pp., softbound. ✸ A brief photo documentary, profusely illustrated, recommended for its accurate text and captions.
Observer, eds of. Churchill by His Contemporaries: An ‘Observer’ Appreciation. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1965, 128 pp. Translations: Finnish, Swedish. ✸ Contributors: Dean Acheson: “The Supreme Artist.” Anonymous: “Friend of the Nation.” Clement Attlee: “The Churchill I Knew.” Aneurin Bevan: “History’s Impresario.” Ian Jacob: “Churchill as a War Leader.” Norman McGowan: “The Hero and His Valet.” The Observer Staff: “Sir Winston’s Life Story.” Earl Winterton: “Memories of a Friend.” Excellent chapters by Attlee, Acheson, Winterton, Jacob and political archenemy Nye Aneurin Bevan (who is more generous than all the rest); contains also a collection of WSC epigrams; recollections by his valet; and a 20-page biography.
Paris Match, eds. of. Homage à Churchill le Grand. Paris: U.P.E.M., 1965, text in French. ✸ Another of post-funeral documentaries, produced in magazine format with color and black and white photos.
Reade, John Collingwood. A Tribute to Sir Winston. Toronto: Canadian Association of Broadcasters, 1965, softbound. ✸ This booklet may be related to, or a new edition of, Reade’s 1941 work.
Reader’s Digest, eds. of. Man of the Century: A Churchill Cavalcade. Boston and Toronto: Little Brown, 1965, softbound. Translations: Danish, Norwegian, Swedish. ✸ A useful anthology from sixty sources: books by and about Churchill, his contemporaries and newspaper accounts, with a “Key to Contributors.” A comprehensive index adds to its value.
Reader’s Digest, eds. of. Churchill Digest. Pleasantville, New York and London: Reader’s Digest Association, softbound. ✸ Sixty pages of stories, quips and anecdotes as reported over the years by the Reader’s Digest. Foreword by Lord Attlee.
Sato, Ryōichi. Chāchiru: V māku no eikō no saishō [Glorious Prime Minster with V-sign]. Tokyo: Obunsha, 1965, 222 pp., text in Japanese.
Silverman, Al, ed. Churchill: A Memorial Album. New York: McFadden-Bartell, 1965, 82 pp., softbound. ✸ Magazine format documentary tribute.
Smith, Torolf. Winston Churchill: ævisaga [Biography]. Reykjavik, 1965, 336 pp., text in Icelandic.
Sparrow, Gerald. Churchill: Man of the Century 1874-1965. London: Odhams Books, 1965, 152 pp. ✸ Numerous unique photos and a good text in a funeral-era production.
The Times, eds. of. 1874-1965: The Churchill Years. London: Heinemann; New York: Viking, 1965, 264 pp. Reprint Society edition, London 1965. ✸ An elaborate coffee table production packed with large-format black and white photos and a foreword by Lord Butler. Not always an approving colleague, “Rab” Butler puts private quibbles aside in his remarks.
Towers, Frederick, ed. Sir Winston Churchill: A Memorial. London: MacDonald; New York: Dell Publishing, 1965, 62 pp. ✸ A thin hardbound funeral documentary with a nice array of photos.
Undasynov, Iskander Nurtasovich. Ruzvel’t, Cherchill: Vtorol Front [Roosevelt, Churchill: Second Front]. Moscow: Nademenbcmeo “Hayka,” 1965, 134 pp., text in Russian.
United Nations, Members of the. In Memoriam: Sir Winston Churchill. New York: United Nations, 1965, 96 pp. ✸ Collected tributes of the representatives of U.N. members upon Churchill’s death.
United States Congress, Members of the. Memorial Addresses in the Congress of the United States and Tributes in Eulogy of Sir Winston Churchill: Soldier-Statesman-Author-Orator-Leader. Washington: U.S.G.P.O., 1965, 246 pp. “House Document No. 209.” ✸ A collection of tributes by senators and representatives following Churchill’s death, with two of his three addresses to Congress and President Kennedy’s remarks at the presentation of Churchill’s honorary American citizenship in 1963.
Unknown. The Immortal Words of Winston Churchill: Memorable Excerpts from His Famous Wartime Speeches. Philadelphia: Curtis Circulation, 1965, 64 pp., softbound. ✸ Unsigned introduction. Brief, attributed excerpts from Churchill’s speeches juxtaposed with full-page photographs; more photos than quotes.
Unknown. Selections from the Broadcasts Given in Memory of Winston Churchill. London: British Broadcasting Corp., 1965, 144 pp. ✸ Large format transcript of tributes from Britain, the Commonwealth and the world upon Churchill’s death, plus personal impressions of Fitzroy MacLean, Violet Bonham-Carter, Ian Jacob, Herbert Morrison, Robert Boothby, Bill Deakin, Dwight Eisenhower and others, including “tributes from ordinary people.”
Unknown. His Greatest Years. Toronto: Swan, 1965, 48 pp., softbound. ✸ The first publication to contain a hitherto unknown Karsh photo of WSC with Mackenzie King, one of several taken after the two more famous photos following Churchill’s speech to the Canadian Parliament in 1941. Some pronounce WSC’s countenance in this photo one of the truest.
Unknown. Winston Churchill in Exile: Personal Portrait of a Discarded Statesman. Armidale, N.S.W.: New England State Movement, 1965.
Unknown. The State Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. Banbury, Oxfordshire: Woodrow Wyatt Newspaper Group, 1965.
1966
Cárcano, Miguel Angel. Churchill: Kennedy. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Pampa y Cielo, 1966, 70 pp., text in Spanish.
Churchill, Randolph S. The Young Churchill. New York: Lancer; London: Sphere, 1966, 336 pp., softbound. ✸ Distilled from the Official Biography to relate Churchill’s youth in a juvenile package.
Gilbert, Martin. Winston Churchill. London: Oxford University Press, 1966, 64 pp.; New York: Dial Press, 1967. Reprints. ✸ The official biographer’s first book about Churchill, much in demand, now borders on the rare. It contains a brief, concise biography.
Halle, Kay, compiler. Irrepressible Churchill: A Treasury of Winston Churchill’s Wit. Cleveland: World Publishing, 1966, 372 pp. Reprints 1985 with the subtitle Stories, Sayings and Impressions of Sir Winston Churchill, and in 2000 with the subtitle Through His Own Words and the Eyes of His Contemporaries. ✸ Kay Halle, the Cleveland heiress who almost married Randolph Churchill and became a noted Washington socialite, spent thirty years in company with the Churchill family. Her journalist’s instincts are responsible for this rich, well-researched compendium of Churchill wit and wisdom which, unlike many of its ilk, is carefully attributed and organized for ease of reference. The first edition is superior; later editions were off-printed from the original and are no less complete, but contain a much less comprehensive index. One of the three or four top quotation books.
Jones, R.V. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill 1874-1965: Elected F.R.S. 1941. London: The Royal Society, 1966, softbound.
MacKay, James A. Churchill on Stamps. Amersham, Bucks., England: published by the author, 1966, 60 pp. softbound. ✸ An illustrated guide to Churchill depictions on postage stamps, commencing with Colombia’s “Big Three” overprints of the war years. Reasonably complete through 1966, but hundreds of Churchill stamps and postal stationery have been issued since.
Manzona, Rafael. Sir Winston Churchill. Barcelona: Editorial Juventud, 1966, 204 pp., text in Spanish.
Mearns, Martha. Churchill. London: Nelson, 1966, 26 pp. “Men of Genius” series. ✸ A juvenile with illustrations by Raymond Renard.
Moran, Charles [Lord Moran]. Winston Churchill: The Struggle for Survival, 1940-1965, Taken from the Diaries of Lord Moran. London: Constable; Heron Books (deluxe edition); Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1966, 830 pp. Reprints. Churchill at War, 1940-1945: Introduction by His Son, the Present Lord Moran. Abridged and revised 1995, 2002, 2006. Translations: French, Danish, Dutch, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish. ✸ Despite the title, coverage ends in 1960. An important source work by Churchill’s doctor, this work is tainted by the fact that Churchill was almost always ill when Moran saw him. John Colville remarked: “Lord Moran was never present when history was made, but he was sometimes invited to lunch afterward.” Researchers including Sir Martin Gilbert have found that the diary entries in the book do not coincide with the Moran diaries he examined; for some entries the actual diary is blank. Withal, this is a key primary source extensively quoted by Gilbert and others.
Nobel Prize Library, eds. Albert Camus-Winston Churchill. Zürich: Coron Verlag, 1966, text in French; New York: A. Gregory and Del Mar, Calif.: C.R.M. Publishing, 1971. ✸ Half this book contains the Nobel Prize presentation to Churchill “for his mastery of historical and biographical description,” with large excerpts from My Early Life and The Island Race. Maps by Rafael Palacios.
Tingsten, Herbert [Lars Gustaf]. När Churchill grep makten och andre essayer [When Churchill Seized Power and Other Essays]. Stockholm: Norstedt, 1966, two editions, 228 pp., text in Swedish. När Churchill greb makten. Stockholm: PAN/Norstedt, 1968. 146 pp., softbound, text in Swedish. Da Churchill greb magten: og andre essays. Copenhagen: Stig Vendelkoers Forlag, 1967, 228 pp., text in Danish. ✸ The author, a well-known Swedish historian, spends a significant part of the book on analyzing the situation in May 1940 when Churchill took over as Prime Minister. His choice of “seized power” seems bizarre.
Young, Kenneth. Churchill and Beaverbrook. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. New York: James H. Heineman, 1966, 350 pp. ✸ Standard work on a famous friendship which survived the vicissitudes of many political disputes and disagreements. “Some people take drugs,” Churchill once quipped. “I take Max.” Beaverbrook accompanied Churchill on key wartime visits including France and America, and successfully served as Minister for Aircraft Production in Churchill’s World War II coalition government. A balanced account.
1966-2019 Winston S. Churchill:
The Official Biography
At over twenty million words in 31 volumes, recently completed by Hillsdale College Press, this is the longest biography in history. For clarity and simplicity, we list first the eight narrative volumes, followed by their supporting document volumes. The term “official” does not mean that the authors were obliged to take an authorized line or avoid certain subjects.
The Narrative Volumes
Churchill, Randolph S. Winston S. Churchill, vol. 1: Youth 1874-1900. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin (also published by Houghton Mifflin for the Literary Guild), 1966. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2006. 608 pp. ✸ Based on thousands of papers in the Churchill Archives and other sources, Randolph Churchill’s work was received with general praise. Generally positive, though not without criticism, it reflects the theme of the work, “He shall be his own biographer,” but Randolph added his own literary style.
Churchill, Randolph S. Winston S. Churchill, vol. 2, Young Statesman 1901-1914. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin (also published by Houghton Mifflin for the Literary Guild), 1967. London: Minerva Mandarin softbound, 1991. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2007. 776 pp. ✸ The last volume written by Randolph Churchill traces the story of his father’s entry into Parliament, early debates over Free Trade, crossing the floor to the Liberals, cabinet positions in the great Liberal governments of 1906-14, appointment to head the Admiralty and the growing threat of war with Germany. It drew more criticism than Volume I; Robert Rhodes James called it a restating of Churchill’s own “case for the defence” as presented in his books.
Gilbert, Martin. Winston S. Churchill, vol. 3, The Challenge of War 1914-1916. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin (also published by Houghton Mifflin in 2 vols. for the Literary Guild), 1971. London: Minerva Mandarin softbound, 1990. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2008. 988 pp. ✸ Martin Gilbert, who had been an assistant to Randolph Churchill, was appointed biographer after Randolph’s death in 1968 and began an almost day-to-day chronology of Churchill’s life. Volume III concentrates on just three years: Churchill at the Admiralty, the Dardanelles debacle, Churchill’s fall from power and his exile in the trenches of Flanders as “the escaped scapegoat.”
Gilbert, Martin. Winston S. Churchill, vol. 4, The Stricken World 1917-1922. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978. London: Minerva Mandarin softbound, 1991. World in Torment 1916-1922. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2008. 968 pp. ✸ Churchill returns to power as Minister of Munitions, then Minister for War and Air, then Colonial Secretary. Includes his role in the Versailles Treaty, important work in demobilizing the army, intervention against the Bolsheviks in Russia, the Chanak Crisis with Turkey, his key work in remaking the Middle East at the Cairo Conference of 1921, and the negotiation of the Irish Treaty.
Gilbert, Martin. Winston S. Churchill, vol. 5, The Prophet of Truth 1922-1939. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976. London: Minerva, Mandarin softbound, 1990. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2009. 1168 pp. ✸ This installment covers eighteen years as Churchill becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer, defends the government during the 1926 General Strike, leaves office with his party in 1929, and enters a ten-year sojourn in the political wilderness while reaching his zenith as a writer. Moving into the 1930s, Churchill opposes the India Bill, champions Edward VIII in the Abdication crisis, and warns of trouble to come from Hitler’s Germany. The volume ends as war is declared in September 1939 and Churchill becomes First Lord of the Admiralty almost exactly twenty-five years since he last held that post.
Gilbert, Martin. Winston S. Churchill, vol. 6, Finest Hour 1939-1941. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin; Toronto: Stoddart, 1983. London: Minerva Mandarin, softbound and Book Club Associates, 1990. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2011. 1308 pp. ✸ A precisely written narrative puts the reader at Churchill’s shoulder over the most critical three years in his life and the world’s, as the early events of World War II unfold: Hitler’s triumph on the continent, Britain’s victory in the air, the Blitz, the U-boat war, Hitler’s attack on Russia, Churchill’s first personal contact with Roosevelt at the Atlantic Charter conference in August 1941, Pearl Harbor and the forging of the “Grand Alliance.”
Gilbert, Martin. Winston S. Churchill, vol. 7, Road to Victory 1941-1945. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin; Toronto: Stoddart, 1986. London: Minerva, Mandarin softbound, 1990. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2013. 1418 pp. ✸ This volume covers the balance of World War II: the great power conferences at Teheran, Yalta and Potsdam; the waxing of American and Soviet power and the decline of Britain’s role as a partner; closing the ring around Germany; arguments over invasion routes; growing concerns about postwar Soviet expansion; the atomic bomb; the election; and Churchill’s fall from office in July 1945.
Gilbert, Martin. Winston S. Churchill, vol. 8, “Never Despair” 1945-1965. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin; Toronto: Stoddart, 1988. London: Minerva, Mandarin softbound, 1990, Never Despair 1945-1965. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2013. 1438 pp. ✸ The final biographic volume covers Churchill’s last twenty years, including the opposition period (1945-51), the “Iron Curtain” speech at Fulton, the postwar premiership (1951-55), mixed relations with Truman and Eisenhower, failure of Churchill’s attempts to hold a summit meeting with Stalin’s successors, resignation, retirement and death, seventy years almost to the hour of his father’s death in 1895.
The Churchill Documents
Churchill, Randolph S., ed. Winston S. Churchill: Companion Volume I, Part 1: 1874-1896; Companion Volume I, Part 2: 1896- 1900. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1967, 1290 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 1, Youth, 1874-1896; vol. 2, Young Soldier, 1896-1901. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2006, 1290 pp. ✸ The Churchill papers, perhaps the largest archive ever assembled relating to one man, are only fractionally represented in the main biography. Here Randolph Churchill begins his collection of Companion Volumes, publishing all the main documents relating to Volume I on Churchill’s youth. Where an extract appeared in the Main Volume, the complete document appears here. Where space prevented the inclusion of a contemporary letter, it is included here. Rarely if ever has such a collection been preserved; rarely has such a collection been made available to public scrutiny.
Churchill, Randolph S., ed. Winston S. Churchill: Companion Volume II, Part 1: 1901-1907; Companion Volume II, Part 2: 1907-1911; Companion Volume II, Part 3: 1911-1914. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1969, 2160 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 3, Early Years in Politics, 1901-1907; vol. 4, Minister of the Crown, 1907-1911; vol. 5, At the Admiralty, 1911-1914. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2007, 2160 pp. ✸ This volume starts with Churchill’s maiden speech in the House of Commons and proceeds from that point to illuminate every stage of his political career: as back-bencher, Unionist Free Trader, then crossing the floor to join the Liberals; as Junior Minister (Undersecretary of State for the Colonies) and Cabinet Minister as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty. The manner in which Churchill’s restless mind was made up on all the great questions of the day is plainly spelt out in his correspondence….many other interests also assert themselves: books, travels, courtship, marriage.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. Winston S. Churchill: Companion Volume III, Part 1: Documents, July 1914-April 1915; Companion Volume III, Part 2: Documents, May 1915-December 1916. London: Heinemann, 1972; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973, 1686 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 6, At the Admiralty, July 1914-April 1915; vol. 7, “The Escaped Scapegoat,” May 1915-December 1916. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2008, 1686 pp. ✸ More than half of these documents, relating Churchill’s experiences as head of the wartime Admiralty, his resignation over the Dardanelles campaign and his time in the trenches of Flanders, come from the Churchill Papers; the remainder come from more than seventy different sources, public and private, not restricted to Churchill’s own writings. The context in which he was putting forward his opinions, and the part played by colleagues and opponents in influencing policy, are illustrated throughout by other people’s writings.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. Winston S. Churchill: Companion Volume IV, Part 1: Documents, January 1917-June 1919; Companion Volume IV, Part 2: Documents, July 1919-March 1921; Companion Volume IV, Part 3: Documents, April 1921-November 1922. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978, 2166 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 8, War and Aftermath, December 1916- June 1919; vol. 9, Disruption and Chaos, July 1919-March 1921; vol. 10, Conciliation and Reconstruction, April 1921-November 1922. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2008, 2166 pp. ✸ These documents are drawn from the Churchill papers and more than sixty other archival sources. Significant in this period was Churchill’s role in the making of the modern Middle East and his part in the Irish Treaty. Churchill’s personal life underwent many sadnesses, including the death in action of friends, the death of his mother and of his youngest daughter, and a growing personal awareness of the strong forces of disruption and chaos with which the 20th century was being threatened.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. Winston S. Churchill: Companion Volume V, Part 1: Documents, The Exchequer Years 1922-1929. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981, 1504 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 11, The Exchequer Years, 1922-1929. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2009, 1504 pp. ✸ The massive companions to Volume V were the first to appear individually, rather than in sets of two or three. As with past companion or document volumes, they support the main volume with papers relating to the material covered. This volume involves Churchill’s two years out of office 1922-24, and his return to the Conservatives as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Baldwin Government of 1924-29.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. Winston S. Churchill: Companion Volume V: Part 2: Documents, The Wilderness Years 1929-1935. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981, 1404 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 12, The Wilderness Years, 1929-1935. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2009. ✸ Documents herein testify to Churchill’s growing conflict with his party leaders over the India Bill, his departure from Baldwin’s Shadow Cabinet, his lecture tours of America, financial problems following the stock market crash, and his amazing literary output, led by the massive biography of his ancestor, John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough. His growing awareness of the Nazi threat is strongly evident.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. Winston S. Churchill: Companion Volume V: Part 3: Documents, The Coming of War 1936-1939. London: Heinemann, 1982; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983, 1844 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 13, The Coming of War, 1936-1939. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2009, 1844 pp. ✸ The most important, and until Hillsdale’s editions the hardest to find, volume of documents published to date, the work is concerned mainly with Churchill’s urgent warnings about Hitler and admonitions for Britain to rearm, his hopes for return to office, and his frustration with the reluctance of his colleagues to accept either him or his arguments. Included are key documents tracing Churchill’s sources of information about the state of German war preparations and, finally, his return to the Admiralty as First Lord as war is declared in September 1939.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. The Churchill War Papers, vol. 1, At the Admiralty September 1939-May 1940. London: Heinemann; New York: W. W. Norton, 1993, 1370 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 14, At the Admiralty, September 1939-May 1940. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2011, 1370 pp. ✸ After a decade’s hiatus, the companion volumes resumed under the War Papers title, thanks to the generosity of Wendy Reves, an old friend of Sir Winston. Documents cover Churchill’s recall to the government as First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of war in 1939; his failed attempts to take the offensive; the failed British attempt to stop the Nazi invasion of Norway; and the fall of the Chamberlain government. Gilbert examines Churchill’s second stewardship of the Admiralty in unprecedented detail, through his writings and those of others.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. The Churchill War Papers, vol. 2, Never Surrender May 1940-December 1940. London: Heinemann; New York: W. W. Norton, 1994, 1360 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 15, Never Surrender, May 1940-December 1940. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2011, 1360 pp. ✸ Churchill’s burdens from the moment he became Prime Minister were daunting. The German juggernaut swept across the Low Countries and France, which fell one by one; the British Army and thousands of French were rescued at Dunkirk, but arrived in England almost unarmed; the Battle of Britain raged in the sky and the Blitz ravaged English cities. Reading these key documents, one reviewer wrote, “is like peering over Churchill’s burly shoulder” as the most frightening and decisive months of the 20th century unfold.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. The Churchill War Papers, vol. 3, The Ever-Widening War 1941. London: Heinemann; New York: W. W. Norton, 2000, 1822 pp. The Churchill Documents, vol. 16, The Ever-Widening War, 1941. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2011, 1822 pp. ✸ By 1941 the war had engulfed the world, beginning with Britain still standing alone, and ending with Pearl Harbor and the Anglo-American-Soviet “Grand Alliance.” The editor adds a 70-page itemized index enabling the reader to “read this volume as a mini-narrative of its own, and refer easily to the different documents through it.” The work includes all of the 1941 Churchill-Roosevelt Correspondence, and numerous other complete correspondence records.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. The Churchill Documents, vol. 17, Testing Times, 1942. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2013, 1652 pp. ✸ This volume, the first extension of the document series in thirteen years, covers the year 1942, which Churchill in his war memoirs referred to as “the Hinge of Fate.” The war could still go either way, but the Grand Alliance, hitherto engulfed in a storm of military failure, began to see signs of future success and ultimate victory against the Axis powers. By year’s end, the Soviets had defeated the Germans at Stalingrad, the Allies had gained a key victory in Africa at El Alamein, and Churchill was politically secure.
Gilbert, Martin and Arnn, Larry P., eds. The Churchill Documents, vol. 18, One Continent Redeemed, January-August 1943. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2015, 2200 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The United States is thoroughly engaged in the war and the Allies have landed in North Africa after an acrimonious debate, but the campaign there is far from won. The Soviets might still desert the cause if the Anglo-Americans do not invade mainland Europe in 1943, or so Churchill and Roosevelt think. The French exiles under de Gaulle are impossible to deal with, but the old Vichy generals and admirals are probably worse. The great week to ten-day conferences—in this volume alone, at Casablanca, Washington, and Quebec—to settle the future course of the war must be prepared, staffed, conducted and followed up. Churchill’s 69-year-old body is showing the strain of it all. —Eliot A. Cohen
Gilbert, Martin and Arnn, Larry P., eds. The Churchill Documents, Vol. 19, Fateful Questions, September 1943-April 1944. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2017, 2728 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Fateful Questions is more than documentation. It is a story. Offered here are the thoughts of men and women who were living in those history-making days. It is well to remember that when these words were spoken, written or dictated—sometimes late at night in the comforting privacy of a diary—they did not know how it all would turn out. Only recently they had faced the prospect of imminent extinction—an existential threat to everything they held dear. By 1943-44, although a sense of confidence was building, the end was far from assured. The logistics of victory were an appalling challenge and burden. —Dave Turrell
Gilbert, Martin and Arnn, Larry P., eds. The Churchill Documents, Vol. 20, Normandy and Beyond, May-December 1944. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2018, 2576 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Despite its monumental length, there is scarcely a page at which the reader will not stand in awe at Churchill’s linguistic fluidity, clarity of thought and expression, sense of humour, foresight, sheer bloody-mindedness or capacity for impish mischief. Running through the entire length of the work is also a cold hatred of Hitler and the Nazis. When Normandy and Beyond ends in December 1944, the Germans have just been stopped from breaking through to the River Meuse, as the Battle of the Bulge turns in the Allies’ favour. —Andrew Roberts
Gilbert, Martin and Arnn, Larry P., eds. The Churchill Documents, Vol. 21, The Shadows of Victory, January-July 1945. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2018, 2150 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale. During these seven months, Churchill travelled 10,000 miles, wrote more than 1400 pieces of correspondence, and delivered more than two dozen speeches. He attended the Yalta Conference with Stalin and Roosevelt, and he then dealt with the political ramifications of the latter’s death. He saw the defeat of Nazi Germany and the drawing shut of the Iron Curtain. He met with Stalin and Truman at Potsdam, but returned to England before the conference’s end following his loss in the July 5 General Election to Labour candidate Clement Attlee. These stories are known and preserved by Churchill’s letters, telegrams, minutes, and speeches. This volume contains that record.
Gilbert, Martin and Arnn, Larry P., eds. The Churchill Documents, Vol. 22, Leader of the Opposition, August 1945-September 1951. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 2019, 2328 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: “What a wonderful thing it is, looking back, to see all we have survived. All the follies that England commits in time of peace did not prevent her true greatness from shining forth in the hour of need.” This is one among several hundred letters that appear in this stupendous compendium of every major document between the 1945 election and Churchill’s return to the premiership in October 1951. It is a vital part of his career. It encompassed the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan and her subsequent surrender, his Iron Curtain speech in Missouri, the partition of India and the creation of Israel, the Berlin airlift, and the founding of NATO and the European movement. Upon all of these, Churchill took important stances. —Andrew Roberts
Gilbert, Martin and Arnn, Larry P., eds. The Churchill Documents, Vol. 23, Never Flinch, Never Weary, October 1951-January 1965. Hillsdale, Mich., Hillsdale College Press, 2019, 2488 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: This final volume covers the advent of the Cold War, Britain’s relations with the United States and Europe, the maintenance and dissolution of Empire. Many documents deal with domestic issues and Britain’s economic predicament. The issues of state he dealt with as prime minister frequently intersected with Churchill’s huge social network and private life. Unique among his contemporaries, his politics, economics, social and private life greatly overlapped. They are not easily separated. Never Flinch, Never Weary bears testimony to Churchill’s fertile mind, social inclinations and action-driven personality. —Klaus Larres
1967
Bardens, Dennis. Churchill in Parliament. London: Robert Hale, 1967, 382 pp.; South Brunswick, N.J.: A.S. Barnes, 1969, 382 pp. ✸ The only specialized work on Churchill’s Parliamentary career, with thirty chapters exploring his long career in the House of Commons, scene of his greatest dramas, loftiest achievements and most humiliating defeats.
Budin, Stanislav. Jisty´ pán z Admiralty. Egy úr Az Admiralitásról [Lord of the Admiralty]. Prague: Mladá Fronta, 1967, 204 pp., text in Czech. Egy úr az Admiralitásról [A Gentleman of the Admiralty]. Budapest: Gondolat, 1969, text in Hungarian. ✸ Considers Churchill’s heading the Admiralty in the two World Wars.
Churchill, Sarah. A Thread in the Tapestry. London: Deutsch, New York: Dodd, Mead, 1967, 102 pp. En tråd i veven. Oslo: Mortensen, 1968, 100 pp., text in Norwegian. ✸ Churchill’s daughter Sarah’s account of her thoughts during the funeral of her father in 1965, including the texts of various past conversations, accompanied by sketches.
Coombs, David. Churchill, His Paintings: A Catalogue. London: Hamish Hamilton; New York: World, 1967, 272 pp. Revised and extended with Minnie Churchill as Sir Winston Churchill’s Life through His Paintings and Churchill: The Artist and His Paintings, Philadelphia: Running Press, 2003. Reprints. ✸ The standard catalogue of more than 500 Churchill paintings then known, each illustrated in color or black and white. While some paintings did not make this compilation, Coombs documented 90 percent of them, and offers an expert text to go along with the illustrations. The 2003 new edition expanded the list of known paintings while retaining Coombs’s original catalogue numbers.
D’Aroma, Nino. Vite Parallele: [Parallel Lives]: Churchill-Mussolini. Palermo: Cusimano, 1967, text in Italian.
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill. Englewood, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1967, 180 pp., hardbound and softbound. A “Spectrum Book” in the “Great Lives Observed” series. ✸ An outstanding brief life penned by Martin Gilbert when he was still Randolph Churchill’s assistant on the official biography.
Haffner, Sebastian. Winston Churchill: eine biografie. Berlin: Kindler, 1967, 206 pp. Reprints. Translations: Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Polish, Spanish. ✸ Brief but opinionated, the author calls Churchill a fascist hoping to crush the 1926 General Strike through civil war. Haffner criticizes WSC’s stances on India and the Abdication, but admires Churchill’s books. He says history would be little different absent Churchill until 1940, which he concedes was his subject’s finest hour.
Kim, Il-Sung. Le rôle diplomatique de Winston Churchill en rapport avec les Etats-Unis pendant la deuxième guerre mondiale [The diplomatic role of Winston Churchill in Connection with the United States during the Second World War]. Brussels, 1967, 112 pp. ✸ A study of Churchill’s relations with the United States during World War II, the birth of the “special relationship,” and divergences of policy. No information on whether the author was the notorious North Korean dictator (1912-1994), who supposedly wrote 10,000 books, speeches and treatises.
Miller, J.D.B. Sir Winston Churchill and the Commonwealth of Nations. Brisbane, Queensland: University of Queensland Press, 1967, 28 pp., softbound. ✸ The John Murtagh Macrossan lecture, delivered at the University of Queensland, Australia, 27 September 1966.
Price, Dorothy and Walley, Dean. Never Give In! The Challenging Words of Winston Churchill. Kansas City, Mo.: Hallmark Cards Inc., 1967, 52 pp. ✸ Introduction by Dwight D. Eisenhower. Joyce Hall of Hallmark was a longtime friend of Sir Winston, published several series of Christmas cards bearing his paintings, employed Sarah Churchill on the television program “Hallmark Hall of Fame,” and owned a notable collection of WSC’s canvases. This distillation of quotes is accurate, though it lacks attributions.
Schneebeli, Robert J. Winston Spencer Churchill: Leben, Reden, Gedanken, Anekdoten [Life, Speeches, Thoughts, Anecdotes]. Bern, Switzerland: Gute Schriften, 1967, 92 pp., text in German. ✸ The author was the longtime president of the Swiss Winston Churchill Society, which hosted many distinguished former Churchill colleagues at its annual meetings. Here he collects anecdotes, praises, and excerpts from speeches, and offers a brief biography.
Stromberg, Kjell. Kleine Geschichte der Zuerkennung des Nobelpreises an [Brief History of Awarding the Nobel Prize to] Winston S. Churchill. Zürich, 1967, text in German. ✸ Concerns the background and awarding of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Churchill in 1953.
Thompson, R.W. The Montgomery Legend. London: George Allen and Unwin. Churchill and the Montgomery Myth. New York: M. Evans and Co., 1967, 276 pp. ✸ The second of Reginald Thompson’s quartet of revisionist works, this one concentrates on Churchill’s relationship with Montgomery and dispels what the author considers false accounts of Monty’s conduct of the war. Thompson’s first book, The Yankee Marlborough, was certainly his best, but many years later his criticisms seem relatively mild.
Unknown. A Salute to Winston Churchill. New York: Publisher’s Association of America, 1967.
Unknown. Winston S. Churchill: Premier Nobel Per La Litteratura 1953. Milan: Fabbri, 1967, 780 pp., text in Italian.
Weil, Ursula and Otto. Churchill und der britishe Imperialismus [Churchill and British Imperialism]. Berlin: Buchverlag Der Morgen, 1967, 2 vols., 364 pp. and 464 pp., text in German.
1968
Ashley, Maurice. Churchill as Historian. London: Secker and Warburg, 1968, 246 pp. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1969. ✸ The only specialized work to date that relates how Churchill wrote history, by his literary assistant on Marlborough. Endpapers are color reproductions of edited manuscript pages. Ashley carefully describes how Churchill wrote his historical works and summarizes his conclusions on key issues in the light of history, but provides little analysis of the themes in, or final evaluations of Churchill’s works.
Dolan, Ellen M. Churchill. St. Louis, Mo.: McGraw-Hill, 1968, 28 pp. ✸ A juvenile extract from the text by Anthony M. Merthens.
Fedden, Robin. Churchill and Chartwell. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1968, 60 pp.; three printings through 1974; second edition 1979; third edition 1984. Hatfield, UK: Stellar Press, 1979. All softbound. ✸ The official National Trust guidebook, with an expert text, numerous photos and a genealogical chart, and a list of paintings hanging in the house at Chartwell. Foreword by Lady Churchill.
Fedden, Robin. Churchill at Chartwell. Oxford, New York: Pergamon Press, 1969, 50 pp. ✸ A hardbound deluxe edition of Churchill and Chartwell containing the same text (less the list of paintings at the house), plus seven color plates of the house and grounds; larger format, larger type, but only one small printing.
Gardner, Brian. Churchill in His Time: A Study in a Reputation, 1939-1945. London: Methuen, 1968, 350 pp. Churchill in Power as Seen by His Contemporaries. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1970, 350 pp. ✸ Though it claims to be impartial, this is a critical collection of articles which purports to tell “why he never regained his 1940 popularity, which had reached its nadir by 1942 and caused him to be turned out of office in 1945.” Denounced as “journalistic rubbish” by The Times Literary Supplement (28 November 1968), it nevertheless offers useful, not-often-consulted source material.
Gretton, Vice-Admiral Sir Peter. Former Naval Person: Winston Churchill and the Royal Navy. London: Cassell. Winston Churchill and the Royal Navy. New York: Coward McCann, 1968; Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1970. 338 pp. ✸ A positive account of Churchill at the Admiralty and in other naval affairs in both World Wars. Regarded by some as too uncritical, this is a standard work which deserves to be read alongside Roskill, Churchill and the Admirals.
Hyam, Ronald. Elgin and Churchill at the Colonial Office, 1905-1908. London: Macmillan, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1968, 574 pp. ✸ The only study of its kind looks at Churchill’s first government position in the famous Liberal administration of 1906-08. Given unrestricted access to the Elgin papers, the author analyzes Liberal colonial policy under Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Herbert Asquith.
Matejka, Jaroslav. Život Sira Winstona [Life of Sir Winston]. Prague: Svoboda, 1968, 558 pp. Extended edition, Bratislava: Vydav, 1968. Condensed edition, Prague: Horizont, 1970, 70 pp. All texts in Czech.
Richards, Kenneth G. Sir Winston Churchill. Chicago: Children’s Press, 1968, 96 pp. ✸ A large format juvenile for ages 8-14, nicely written and illustrated.
Thomson, George Malcolm. Vote of Censure. London: Secker and Warburg; New York: Stein and Day, 1968, 254 pp. ✸ Solid account by a Beaverbrook protégé of the 1942 Commons vote of no confidence, moved following British military reversals in 1941 and early 1942. Churchill won handily. A well-researched book, not by any means pro-Churchill.
Trukhanovskii, Vladimir G. Uinston Cherchill. Moscow: Mysl, 1968, 480 pp. Reprints. Extended edition 1989. Text in Russian. Winston Churchill. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1968, 390 pp., text in English. Reprints. Translations: Bulgarian, Chinese, Estonian, German, Hungarian. ✸ A rather balanced biography until World War II, when Churchill evolves from a wise statesman and ally (1941) to imperialist running dog and capitalist tool (1945). By Yalta, Churchill has become a hopeless warmonger, making wild accusations about Soviet aims; indeed it was he, not Stalin. who first broke the Yalta agreement. Listed as Uinston Cercill in some catalogues.
Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John, ed. Action This Day: Working with Churchill. London: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1968, 272 pp. ✸ Contributors: Sir John Wheeler-Bennett (introduction), Lord Bridges, John Colville, Sir Ian Jacob, Sir John Martin, Lord Normanbrook and Sir Leslie Rowman. This top primary source book, written at the behest of Clementine Churchill by six close colleagues of her husband, to refute the thesis expounded by Lord Moran (Struggle for Survival) that Churchill’s performance was seriously affected by his health. Important primary source material.
1969
Kimura, Takeo. Hittorū, Sutārin, Chāchiru: Sekai sōhasen o yatta sannin no seijika [Hitler, Stalin, Churchill: Three Statesmen Who Competed for World Hegemony]. Tokyo: Sechōsha Tsuchiya Shoten, 1969, 682 pp., text in Japanese. Abridged edition, 1971.
Langworth, Richard M. Churchill in Stamps. Camp Hill, Penna.: Churchill Study Unit, 1969, softbound. ✸ Stapled pages photocopied from the author’s Churchill biography using Churchill and related stamps to illustrate the story. Distributed by members of the Churchill Study Unit of the American Topical Association.
Reid, Percy G. Churchill: Townsman of Westerham. Folkstone, Kent: Regency International Publications, 1969, 80 pp., softbound. ✸ The author, a Westerham resident, worked for London newspapers and kept an eye on comings and goings at Chartwell, covering events and visitors of importance. He offers a unique look at Churchill as neighbor and villager.
Taylor, A.J.P., et al. Churchill: Four Faces and the Man. London: Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 1969, 274 pp.; Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1973, softbound. Churchill Revised. New York: Dial Press, 1969, 274 pp. ✸ Contributors: Robert Rhodes James, “The Politician.” Basil Liddell Hart: “The Military Strategist.” J.H. Plumb, “The Historian.” Anthony Storr: “The Man.” A.J.P. Taylor: “The Statesman.” These leading authorities take a mildly revisionist look at Churchill the politician, strategist and historian. Anthony Storr offers a controversial psychological profile, which has been criticized for overplaying Churchill’s periods of depression on the grounds that Storr never knew WSC.
Thompson, Carlos. The Assassination of Winston Churchill. Gerrards Cross, UK: Colin Smythe, 1969, 462 pp. ✸ Demolishes the myth, foisted by Rolf Hochhuth’s play The Soldiers, that Churchill was implicated in the “murder” of Polish General Sikorski. (His death was an accident.) Thompson, a friend of Hochhuth’s, became alienated by the latter’s sensationalist charges and wrote this book to refute them.
Urumese, K.P. Vinsttan Carcil. Trichur, Tamil Nadu, India: privately published by the author, 1969, text in Malayalam. Winston Churchill. Khottauam, India: National Book Stall, text in English. ✸ Malayalam is a Dravidian language related to Tamil, spoken on the Malabar Coast, southwest India.
Webb, Robert N. Winston Churchill: Man of the Century. New York: Franklin Watts, 1969 ✸ Juvenile.
Wilson, Theodore A. The First Summit: Roosevelt and Churchill at Placentia Bay 1941. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969, 344 pp. London: Macdonald, 1970, 344 pp. Revised edition, London: Eurospan, 1991, hardbound and softbound. Lawrence, Kans.: University of Kansas Press, 1991, 318 pp., softbound. ✸ Standard work on the first official meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland in August 1941. The author believes the main result was Churchill’s acceptance of the Atlantic Charter (worded vaguely when it came to the British Empire) in return for FDR’s support of Britain “short of war.”
1970
Bloncourt, Pauline. An Old and Young Leader: Winston Churchill and John Kennedy. London: Faber and Faber, 1970, 168 pp., softbound. ✸ A study in contrasts, noting many similar characteristics between the two statesmen.
Dupuy, Trevor N. The Military Life of Winston Churchill of Britain. New York: Franklin Watts, 1970, 208 pp. “Military Lives” series. ✸ Hagiographic but interesting, the book argues that Churchill is criticized by military historians but not by the public; and that Churchill was a military genius who qualified as one of the “Great Captains.”
Georghallides, G.S. Churchill’s 1907 Visit to Cyprus: A Political Analysis. Center for Scientific Research, 1970, 54 pp. ✸ Reprints in volume form from the Centre for Scientific Research Annual, 1969/1970, Vol. 3.
Halle, Kay, ed. Winston Churchill on America and Britain: A Selection of His Thoughts on Anglo-American Relations. New York: Walker, 1970, 308 pp. ✸ Foreword by Lady Churchill, Preface by Averell Harriman. Sequel to Halle’s quotations book, Irrepressible Churchill (1966), this is her distillation of his remarks on “the two great English-speaking organisations.” Well indexed, it covers his views of life and history, significant speeches in and about America, articles on America from 1898 through the late 1930s and his famous alternative history, “If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg.”
Haller, Adolf. Am Steuerrad der Weltgeschichte [At the Wheel of World History]: Churchill. Zürich: Schweizerische Jugendschriftenwerk, 1970, 40 pp., text in German. ✸ A brief account for young people.
Nelson, James, ed. General Eisenhower on the Military Churchill: A Conversation with Alistair Cooke. New York: W.W. Norton, 1970, 94 pp. ✸ Transcript of Alistair Cooke’s television interview with Eisenhower at Gettysburg, asking for Eisenhower’s view of Churchill as war leader and strategist. The answers suggest that Eisenhower believed Churchill’s chief value was inspiration rather than war strategy.
Ray, John. Lloyd George and Churchill. London: Heinemann, 1970, 42 pp., softbound. “Men Who Made History” series. ✸ A study of Britain’s two world war prime ministers, but less of an attempt at comparison than might be desired.
Rhodes James, Robert. Churchill: A Study in Failure 1900-1939. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970, 372 pp. New York and Cleveland: World Publishing, 1970, 400 pp. Reprints. ✸ Still one of the best critical biographies, this work dispassionately examines Churchill’s mixed career through 1939, concluding that had he died that year, he would have gone down in history as prominent but not crucial to 20th century history. Well written and researched. The sequel on 1940-65, A Study in Triumph, was forestalled by the author’s death.
Roddie, T.S. Winston Churchill. London: Longman, 1970, softbound. ✸ Brief work for young people.
Rodriguez, Lázaro, Jesus. Winston Churchill. Barcelona: Semic Española de Ediciones, 1970, Reprints. Text in Spanish.
Starcke, Grâ. Churchill’s taler. En analyse [Churchill’s Speeches: An Analysis]. Copenhagen: Københavns Universitet, Engelsk Institut, 1970. Commercial published edition, 1976, 108 pp., text in Danish. ✸ A university report analyzing Churchill’s war speeches, published when the author was studying at Copenhagen University. Duplicated in copy paper and bound with black tape, the first edition was available through the University bookshop.
Wolff, Michael. Winston Churchill. Geneva: Edito-Service, 1970, distributed by Heron Books, London, 320 pp. “Great Nobel Prizes” series. ✸ An ably-written illustrated reference handbook by a onetime assistant to biographer Randolph Churchill. Part 1 is a brief biography. Part II considers Churchill as novelist, eyewitness, biographer, historian and orator. Part III evaluates his achievement. Appendices provide timelines of Churchill’s life alongside political and cultural events; a bibliography; a family tree and essay on the Marlborough family; notes on WSC’s method of writing history; and brief biographies of Kitchener, Fisher, Franklin Roosevelt, and all the Prime Ministers under whom Churchill served from Campbell-Bannerman to Chamberlain. This work richly deserves a reprint.
1971
Coote, Colin. The Other Club. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1971, 154 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Authorized history of the dining club founded by WSC and F.E Smith. Modestly Sir Colin denies that Other Club is merely a group of Churchillian sycophants; but the great man, together with that Smith among Smiths, are here as Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger. Their coruscating wit shines through these pages of history. —Christopher Ford
Epstein, Sam and Beryl. Winston Churchill: Lion of Britain. Champaign, Ill.: Garrard Publishing, 1971, 176 pp. ✸ A well-written juvenile.
Liebfeld, Alfred. Churchill. Warszaw: Czytelnik, 1971, 536 pp., text in Polish.
Macrae, Robert Stuart. Winston Churchill’s Toyshop. Kineton, England: Roundwood; New York: Walker, 1971, 228 pp. ✸ About Britain’s secret weapons in the Second World War.
Sauter, Max. Churchill in Zürich: Gedenkschrift zum 25 Jahrestag der Züricher Rede am 19 September 1946 [Churchill in Zurich: In Memory of the 25th Anniversary of the Speech in Zurich on 19 September 1946]. Zürich: Präsidialabteilung der Stadt Zürich und der Schweizerischen Winston Churchill Stiftung, 1971, 12 pp. Reprints. Text in German. ✸ Produced by the Swiss Churchill Society to mark the 25th anniversary of the “Europe Unite” speech; issued with a phonograph recording.
1972
Andrén, Georg. Den Unge Churchill [The Young Churchill]. Kristianstad, Sweden: Rabâen and Sjèogren, 1972, 100 pp., text in Swedish. ✸ The author, a researcher in English politics, intended to write a long biography but died before finishing the first volume. Published after his death, this book comprises the first six chapters, bringing the story up to World War I.
Briquebec, John. Winston Churchill. London: Rupert Hart-Davis Educational Publications, 1972, 58 pp., softbound. ✸ A juvenile for classroom teaching purposes.
Churchill, Winston S., M.P. Commencement Day Address. Fulton, Mo.: Westminster College, 1972, 16 pp., softbound. ✸ Text of speech marking 25 years since the author’s grandfather delivered his “Sinews of Peace” or “Iron Curtain” speech on the campus in 1946.
Dzélépy, Éleuthère Nicolas. Le Secret de Churchill: Vers la Troisième Guerre Mondiale-1945 [Churchill’s Secret: Toward the Third World War—1945]. Paris: Le Pavilion Édition Roger Maria, 1972, 294 pp., softbound, text in French. Sekret Cherchil. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975, 308 pp., softbound, text in Russian. ✸ A communist view of how Churchill was ruining the peace and threatening a renewal of worldwide conflict after the Second World War.
Engstrom, J. Eric. The Medallic Portraits of Winston Churchill. London: Spink and Son Ltd., 1972, 52 pp. ✸ A standard work on Churchill commemorative coins and medals through 1972, illustrating each item, describing the designs and metals used, and stating 1972 market values. Printed on high gloss stock for maximum clarity, the work is indispensable to collectors, though sadly now incomplete.
Eppler, Elizabeth E., compiler. Churchill, the Jews and Zionism. London: World Jewish Congress, British Section, 1972, 12 pp. softbound. ✸ A positive view of Churchill as a Zionist.
Marder, Arthur. “Winston Is Back”: Churchill at the Admiralty 1939-1940. English Historical Review, Supplement 5. London: Longmans Group Ltd., 1972. ✸ Churchill’s conduct of the Admiralty during WW2 by the great naval historian.
Mason, David. Churchill. New York: Ballantine Books, 1972, 160 pp. London: Pan Books, 1973, 160 pp. Both softbound. Translations: Chinese. “Pan/Ballantine Illustrated History of World War II, War Leader Book No. 9.” ✸ A good brief summary, mainly stressing Churchill’s military involvements.
Schoenfeld, Maxwell Philip. The War Ministry of Winston Churchill. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press, 1972, 284 pp. ✸ A study by a noted academician on Churchill’s wartime service from an administrative viewpoint. Pro-Churchill, the author debunks some of the rumors about WSC meddling with service chiefs and micro-managing the war.
Yamanoue, Shōtarō. Chāchiru: Dainiji Sekai Taisen no shidōsha [Leader of the Second World War]. Tokyo: Shimizu Shoin, 1972, 206 pp., revised edition 1984, text in Japanese.
1973
Albjerg, Victor L. Winston Churchill. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1973, 260 pp. Twayne’s “Rulers and Statesmen of the World” series, number 22.
Boadle, Donald Graeme. Winston Churchill and the German Question in British Foreign Policy, 1918-1922. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1973, 194 pp., softbound, text in English.
Frewin, Leslie. Immortal Jester: A Treasury of the Great Good Humour of Sir Winston Churchill, K.G., O.M., C.H., 1874-1965. London: Leslie Frewin, 1973; second edition, 1974. 138 pp. ✸ A “wit and wisdom” compilation by a Churchill cousin, Leslie Frewin, in twenty-one chapters on everything from war to women to religion. The 1974 “Centenary Edition” was published in larger format with a special gilt-decorated white dust jacket.
Guillemot, Pierre. Churchill. Paris: Répertoire de la Presse Française, 1973, softbound, text in French. Translations: Spanish. Lima, Alencar Bastos Guimarães. Churchill 1874-1965. São Paulo, Brazil: Editora Três, 1973, 233 pp.
Lewin, Ronald. Churchill as Warlord. London: B.T. Batsford; New York: Stein and Day, 1973, 284 pp. Reprint. Translations: Portuguese. ✸ A character analysis based on personal interviews and published sources which examines Churchill’s failures and successes. A stylish piece of writing on Churchill’s character, tracing the background that made him the supreme war leader in 1940.
Mason, David. Churchill 1914-1918. New York: Ballantine Books, 1973, softbound. ✸ A positive examination of Churchill during World War I.
Matrat, Jean. Winston Churchill. Paris: Nouvelles Éditions Debresse, 1973, 248 pp., text in French. Republished softbound, 2000.
Norman, Barry, et al. Young Winston. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Charnell Theatrical Enterprises, 1973, softbound. ✸ An account based on the film of the same title.
Schoenfeld, Maxwell Philip. Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and Times. New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1973. Reprints. ✸ An account of Churchill and his times with questions of interpretation and evaluation that have not been resolved at the time of writing. Extensive revisions are incorporated in the second edition.
Stansky, Peter. Churchill: A Profile. London: Macmillan, 1973, 270 pp. New York: Hill and Wang, 1973, 270 pp., hardbound and softbound. ✸ This work collects many fine papers, some critical but all worth reading, on aspects of Churchill’s career, including his work as a writer, with some summary views of the total picture. Contributors: Clement Attlee, “Churchill on Balance”; Isaiah Berlin, “A Man of First Principle: Churchill in 1940”; John Colville, “Churchill as Prime Minister”; Robert Rhodes James, “The Family Man and Writer in the 1930s”; A.G. Gardiner, “Genius Without Judgment: Churchill at Fifty”; Ronald Hyam, “At the Colonial Office, 1905-1908”; Basic Liddell Hart, “Churchill in War”; John Lockhart, “Young Churchill.” Arno J. Mayer, “The Power Politician and Counter-revolutionary”; Goronwy Rees, “Churchill: A Minority View”; Peter Stansky, “Winston Churchill, 1874-1965”; G.W. Steevens, “The Youngest Man in Europe: Churchill at Twenty-four”; Anthony Storr, “The Inner Man.”
Thompson, R.W. Generalissimo Churchill. London: Hodder and Stoughton. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973; Newton Abbot, UK: Readers Union, 1974, 252 pp. ✸ Thompson’s third of four critical works expands his military analysis of Churchill from Montgomery to all the World War II generals, concluding that Churchill should have left war direction to the military. Should be compared with Pitt’s Churchill’s Generals.
Tipthorp, Peter and Columbia Pictures. Young Winston. London: Sackville Smeets, 1973, softbound. ✸ Magazine format, published to promote and document the film by the same title, starring Simon Ward in the title role.
1974
Aubertin, Émile. Winston Churchill lors de la deuxième grande guerre et de l’après guerre [during the Second World War and Postwar]. Bordeaux: Aubertin, 1974, 78 pp., text in French.
Briggs, Victor. Winston Churchill Centenary. London: New English Library, 1974, 160 pp., softbound. ✸ A large format documentary packed with articles and photos covering Churchill’s life, issued to mark the centenary of his birth.
Browne, W. Glen, ed. Churchill Collectors Handbook. Sacramento, Calif.: International Churchill Society, 1974, 34 pp., softbound. ✸ Printed from typed sheets, with halftones added, stapled into card wrappers. Pictures and describes Churchill commemorative postage stamps issued through the centenary of his birth.
Cawthorne, Graham. A Visitor’s Guide to Winston Churchill. Oldhill, Dunstable: ABC Historic Publications, 1974, 28 pp., softbound. ✸ A brief and incomplete guide to Churchill shrines in England, now well out of date.
Cosgrave, Patrick. Churchill at War: Volume I: Alone 1939-1940. London: Collins, 1974, 380 pp. ✸ The only volume published of an intended series. A scarce, early revisionist work “based for the first time on extensive archival research”; a critique worth considering.
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill: A Photographic Portrait. London: Heinemann; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973. Reprints. Subsequently published in Canada. ✸ One of the best photo documentaries, this work offers 354 expertly captioned photos tracing Churchill’s story from birth to death. The 1988 edition with extra commentaries was released to coincide with Gilbert’s eighth and final volume of the official biography.
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill and Zionism. London: World Jewish Congress, British Section, 1974, 28 pp., softbound. ✸ A pamphlet containing the text of a lecture delivered in March 1974 at Hillel House, London, based on material the author had been collecting for his book, Churchill and the Jews.
Kavanagh, Dennis. Crisis, Charisma and British Political Leadership: Winston Churchill as the Outsider. London and Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1974, 42 pp., softbound.
Longford, Elizabeth. Winston Churchill. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1974. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1974, 224 pp. London, Panther Books, 1978, softbound. ✸ A dramatic folio documentary with many new photographs, commissioned by Churchill family interests. Well-presented and without criticism.
Payne, Robert. The Great Man: A Portrait of Winston Churchill. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1974, 416 pp. Translations: Japanese. ✸ In a nasty piece of criticism, the author sees the worst in everything, magnifying Churchill’s faults and ignoring his virtues, with sweeping overstatements and generalizations. Ironically, the book offers a good, detailed chronology of Churchill’s life and is beautifully bound, with family tree endpapers that form a useful reference.
Pelling, Henry M. Winston Churchill. London: Macmillan; New York: E.P. Dutton, 1974, 724 pp. Reprints. Translations: Chinese. ✸ A balanced work, widely considered one of the best one-volume biographies, Pelling’s biography later had a new lease on life in a softbound reprint with a new introduction by the author.
Reid, Robert. The Churchill Years. Sutton, Surrey, Pobjoy Mint Ltd., 1974, 88 pp. ✸ Handsomely bound in brown leather with quality coated paper containing excellent line illustrations and a potted biography. Issued with platinum or gold sets of twelve commemorative ingots struck by the Pobjoy Mint.
Schmid, Alex Peter. Churchills Privater Krieg: Intervention und Konterrevolution im Russischen Bürgerkrieg [Churchill’s Private War: Intervention and Counterrevolution in the Russian Civil War] November 1918-März 1920. Zürich and Freiburg im Breisgau: Atlantis Verlag, 1974, 390 pp., softbound, text in German. ✸ A critical account of Churchill’s activities as Secretary of State for War during the Allied military expeditions in support of the White Russians against the Bolsheviks.
Tames, Richard. Sir Winston Churchill: An Illustrated Life 1874-1965. Aylesbury, UK: Shire Publications, 1974, 48 pp. softbound.
Unknown. Chāchiru. Tokyo: Boei Kenshujo, 1974, 92 pp., text in Japanese. ✸ On Churchill’s leadership in war.
Unknown. Churchill and the Press. London: Plaistow Pictorial, 1974, 48 pp., softbound. ✸ Brief survey of the statesman’s ups and downs with British newspapers.
Weidhorn, Manfred. Sword and Pen: A Survey of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill. Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New Mexico Press, 1974, 278 pp. ✸ The first comprehensive appraisal of Churchill’s literary output shows how his temperament, background and experience influenced his writings. Despite its age it remains among the best sources on the Churchill canon: erudite, balanced and wise, strongly recommended for its insightful, accurate observations.
Whittington-Egan, Richard. The Greatest Man in Living Memory. London: Associated Newspaper Group, 1974, softbound. ✸ Conventional centenary-of-birth tribute.
1975
Aigner, Dietrich. Winston Churchill: Ruhm und Legende [Fame and Legend]. Göttingen, Zürich and Frankfurt am Main: Muster-Schmidt, 1975, 152 pp., softbound. Reprints. Text in German.
Harriman, W. Averell and Abel, Elie. Special Envoy to Churchill and Stalin, 1941-1946. New York: Random House, 1975, 596 pp.; London: Hutchinson, 1976. Translations: Serbo-Croat. ✸ Based on Harriman’s personal recollections and private papers, Elie Abel describes decisions affecting the war and the controversies that followed. An important source. Harriman is careful to note that he was not present at the “Tolstoy” conference with Stalin where Churchill proposed Soviet and British spheres of interest in eastern Europe for the duration of the war.
Loewenheim, Francis L., Langley, Harold D., Jones, Manfred, eds. Roosevelt and Churchill: Their Secret Wartime Correspondence. New York: Saturday Review Press/E.P. Dutton; London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1975, 806 pp. ✸ A first attempt at the voluminous Roosevelt-Churchill correspondence, some of which was still under wraps at the time; eclipsed by Kimball’s three-volume Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence (1984).
West, Bruce. The Man Who Flew Churchill: The Story of William J. Vanderkloot. Toronto and New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1975, 202 pp., Toronto, 1976, softbound. ✸ Bill Vanderkloot piloted Churchill on many of his wartime journeys. Through the pen of Canadian journalist Bruce West, he provides a fascinating diary-based account of various adventures, amusing and scary, on those dangerous missions.
1976
Cohen, Gavriel. Churchill and Palestine, 1939-1942. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben Zvi, 1976, 102 pp. Text in English. Bound together with a Hebrew text.
Colville, John. Footprints in Time: Memories. London: Collins, 1976, 288 pp. ✸ Essentially autobiographical with emphasis on the author’s involvement, as a senior civil servant, with Churchill, whom he joined from Chamberlain’s government when Churchill became Prime Minister. The greater part of the book covers World War II, during most of which Colville served as one of Churchill’s private secretaries.
Jacobs, William J. Churchill. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Benzinger, Bruce and Glencoe, 1976, 96 pp., hardbound and softbound.
Lash, Joseph. Roosevelt and Churchill 1939-1941: The Partnership That Saved the West. New York: W.W. Norton, 1976, 528 pp. ✸ An eminent Roosevelt biographer comprehensively surveys the most significant alliance of the 20th century. Less critical than Kimball’s Forged in War and worth reading as a contrast.
Lavirotte, Pierre. Winston Churchill, l’homme de combat [Man of War]. Lyon: France: Ordre des avocats à la Cour d’appel de Lyon, 1976, 28 pp., softbound, text in French.
Pilpel, Robert. Churchill in America 1895-1961: An Affectionate Portrait. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; London: New English Library, 1976, 318 pp. ✸ An account of each of Churchill’s sixteen visits to the United States: from 1895, when he arrived in New York en route to Cuba, to 1961, when he passed through New York too ill to see an anxious President Kennedy. Finely written with humor and verve but not without errors.
Thompson, R.W. Churchill and Morton: The Quest for Insight in the Correspondence of Major Sir Desmond Morton and the Author. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1976, 224 pp. ✸ The fourth and final Reginald Thompson Churchill critique reveals Thompson’s main source for his Yankee Marlborough and later writings: Desmond Morton, Churchill’s prewar and wartime intelligence collaborator. This is a sad story: Morton became less useful to Churchill as intelligence became more formalized. Churchill paid decreasing attention to him, and Morton never forgave him for it.
1977
Addison, Paul. The Road to 1945: The Impact of War on British Politics 1939-1945. London: Cape, 1977. Revised and republished as …British Politics and the Second World War 1939-1945. London: Pimlico, 1995, 352 pp. ✸ A rigorously researched study of the crucial moment when political parties put aside their differences to unite under Churchill and focus on the task of war. But the war years witnessed a radical shift in political power, dramatically expressed in Labour’s decisive victory in 1945.
Ardemagni, Mirko. Processo a Churchill [The Questioning of Churchill]. Milan: Editione Negard, 1977, text in Italian.
Hägglöf, Gunnar. Tre män i Jalta [Three Men in Yalta]. Stockholm: Norstedt, 1977, 248 pp., text in Swedish; also published in Finnish.
Kano, Ryu. Haha to ko no sekai no denki: Chāchiru [World biography for mothers and children]. Tokyo: Shueisha, 1977, 172 pp., text in Japanese.
Roskill, Stephen. Churchill and the Admirals. London: Collins; New York: Morrow, 1977, 352 pp., Reprints, recently republished. ✸ A well-known critical account of Churchill’s often stormy relationship with Britain’s top naval leaders in World Wars I and II. For a balanced understanding, this is best be read alongside the more positive naval accounts by Bell, Gretton and Hough.
Smith, Jr., Arthur L. Churchill’s German Army: Wartime Strategy and Cold War Politics 1943-1947. Beverly Hills, Calif. and London: Sage Publications, 1977, 160 pp.
Unknown. Nichibei kaisen ni okeru Chāchiru no yakuwari: Sono yokusei senryaku no kangaekata to hatan. Tokyo: Boei Kenshujo, 1977, 30 pp., text in Japanese. ✸ Considers the role of Churchill at the outbreak of war between Japan and the United States in 1941.
Unknown. Painting as a Pastime. London: M. Knoedler and Co., 1977, 16 pp., card wrappers with many color illustrations. ✸ A catalogue of Churchill painting exhibitions at the Knoedler Gallery on Bond Street. See also the Wylma Wayne catalogue, 1982.
1978
Barker, Elisabeth. Churchill and Eden at War. London: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1978, 346 pp. Translations: Croatian, Slovene. ✸ Key resource to the relationship between Churchill, his foreign secretary and Roosevelt during World War II. Among the arguments covered are policy toward de Gaulle vs. Giraud of France, and the Morgenthau Plan for defeated Germany. An important sourcework.
Guiffan, Jean. Churchill. Paris: Éditions Masson, 1978, 188 pp., softbound, text in French.
Joly, Octave. La vie prodigieuse [Prodigious Life] de Winston Churchill. Brussels: Curiosity House, 1978, 2 vols., text in French.
Kimura, Takeo. Chāchiru. Tokyo: Tsuchiya Shoten, 1978, 246 pp., text in Japanese.
1979
Baschera, Renzo. I Grandi Ci Parlano Dall ‘Aldilà’: eccezionali contatti medianici con le entità astrali di Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill e Roosevelt [The Great Speak from Beyond: Exceptional Psychic Contacts with Astral Entities of Hitler, etc.]. Turin: MEB, 1979, 146 pp., text in Italian. Reprints.
Eggleston, George T. Roosevelt, Churchill and the World War II Opposition. Old Greenwich, Conn.: Devin-Adair, 1979, 256 pp. ✸ The author was with Lindbergh on the America First Committee, which opposed U.S. involvement in World War II, and was put on trial after Pearl Harbor. This is an interesting insider’s account, not without humor.
Gilbert, Martin. Winston Churchill. London: Park Lane Press, 1979; London: Marks and Spencer, 1980, 192 pp. Also published in New York and Sydney. ✸ At first glance a potboiler, this book is an important reference with plentiful, accurately captioned illustrations, many in color, including numerous examples of fine Churchill first editions. A must for bibliophiles.
Kawai, Hidekazu. Chāchiru: Igirisu gendaishi to hitori no jinbutsu. Tokyo: Chūō Kōronsha, 1979, 320 pp.; extended edition, 1998; text in Japanese.
Moore, Robin James. Churchill, Cripps and India 1939-1945. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1979, 152 pp. ✸ Stafford Cripps was a key Labour member of the Churchill wartime coalition, successively British ambassador to the Soviet Union and Britain’s liaison with India’s Congress Party leaders. This book critically examines his relationships with Churchill and rather unsuccessful overtures with Congress on future Indian independence.
Neilson, Francis. Churchill and Yalta. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Revisionist Press, 1979. “Revisionist Historiography” series. ✸ Second to none in his dislike of Churchill, the author suggests that WSC was solely responsible for all the ills that came out of Yalta. Some bibliographers question whether this book and the one following were ever distributed. It is listed in the Library of Congress, catalogue number 81002695.
Neilson, Francis. Churchill’s War Memoirs. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Revisionist Press, 1979. “Revisionist Historiography” series. ✸ See note to above entry. Library of Congress catalogue number 81000567.
Soames, Mary. Clementine Churchill: The Biography of a Marriage. London: Cassell, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979, 704 pages. Frequently Reprints, and revised, first e-book 2011. ✸ Although the topic is his wife, this work cannot be omitted here. A daughter’s book, yet not without critical analysis, still the most authoritative, reliable, accurate and literate life of Lady Churchill, whose husband said of her: “Here firm, though all be drifting.” The first book to read on Clementine; perhaps the only one necessary.
Weidhorn, Manfred. Sir Winston Churchill. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979, 174 pp. “Twayne’s English Author” series. ✸ An erudite account of Churchill’s writings by a leading scholar of the canon.
1980
Butler, William Vivian. Winston Churchill—Never Surrender. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1980, 128 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Finlayson, Iain. Winston Churchill. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1980, 64 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Humes, James C. Churchill: Speaker of the Century. New York: Stein and Day, 1980, 334 pp., several later printings, the last softbound. ✸ This book is not about Churchill’s oratory, but a well-written, potted biography with many quotes and views by Churchill’s contemporaries, not all of them accurately transcribed or cited.
Jones, Madeline. Churchill. London: Batsford Academic and Educational, 1980, 80 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Lee, J.M. The Churchill Coalition. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books/Shoestring Press; London: Batsford, 1980, 192 pp. ✸ A scholarly study of how Churchill put the wartime coalition government together, and how it worked (most of the time) as a team.
Patterson, Tony. A Seat for Life: Dundee, Scotland. David Winter and Son, 1980, 292 pp. ✸ The only specialized work on Churchill’s political career at Dundee, Scotland, where he held a seat in Parliament from 1908 to 1922, surviving the tumult of the great reform battles, First World War and the postwar recession. A most thorough account of his parliamentary relationship, swept away in the 1922 election. Profusely illustrated with many novel photos.
1981
Bailey, Eva. Churchill. Hove, Sussex: Wayland Publishers, 1981, 72 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Biber, Dusšan. Tito-Churchill: strogo tajno [The Top Secret Tito-Churchill Relationship]. Zagreb, Yugoslavia: Globus; Belgrade: Archiv Jugoslavije, 1981, 590 pp. Text in Serbo-Croat. ✸ A detailed account, well researched, including documents from the Public Record Office (now the National Archives), London.
Colville, John. The Churchillians. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1981, 222 pp. Winston Churchill and His Inner Circle. New York: Wyndham Books, 1981, 288 pp. ✸ Churchill’s best-known private secretary breaks the so-called Inner Circle into categories or areas of association. Colville is biased, scintillating, and sometimes damaging on Churchill’s political and social friends and colleagues from 1939 to 1955. A notable primary source.
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill’s Political Philosophy. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1981, 120 pp. ✸ A rare work based on a lecture by the official biographer, this book uniquely captures Churchill’s attitudes toward politics and government. His overriding doctrine, Gilbert says, can be summarized in a sentence: “His quarrel was with tyranny.”
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill: The Wilderness Years. London: Macmillan, 1981; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982, 280 pp. ✸ Nicely written and illustrated by the official biographer to go with the television documentary of this name, ably condensing Gilbert’s research on this subject from the official biography, volume 5.
Jaffa, Harry V., ed. Statesmanship: Essays in Honor of Sir Winston Spencer Churchill. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 1982, 280 pp. ✸ Sixteen essays from leading conservative thinkers, notable for Jaffa’s demolition of the myth that Churchill engineered the sinking of the Lusitania. The book concludes that Churchill’s conservative ideas were spurned and his long-term advice unheeded. Contributors: Angelo Codevilla: “De Gaulle: Statesmanship in the Modern State.” Kirk Emmert: “Winston S. Churchill on Civilizing Empire.” Edward J. Erler: “Solzhenitsyn.” Martin Gilbert: “In Search of Churchill’s Character.” Harry V. Jaffa: “Introduction: On the Necessity of a Scholarship of the Politics of Freedom”; “Can There Be Another Winston Churchill?”; “The Sinking of the Lusitania: Brutality, Bungling, or Betrayal?”; “The OKAY Imperial Presidency.” Marlo Lewis: “On War and Legitimacy in Shakespeare’s Henry V.” Steven A. Maaranen: “The Struggle of a New World Order: The Foreign Policy of the British Left 1931-1939.” Wayne C. Thompson: “Winston S. Churchill: Statesman as Strategist.” Jeffrey D. Wallin: “Politics and Strategy in the Dardanelles Operation.”
Kersaudy, François. Churchill and De Gaulle. London: Collins; New York: Atheneum, 1981, 476 pp. Revised and updated, 1990. Translations: Chinese, Czech, French, Spanish. ✸ For many years the leading work on the subject, this well-balanced work is a thoughtful examination of a complex relation, very worth reading. A mini-furor occurred later, when newly released documents showed Churchill was willing to write off de Gaulle as an ally if necessary to placate Roosevelt, but Kersaudy made that clear long ago in his book.
Leichtman, Robert R. Churchill Returns. Columbus, Ohio: Ariel Press, 1981, 98 pp.
Newhouse, Julia. Spotlight on Winston Churchill. London: Cassell, 1981, 92 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Pitt, Barrie. Churchill and the Generals. London: Sidgwick and Jackson; New York: K.S. Giniger, 1981, 196 pp. Reprints. ✸ Published in conjunction with a BBC television play written by Ian Curteis, this is the first sweeping review, generally positive, of Churchill’s World War II relations with his military commanders. Should be read with Thompson’s Generalissimo Churchill. Not often seen, worth seeking out.
Seldon, Anthony. Churchill’s Indian Summer: The Conservative Government, 1951-1955. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1981, Reprints. ✸ A standard work on Churchill’s 1951-55 Conservative Government distinguished by numerous first-person interviews.
Stevens, Lawrence. Winston Churchill and World War II: Plays, Puzzles and Activities about World History. Stockton, Calif.: Stevens and Shea Publishers, 1981. “World History” series. ✸ Juvenile.
Wallin, Jeffrey D. By Ships Alone: Churchill and the Dardanelles, Politics and Strategy of a Decision. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 1981, 216 pp. ✸ A wholly positive account of the attempt to force the Dardanelles by a naval task force, championed (though not conceived by) Churchill, which ended in a naval retreat and the subsequent failure of an attempt on the Gallipoli peninsula by a seaborne assault. Wallin maintains that the concept was strategically sound and would have worked—that ruination came because Churchill lacked the plenary authority to control events.
1982
Morgan, Ted. Churchill: Young Man in a Hurry 1874-1915. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982, 608 pp. Churchill: The Rise to Failure 1874-1915. London: Jonathan Cape, 1983. ✸ An exciting and learned work on the period, especially thorough on the Dardanelles attack, which cost Churchill the Admiralty. Handsomely bound with illustrated map endpapers. Although Morgan projected two more volumes, he was unable to convince his publisher to accept them; a shame, because this is a well-written, balanced and deftly argued work.
Schwinge, Erich Jr. Churchill und Roosevelt aus kontinentaleuropäischer Sicht [from the Perspective of Continental Europe]. Marburg, Germany: N.G. Elwert, 1982, 106 pp., text in German.
Soames, Mary. A Churchill Family Album. London: Allen Lane, Penguin Books and Book Club Associates; Family Album: A Personal Selection from Four Generations of Churchills. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982. ✸ Ranks with Gilbert’s Photographic Portrait (1974) as one of the two best illustrated documentaries. Handsomely bound and printed, with 429 illustrations including many never-before-seen photos and news cuttings, many from family sources, expertly captioned by Sir Winston’s daughter.
Wayne, Wylma, ed. Sir Winston Churchill: Exhibition of his Paintings 24th June to 30th July 1982. London: Wylma Wayne Fine Art, 1982, 72 pp., softbound. ✸ Catalogue of an extensive exhibition of paintings by Sir Winston, in color and black and white exhibited at the Wayne Gallery. Also includes paintings by his daughter Sarah (Lady Audley) and his nephew John Spencer Churchill, as well as sculptures by Oscar Nemon. Included is a list of owners and a bibliography. Contributors: Lady Audley (Sarah Churchill): “In Praise of Painting.” Sir Hugh Casson: “Honorary Academician Extraordinary.” David Coombs: “Worthy of More than a Casual Glance.” Ernle Money: “Audacity is the Only Ticket.” Anthony Montague Browne: “The Last Years.” Oscar Nemon: “Face to Face with Sir Winston Churchill.” Mary Soames: “His Beloved Muse.”
1983
Butler, Josephine. Churchill’s Secret Agent: Codename ‘Jay Bee.’ Ashburton, Devon: Blaketon-Hall, 1983, 206 pp. Reissued as Cyanide in My Shoe. Cheltenham: This England; Toronto and New York: Methuen, 1991. ✸ A stirring but fanciful account of a World War II female spy who allegedly reported directly to Churchill. Butler’s claims were dispatched in Nigel West’s Counterfeit Spies (1998, Chapter 12).
Cabado, Alberto. Churchill. Mexico City: Editorial Palsa, 1983, 80 pp., text in Spanish. Translations: French.
Langworth, Richard M., ed. Churchill Handbook. Hopkinton, N.H.: International Churchill Society, 1983. Churchill Bibliographic Data. First edition in volume form, Hopkinton, N.H.: International Churchill Society, 1992. ✸ Originally published in four-page installments with holes punched for looseleaf binders, stapled within issues of Finest Hour, journal of the International Churchill Society. Sections include membership roster, lists of the Society’s commemorative covers, checklists of Churchill stamps and books by and about Churchill. Later the bibliographic checklists were gathered in volume form as Churchill Bibliographic Data.
Louros, Nikolaos Konstantinou. He Hygeia tou Tsortsil [The Health of Churchill]. Athens: Ekdoseis Philippote, 1983, 74 pp., text in Greek. ✸ In Greek and Roman mythology, Hygeia (also Hygiea or Hygieia) was the daughter of the god of medicine, Asclepius, and Epione. She was the goddess/personification of health.
Manchester, William. The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, vol. 1: Visions of Glory 1874-1932. Boston and Toronto: Little Brown, 1983, 974 pp. Churchill: The Last Lion. London: Michael Joseph. Translations: Italian, French. Many editions since. ✸ Manchester’s lyrical biography makes for fabulous reading; the prologue accurately captures the vanished world into which Churchill was born better than any other work. Given short shrift by academics, the author was accused of hagiography (though he is sometimes quite critical), purple prose and mistakes large and small. Manchester has nonetheless brought more people to Churchill than any writer save Martin Gilbert.
__________. The Last Lion: William Spencer Churchill, vol. 2: Alone 1932-1940. Boston and Toronto: Little Brown, 1988, 756 pp. Churchill: The Caged Lion. London: Michael Joseph, 1988; Translations: Italian, French. Many editions since. ✸ In a powerful polemic, Manchester takes Churchill’s part as Germany arms and the statesman’s message goes unheeded. Excoriating the “Men of Munich,” the author nevertheless comes close to accusing Churchill of racism over India. The prologue, “Chartwell, 1932,” is a time capsule which takes the reader as close as possible to what life there must have been like.
Manchester, William and Reid, Paul The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, vol. 3: Defender of the Realm 1940-1965. Boston and Toronto: Little Brown, 2012, 1232 pp. ✸ The long-awaited finale to Manchester’s trilogy, completed by the author’s friend Paul Reid, who writes well. The book was criticized for “historical isolationism”: failure to consult the vast body of history published since Manchester’s volume 2 in 1988, and for rushing through the post-1945 years (a period Manchester had intended to omit). “Paul Reid has not written a biography, but rather an old-style ‘life and times’ narrative with guns and bullets, political conniving, oft-repeated (but worth repeating) anecdotes, lovely touches of the personal, and the most important asset—a hero. It is a nice cruise down a rather lengthy river that you’ve sailed before. There is nothing new or exciting; it is reassuring rather than challenging. Still, it is a lovely and literate view of familiar territory that massages old stories, nurtures legends and points gently to miscalculations and mistakes of the hero—who flawed though he was, remains a hero.” —Warren F. Kimball
Pelaprat and Dupuis. Les Ailes du Lion: Churchill [The Wings of the Lion]. Lausanne and Paris: Dargaud, 1983, 64 pp., text in French.
Prior, Robin. Churchill’s “World Crisis” as History. London and Canberra: Croom Helm, 1983, 394 pp. ✸ An Australian author argues that Churchill’s The World Crisis was at least a partial distortion of facts, omitting opposing views to justify Churchill’s own positions. While this renders it “a flawed work,” Prior concludes, “genuine efforts were made by Churchill to take a more detached view [and] it raised the whole intellectual level of the discussion [with] a thread of humanity and breadth of vision which together with the power of the writing will ensure it remains one of the classic accounts of the war.”
Thompson, Kenneth W. Winston Churchill’s World View: Statesmanship and Power. Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press, 1983, 364 pp.; softbound, 1987. ✸ A study of Churchill’s underlying principles and goals behind his concepts of power, politics and diplomacy, collective security and practical morality, demonstrating the relevance of his views to modern times.
Venkataramani, M.S. and Shrivastara, B.K. Roosevelt, Gandhi, Churchill: America and the Last Phase of India’s Freedom Struggle. New Delhi, India: Radiant Publishers, 1983, 492 pp. ✸ A nasty polemic. The thesis is that Roosevelt gave only lip service to Indian independence, while Churchill took advantage of FDR’s lukewarm advocacy. On Indian independence there are things to criticize both in Roosevelt’s hypocrisy and in Churchill’s earlier concepts of empire. But Hitler had worse things in mind for India, Gandhi ended life favorably disposed toward Churchill, and there are more balanced critiques than this one.
1984
Baciu, Nicolas. L’Europe de L’Est trahie et vendue: Les erreurs tragiques de Churchill et Roosevelt. Les Documents secret accusent. [Eastern Europe the Betrayed and Sold: The tragic errors of Churchill and Roosevelt. The Secret Documents Accuse]. Paris: Penseé universelle, 1984, 368 pp., text in French. Sell-out to Stalin: The Tragic Errors of Churchill and Roosevelt, The Untold Story. New York: Vantage Press, 1984. Also published in German. ✸ A French entry in the who-sold-out-the-West sweepstakes. The authors believe Churchill and Roosevelt lost the peace and caused the Cold War by their errors in dealing with their Soviet wartime ally.
Böttger, Peter. Winston Churchill und die Zweite Front [and the Second Front] 1941-1943. Frankfurt am Main, Bern and New York: P. Land, 1984, 228 pp., text in German. ✸ A study of Churchill’s reluctance to launch the second front Stalin wanted so badly after Hitler attacked the Russians.
Brendon, Piers. Winston Churchill: A Brief Life. London: Secker and Warburg; Toronto: Stoddardt, 1984, 234 pp. Several reprints. Reissued as Winston Churchill: A Biography, 2001. Translations: German. ✸ A miniature portrait with ample criticism by a former Keeper of the Churchill Archives, Cambridge. Brendon represents the revisionist case on a number of issues, particularly Churchill’s conduct of military strategy. It is news to learn that Churchill’s greatest single contribution to the Second World War was his oratory. Among numerous examples of the “demigod’s” failure is the despatch of tanks to North Africa [where the author says] “Churchill had not ensured proper testing.” The Premier must also be a mechanic. —H. Ashley Redburn
Callahan, Raymond. Churchill: Retreat from Empire. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources; London: Costello, 1984, 294 pp. ✸ The author sets out to explain how, contrary to his wishes, Churchill did end up presiding over the dissolution of the British Empire. But the book is also a review of his entire career, with emphasis on the two World Wars.
Hackett, John. The Man at Arms: His Place in Times of Widespread Insecurity. Zürich: Schweizerische Winston Churchill Stiftung, 1984, 16 pp. ✸ The sixteenth Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture presented by the Winston Churchill Society at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology on 22 November 1984.
Keller, Mollie. Winston Churchill. New York, London: Franklin Watts, 1984, 120 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Kimball, Warren F., ed. Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence; vol. 1, Alliance Emerging; vol. 2, Alliance Forged; vol. 3, Alliance Declining. Princeton, N.J. and Guildford, Surrey: Princeton University Press, 1984, 676, 774, and 742 pp. respectively. Several editions since. ✸ This seminal three-volume achievement collects all the Roosevelt-Churchill correspondence, carefully arranged and footnoted. Kimball adds scholarly connecting tissue to reveal the background, and his own opinions. A major resource.
Oddati, Nicola. Churchill, Roosevelt e il casa Sforza [and the House of Sforza] 1943-1944. Salerno: Edisud, 1984, 100 pp., text in Italian.
Trory, Ernie. Churchill and the Bomb. Hove, Sussex: Crabtree Press, 1984, 128 pp., softbound. ✸ A polemic by an activist in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), who excoriates Churchill for not opposing Truman’s decision to drop the atom bomb in 1945. In fact, Churchill could not have vetoed Truman’s decision, though he had no wish to do so.
Unknown. Churchill. Madrid: Urbión Sociedad Anónima Ediciones, 1984, text in Spanish.
1985
Cohen, Albert. Churchill d’Angleterre [Churchill of England], Paris: Lieu Commun, 1985, 60 pp., softbound, text in French.
Cohen, Michael J. Churchill and the Jews. London and Totowa, N.J.: Frank Cass, 1985, 388 pp., second revised edition, 2003. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: “Trial by Jewry”? A scholarly but highly debatable work, truly uncompromising in its negative view of Churchill. The book offers a wealth of detail and analysis with some thought-provoking arguments and scores a few hits. But it is ultimately defective in its judgment and marred by the prosecutorial tendency of discounting alternative interpretations of the evidence. —Daniel Mandel
Colville, John. Fringes of Power: Downing Street Diaries 1939-1955. London: Hodder and Stoughton; New York: Norton (subtitled 10 Downing Street Diaries), 1985, 796 pp. Reprinted softbound (2 vols.), 1986, reprints. Translations: German, Japanese, Spanish. ✸ One of the most important primary sources, and the most comprehensive of three books by Churchill’s best-known private secretary (1939-44, 1951-55). Colville came over from Chamberlain’s office, sharing the prevailing doubt over the “half-breed American” who had become prime minister. As the diaries progress, his doubts change to admiration. The biographic sketches in the back are literate, pungent, and withal not what you’ll read in Who’s Who. An invaluable and timeless primary source.
Dilks, David. Three Visitors to Canada: Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill. London: Canada House, 1985, 32 pp. ✸ The author later wrote a masterful account, Churchill and Canada (2005). Here he looks at Churchill and his two predecessors who visited Canada. Dilks’s balanced observations are always worthy of attention.
Eubank, Keith. Summit at Teheran: The Untold Story. New York: Morrow, 1985, 528 pp.
Fowler, Michael Ross. Winston Churchill: Philosopher and Statesman. Lanham, Md. and London: University Press of America jointly with the Miller Center, 1985, 84 pp. hardbound and softbound. ✸ Produced by the White-Burkett Miller Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. and Lanham, Md.
Hough, Richard. Former Naval Person: Churchill and the War at Sea. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1985, 244 pp. The Greatest Crusade: Roosevelt, Churchill and the Naval Wars. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1986. Softbound, 1987. ✸ A balanced and mostly favorable survey of Churchill at the Admiralty in both wars. Should be read with Roskill’s more critical Churchill and the Admirals and Bell’s more recent Churchill and Sea Power.
Ohashi, Takeo. Chāchiru: Anguro Sakuson no sekai senryaku [World strategies of the Anglo-Saxons], Tokyo: Manejimentosha, 1985, 344 pp., text in Japanese.
Petacco, Arrigo. Dear Benito, caro Winston: verità e misteri del carteggio Churchill-Mussolini [Truths and Mysteries of the Churchill-Mussolini Correspondence]. Milan: Mondadori, 1985, 212 pp., text in Italian. ✸ Another book concerning the purported letters between Churchill and Mussolini in which Churchill supposedly proposed conciliation. The story is pure fantasy. See 1952: Campini and 1962: D’Aroma.
Sainsbury, Keith. The Turning Point: Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill and Chiang Kai-Shek 1943. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1985, 374 pp.; softbound 1986. ✸ An account of the Moscow, Cairo and Teheran conferences and the handling of China by the Big Three.
Willis, John. Churchill’s Few: The Battle of Britain Remembered. London: Michael Joseph, 1985, 258 pp. New York: Paragon House Publishers, 1987, 258 pp. ✸ Not entirely about Churchill, but worthy of mention for the fighter pilots who saved Britain in her finest hour.
1986
Day, David. Menzies and Churchill at War: A Controversial New Account of the 1941 Struggle for Power. London and North Ryde, Australia: Angus and Robertson; New York: Paragon, 1986, 272 pp. Reprints. ✸ Australians long held a diffident attitude toward Churchill since his failure to send an armada to defend Australia when Japan entered World War II, and many still blame him for the Gallipoli debacle in 1915. Here an Australian academic offers the unlikely thesis that Prime Minister Menzies, who differed with Churchill over war policy involving Australia in 1941-42, was a serious candidate for prime minister of Great Britain. Well written and interesting, despite the exotic theory.
Gietz, Axel. Die Neue Alte Welt: Roosevelt, Churchill und die europäische Nachkriegsordnung [The New Old World: Roosevelt, Churchill and the European Postwar Order]. Munich: Wilhelm Fink, 1986, 548 pp. “American Studies” vol. 61.
Harbutt, Fraser J. The Iron Curtain: Churchill, America and the Origins of the Cold War. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986, 370 pp.; softbound, 1988. ✸ The author argues that Churchill’s hand of friendship to the Soviet Union, extended in 1941, was quickly withdrawn, and his long background as an anticommunist led to the hardening of America’s attitude toward Stalin.
Johnson, Ann Donegan. The Value of Leadership: The Story of Winston Churchill. San Diego: Value Communications, 1986, 62 pp. Reprints. ✸ Juvenile.
Karski, Jan. Tajna dyplomacja Churchilla Roosevelta w sprawie Polski [Secret Diplomacy: Churchill, Roosevelt and the Poles.] London, 1986, 14 pp.; republished, 1995, 24 pp.
Marrinan, Patrick. Churchill and the Irish Marshals. Belfast: Pretani Press, 1986, 412 pp., softbound. ✸ Four of Britain’s leading World War II generals—Brooke, Auchinleck, Montgomery and Alexander—were Ulstermen. Did that give them anything in common in their experiences with Churchill? The Ulster author is certain, writing “of an erratic political genius pitched against the superb craftsmanship of the Irish professional soldier, and of those resultant relationships which affected the destiny of all mankind.”
Pedraza, Howard. Winston Churchill, Enoch Powell and the Nation. London: The Cleveland Press, 1986, 184 pp., trade softbound. ✸ An admirer of Powell and Churchill, the author argues that each shared a belief in the greatness of Britain, and were opposed and ultimately thwarted by the “Little Englanders” among their colleagues.
Richardson, Stewart, ed. The Secret History of World War II: The Ultra-Secret Wartime Letters and Cables of Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill. New York: Novosti, Richardson and Steirman, 1986, 278 pp.; London: W.H. Allen, 1987. Reprints.
Rodgers, Judith. Winston Churchill. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986, 112 pp. Bromley, England: Harrap Brooks, 1990. ✸ Juvenile.
Rodway, E.A. Churchill: Your Questions Answered. Chelwood Gate, England: The Danewood Press, 1986, 32 pp., softbound. Reprints. ✸ A useful little booklet collecting information and facts about Churchill based on questions most often asked by tourists at Chartwell. Many personal and health details are related.
Soames, Mary. Winston Churchill: The Father Figure. Zürich: Schweizerische Winston Churchill Stiftung, 1986, 12 pp. softbound. ✸ The seventeenth Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture presented by the Winston Churchill Stiftung at the University of Zürich, 19 September 1986.
Weinberger, The Hon. Caspar W. Churchill: An Uncomfortable Hero. Hopkinton, N.H.: Churchill Literary Foundation, 1986, 16 pp., softbound. ✸ Text of the then-U.S. Secretary of Defense’s speech to the 1986 International Churchill Conference in Boston. The Churchill Literary Foundation was a publishing arm of the International Churchill Society.
1987
Campbell, Jeremy. Winston Churchill’s Afternoon Nap: A Wide-Awake Inquiry into the Human Nature of Crime. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987, 432 pp. Reprints, softbound. ✸ An outrageous use of Churchill’s name to sell a book having nothing to do with him. There is exactly one page referring to WSC’s nap, offering no further elaboration.
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill’s London: Spinning Top of Memories: of Ungrand Places and Moments in Time. Hopkinton, N.H.: Churchill Literary Foundation, 1987, 28 pp., softbound. ✸ Illustrated text of an address to a London dinner of the International Churchill Society. The author discusses Churchill’s homes and other obscure places in London which played key roles in his story, including the onetime London Magazine on the Serpentine, which Churchill had defended when war threatened with Germany in 1911. Churchill’s prompt action helped convince Prime Minister Asquith to name him First Lord of the Admiralty.
Holley, Darrell. Churchill’s Literary Allusions: An Index to the Education of a Soldier, Statesman and Litterateur. Jefferson, N.C. and London: McFarland, 1987, 220 pp. ✸ A unique catalogue of Churchill’s allusions to great literature from the Bible to Shakespeare and Macaulay in his writings and speeches, cross indexed by key words, including “unknown allusions.”
Irving, David. Churchill’s War, vol. 1: The Struggle for Power. Bullsbrook, Australia: Veritas, 666 pp.; London: Arrow Books, 1987. Reprints. ✸ A highly critical polemic regarded as without much credibility. Denounced by one reviewer as “a farrago of crappola,” yet filled with fascinating if dubious footnotes that can be found nowhere else, like “Mrs. Goering to the author.” Everyone is entitled to be heard.
__________. Churchill’s War, vol. 2, Triumph in Adversity. London: Focal Point Publishing Ltd., 2001, 1064 pp. ✸ Prior to publication, the author took up one of his themes, Churchill’s alleged cowardice during the London Blitz: “When he knew that London was going to cop it, he hopped into his Daimler and had himself driven out to Dytchley [sic] in Oxfordshire, for the night.” This was contradicted by everyone who spent time with Churchill: he went to Ditchley only seven times, not to avoid London but to avoid Chequers (official country house of prime ministers), which could be easily spotted from the air on moonlit nights. Luftwaffe raids over London were more numerous, and when they were expected, Churchill insisted on staying there. This vignette summarizes the kind of reporting contained herein.
Murray, Edmund. I Was Churchill’s Bodyguard. London: W. Allen, 1987, 302 pp. Reprints. ✸ Though autobiographical, most of this book by the late Churchill bodyguard covers his years as Churchill’s detective, 1950-65. Murray writes sensitively with much inside information, and insights to Churchill’s painting as a fellow artist. Includes some unique photographs.
Ross, Stewart. Winston Churchill and the Second World War. Hove, East Sussex: Wayland Publishers, 1987, 48 pp.
Smith, Ronald A. Churchill: Images of Greatness. London: Kevin Francis Publishing, 1987, 208 pp., softbound. ✸ The first book on Churchilliana, from toby jugs to pub signs, coins, stamps, chinaware, metal objects, glass, pins, sculpture, busts, standing and seated figures, bookends, bric-a-brac, and kitsch. The well-researched book proceeds chronologically rather than grouping the items by type, thus is difficult as a ready reference. Though its brief biography contains many errors, it is accurate and authoritative when it comes to describing the items, though the prices quoted may be out of date.
Weidhorn, Manfred. Churchill’s Rhetoric and Political Discourse. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1987, 136 pp., hardbound and softbound. ✸ Produced by the White-Burkett Miller Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia. An erudite guide to Churchill’s use of language in his persuasive oratory.
1988
Matthews, Rupert. Winston Churchill. Hove, East Sussex: Wayland Publishers. New York: Bookwrite Press, 1988, 32 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Miner, Steven Merritt. Between Churchill and Stalin: The Soviet Union, Great Britain and the Origins of the Grand Alliance. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1988, 320 pp. ✸ This scholarly work looks at Churchill’s refusal to recognize Soviet takeover of the Baltic States in 1941-43, how his Cabinet prevailed on him not to interfere with Stalin’s plans, and how that in turn only whetted Soviet appetites. A fresh analysis that is restorative rather than revisionist.
Savel’ev, Vladimir. Publikatsii ne podlezhit [Not for Public View]. Moscow: Sovetskaya Rossiya, 1988, 254 pp., text in Russian.
Williams, Brian. Winston Churchill. Bath: Cherry Tree Books, 1988, 32 pp.; New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1989. ✸ Juvenile.
Yao, Guang-Chen. Churchill. Hang Zhou, China: Zhe Yang People’s Press, 1988, text in Chinese.
Young, John W., ed. The Foreign Policy of Churchill’s Peacetime Administration 1951-1955. Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1988, 274 pp. ✸ Should be read alongside Seldon’s Churchill’s Indian Summer (1981), which was comprehensive on domestic politics. This work provides one of the few studies of Churchill’s 1950s ministry, covering the Soviet Union, Korea, relations with the USA, and events leading up to the 1956 Suez Crisis. A work that may offer more insight than either on this period is Leaming, Churchill Defiant (2010).
1989
Birkenhead, The Earl of. Churchill 1874-1922. London: Harrap Books, 1989, 552 pp. Reprints. Introduction by Sir John Colville. ✸ An epic volume by Freddie Birkenhead, son of Churchill’s best friend, F.E. Smith, First Lord Birkenhead. Not a hagiography, this is one of the best single-volume works, lyrically written with a soaring climax and a brilliant coda. Unfortunately the author died before he was able to finish a projected two-volume work. (See next entry.)
__________. Churchill 1924-1940. Bath, England: privately published by the Countess of Birkenhead, 1989, 216 pp. ✸ Because of his special knowledge, Freddie Birkenhead was to have contributed two biographic volumes on Churchill, keeping pace with Martin Gilbert’s official biography. His death prevented him writing beyond 1922, and the task was taken up by his son Robin, who had progressed to 1940 when he suddenly died aged only 47, in 1985. Robin’s mother arranged for this private publication of all Robin had written. It “has neither a beginning nor an end; nor did he have his father’s advantage of personal knowledge….It is only a first draft….his friend will agree it would be wrong to let it languish in the file, unset and unseen.” Not in the class of his father’s work, it nevertheless completes the task the Birkenhead family set itself.
Cannadine, David, ed. Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Speeches of Winston Churchill. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989, 356 pp.; London: Cassell, 1990. ✸ Collects some of Churchill’s best speeches, combined with connecting commentary, often waspish. Churchill’s speeches reveal “a man completely self-absorbed and egotistically uninterested in the opinions of anyone else.” (But included are three famous Churchill appreciations of Lloyd George, Chamberlain and Roosevelt.) The speeches were “ultimately ineffective” in that they did not achieve their objective, “his supreme ambition of becoming prime minister.” How many of his speeches had the Premiership as their objective? Readable for the speeches, if not the interpretations.
Dumova, N.G. and Trukhanovskii, V.G. Cercil’ i miljukov protiv Sovietskoj Rossii [Churchill’s Actions Against Soviet Russia]. Moscow: Nauka, 1989, 202 pp., text in Russian. ✸ The title is self-explanatory. See also Trukhanovskii, Uinston Cherchill (1969).
Emmert, Kirk. Winston S. Churchill on Empire. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 1989, 158 pp. ✸ Produced in association with the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy. The author takes a sympathetic view of Churchill’s attachment to what Emmert considers a “civilizing empire,” claiming that its object was needed to prepare subject peoples for responsible nationhood.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. The Chartwell Bulletins, January-June 1935. Hopkinton, N.H.: International Churchill Society, 1989, 64 pp. softbound; 25 hardbound in leather. ✸ First publication in volume form of the letters Churchill wrote his wife about politics and life in Chartwell while she was voyaging to the South Seas in 1935. From his septic tank backing up, to the Nazi threat to Europe; from his son’s political gaffes to the latest machinations in Parliament, Churchill shares every detail of his life at Chartwell with his absent wife. The letters, never intended for publication, add greatly to our understanding. Sir Martin provides detailed footnotes on people and places mentioned.
Grant, R.G. Winston Churchill. London: W.H. Smith; New York: Gallery Books, 1989, 224 pp. Reprints. ✸ An artistic potted biography with much new illustrated material along with absorbing historic photographs and artwork, many in color. Infinitely readable, an ideal introduction to Churchill, especially for the young.
Gunev, Georgi. Uinston Churchil i Balkanite [Winston Churchill and the Balkans]. Sofia, Bulgaria: Izd-vo na Otechestveniia front, 1989, 276 pp., text in Bulgarian.
Lie, Fu-Xie. [A Prime Minister at a Fateful Time.] Beijing: World Information Press, 1989, text in Chinese.
Yamanoue, Shōtarō. Chāchiru, Do Gōru, Rūzuveruto: aru Dainiji Sekai Taisen [Churchill, De Gaulle, Roosevelt: An Aspect of World War II.] Tokyo: Shakai Shisōsha, 1989, 266 pp., text in Japanese.
1990
Blake, Robert. Winston Churchill as Historian. Austin, Tex.: College of Liberal Arts, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, 1990, 16 pp., softbound. ✸ This short outline offers just a taste of what one can learn from Ashley’s pathfinding Churchill as Historian (1968) and the David Reynolds’ comprehensive In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War (2004).
Boyle, Peter G., ed. The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence 1953-1955. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1990, 230 pp. ✸ A compilation of the fairly limited correspondence between the two leaders after Eisenhower became President. There are few revelations, though the correspondence is fascinating. Some of Eisenhower’s letters to the aging Churchill in the 1950s, probably written by State Department hands, proclaiming the end of empire and refusal to consider any accommodation with the Russians, are almost painful to read. This work demonstrates the divergence of opinion between Churchill and Eisenhower over the possibility of a change in Soviet attitudes after the death of Stalin.
Bradley, John. Churchill. London: Franklin Watts; New York: Gloucester Press, 1990, 32 pp., softbound. ✸ Juvenile.
Bradley, John. Churchill and the British. London and New York: Franklin Watts, 1990, 62 pp. softbound. Translations: Danish. ✸ Juvenile.
Driemen, John E. Winston Churchill: An Unbreakable Spirit. Minneapolis: Dillon Press; New York: Macmillan’s Children’s Book Group, 1990, 128 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Hough, Richard. Winston and Clementine: The Triumph of the Churchills. London: Bantam, 1990, 590 pp. Winston Churchill: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Churchills. New York: Bantam Div., Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1991, 528 pp. ✸ A mildly revisionist tract, well researched but not as thorough as the leading Clementine Churchill biography by Mary Soames (1979).
Italia, Bob. Winston Churchill. Minneapolis: Abdo and Daughters, 1990. ✸ Juvenile.
Jablonsky, David. Churchill, the Great Game and Total War. London: Frank Cass, 1990, 240 pp.; Portland, Ore.: Frank Cass/International Book Services, 1991. ✸ In this thorough and well-written work, the author provides insight into the use of espionage and the involvement of entire populations in the wars of the 20th century. Churchill, he says, was influenced by his Victorian upbringing.
__________. Churchill: The Making of a Grand Strategist. Carlisle, Penna.: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 1990, 96 pp. ✸ Jablonsky fuses the relationship between strategy and the life of Churchill into a valuable monograph with a clear explanation of the multidimensional nature of 20th century warfare. This essay is also reprinted in the author’s Churchill and Hitler (1994).
Lukacs, John. The Duel: Hitler vs. Churchill, 10 May-31 July 1940. London: The Bodley Head; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990, 276 pp. Numerous reprints. Translations: Danish, Dutch, French, Hungarian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese. ✸ Starting with the not altogether novel idea that the first two and a half months of World War II’s active phase were a personal duel between Churchill and Hitler, the author states that the whole course of the war was decided during those eighty days. Paramount, Lukacs says, was the “duel of minds” between the two antagonists.
Martin, David. The Web of Disinformation: Churchill’s Yugoslav Blunder. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1990, 426 pp. ✸ Attacks Churchill’s decision, prompted by the advice of his Special Operations Executive (SOE) and Fitzroy Maclean, to shift British support from Mihailovic to Tito in the Yugoslav guerrilla war against German occupiers.
Nadeau, Remi. Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt Divide Europe. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press; London: Praeger, 1990, 260 pp. ✸ Published version of a dissertation which generally views Stalin as the victor in the division of Europe after World War II.
Newfield, Dalton. Young Winston 1874-1898: A Biography Using Stamps. Hopkinton, N.H.: International Churchill Society, 1990, 24 pp., softbound. ✸ A philatelic biography covering Churchill’s youth, featuring definitive stamps of the countries he passed through in his journeys through age 24, and other stamps depicting relevant people and places.
Russell, Douglas S. The Orders, Decorations and Medals of Sir Winston Churchill. Hopkinton, N.H.: International Churchill Society, 1990, 104 pp., softbound, 50 copies hardbound in leather. Revised edition, Washington: Churchill Centre, 2004. ✸ A comprehensive review of the circumstances surrounding Churchill’s decorations from governments or heads of state for military or government service. Each medal is depicted and its background described; major orders are depicted in color. The author provides a chronology of the times and a medallic history of Great Britain from Queen Victoria’s little wars through World War II.
Soames, Mary. Winston Churchill: His Life as a Painter. London: Collins, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990, 224 pp. ✸ Accompanied by excellent large-scale color plates, Churchill’s daughter provides a sense of what her father’s personal life was like as she weaves his hobby of painting into his years as a statesman, husband and father. Well written and researched; a good book to read alongside the painting books by David Coombs and Minnie Churchill.
Thompson, K.W. Foreign Policy and Arms Control: Churchill’s Legacy. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1990, 142 pp. ✸ A positive account of Churchill’s contribution to modern concepts of peacekeeping and arms control.
Thurgood, Mervyn F. That Bastard Churchill. Surrey, B.C.: self-published, 1990, 28 pp. softbound. ✸ “A scathing indictment of Churchill’s personality and policies. Author was born in Saskatchewan in 1923 and served in Italy with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. Appears to have been printed on a photocopier.” —Amazon Canada
Verrier, Anthony. Assassination in Algiers: Churchill, Roosevelt, De Gaulle and the Murder of Admiral Darlan. New York: W.W. Norton, 1990, 302 pp.; London: Macmillan, 1991, 302 pp. ✸ French Admiral Darlan, assassinated in Algiers in November 1942, posed a dilemma for Roosevelt and Churchill. His loyalties were a matter of conjecture. Drawing on interviews and primary sources, the author tells the story of a turning point in Allied-French relations.
1991
Edmonds, Robin. The Big Three: Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin in Peace and War. London: Hamish Hamilton, New York: W.W. Norton, 1991, 608 pp.; softbound, 1992; also published in German. ✸ A well-documented history explaining the war through the personalities and activities of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. The author offers a readable text and a useful reference work.
Franz-Willing, George. Roosevelt, er wollte den grossen Krieg: Churchill, Verteidiger und Zerstörer des Empires [Roosevelt, He Wanted the Great War: Churchill, Defender and Destroyer of Empires]. Rosenheim: Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1991, text in German. ✸ The approach is clear from the title.
Fromkin, David. A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East 1914-1922. London: Deutsch; New York: Holt, 1991, 636 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Not in Zoller’s original catalogue, this is as much a work about Churchill than any here, examining as it does the inside story of his wartime encounters with Turkey and his chairing the 1921 Cairo Conference. Despite its age, it remains a standard on the latter subject.
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill: A Life. London: Heinemann, New York: Holt, 1991, 1066 pp. Many reprints. Translations: Italian. ✸ Not an abridgement, but a ground-up biography including much information not known when the original volumes were written, especially the early ones. An important and vital work that must be consulted for information not contained in the early volumes of the official biography.
Golland, Jim. Not Winston, Just William? Winston Churchill at Harrow. Harrow, Middx.: The Herga Press, 1991, 40 pp., softbound. ✸ The author, a Harrow teacher, delves into school archives to show that Churchill’s schoolboy failings were greatly magnified, by himself and by biographers who accepted what Churchill wrote. In fact, he was a particularly good student in several areas, and even wrote an essay accurately predicting some of the events of World War I.
Harmon, Christopher C. “Are We Beasts?” Churchill on the Moral Question of World War II “Area Bombing.” Newport, R.I.: Naval War College, 1991, 34 pp., softbound. ✸ Making effective use of published sources, Harmon concludes that bombing Germany would have been less troubling after the war had British political and military elites ceased doing it as soon as their superior power permitted. This is perhaps much easier to judge in hindsight. The author shows that Churchill, far from glorying in the bombing campaign, had deep regrets over it and several times questioned its necessity.
Humes, James C. The Sir Winston Method: The Five Secrets of Speaking the Language of Leadership. New York: William Morrow, 1991, 190 pp., hardbound and softbound. ✸ Humes’s best book about Churchill. The author, a former presidential speechwriter, offers a how-to manual discussing Churchill’s oratorical precepts: begin strongly, focus on one theme, use simple language, draw a picture in the listener’s mind, and end with emotion.
Jefferys, Kevin. The Churchill Coalition and Wartime Politics 1940-1945. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1991, 242 pp. ✸ Although Labour, Liberal and Conservative members of the wartime coalition were of one mind on winning the war, their domestic differences were never entirely absent, and always kept in mind, most successfully by Labour.
Keegan, John. Churchill’s Generals. New York and London: Weidenfeld, 1991, 368 pp. Numerous reprints. ✸ An outstanding review of Churchill’s relationships with his military chiefs by the defense correspondent of The Times (London). Highly recommended.
Lamb, Richard. Churchill as War Leader: Right or Wrong? London: Bloomsbury Publishing, New York: Carroll and Graff, 1991, 400 pp. Reprints. ✸ The author sets out to exonerate Churchill from many popular condemnations, such as the failure of the Dieppe Raid, the bombing of Coventry and the attack on Pearl Harbor. His book was criticized for inadequate research in some areas, such as Churchill’s relations with Tito and failing to differentiate between broad concepts and specific actions. Nevertheless, this is an interesting and readable account which casts Churchill’s actions in a fresh light.
Martin, John. Downing Street: The War Years – Diaries, Letters and a Memoir. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1991, 224 pp. Reprints. ✸ Martin served as a private secretary during the Second World War. His diary-memoir is not as deep, long or insightful as John Colville’s Fringes of Power, but is important as another insider’s view of the wartime government.
Robert K. Massie. Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War. New York: Random House, 1991. Hardbound. 908 pp. ✸ A Pulitzer winner weaves a powerful narrative history of the pre-1914 Anglo-German naval arms race intertwined with brilliant biographical vignettes of the major players, especially Churchill. Neither adulatory nor overcritical; an insightful examination of WSC’s central role in this military melodrama. —WJS
Parker, Michael St. John. Sir Winston Churchill. London: Pitkin Pictorials, 1991, 28 pp., softbound. ✸ A compact photo documentary.
Pearson, John. Citadel of the Heart: Winston and the Churchill Dynasty. London: Macmillan, 1991, 478 pp. The Private Lives of Winston Churchill. New York: Simon and Schuster. The Churchills. Markham, Ont.: Penguin. Translations: Spanish, Swedish. ✸ The author purports to explain why Churchill’s children, except for Mary, turned out so “bad,” but this is a vitriolic, one-sided piece of research and an example of the depths to which Churchill phobia can sink, full of misquotes and excerpts out of context. It cannot be taken seriously.
Rusbridger, James and Nave, Eric. Betrayal at Pearl Harbor: How Churchill Lured Roosevelt into World War II. London: Summit Books, 1991, 302 pp. Translations: French. ✸ A conspiracy theory suggesting that Churchill knew in advance about the Pearl Harbor attack and let it happen to draw America into war. This is a longstanding myth that has never survived serious research.
Smith, Gregory Bell. The American Ancestry of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. New York: Self-published, 2014, 192 pp. ✸ A detailed genealogy of Churchill’s American mother Jennie Jerome’s forebears in colonial America and the United States.
T’ien, Chùng-jen. Ying-lun Hsiung Shi Chìu-Chi-erh. Taipei, Republic of China: K`o ning ch`u pan she, 1991, text in Chinese.
Unknown. Stalin, Ruzvel’t, Cherchill’, De Goll’: Politicheskie Portrety [Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill, de Gaulle: Political Portraits]. Minsk, Belarus, 1991, 366 pp., text in Russian.
1992
Addison, Paul. Churchill on the Home Front 1900-1955. London: Jonathan Cape, 1992, 494 pp. Several reprints. ✸ A classic work on Churchill’s domestic policies, elections and politics, covering everything from his entry into Parliament in 1901 to his last term as Prime Minister, which ended in 1955. The author is evenhanded, and has documented his work with a plethora of sources. “A tour de force.” —Kirkus Reviews. This work won the Farrow Award for excellence in Churchill Studies. Strongly recommended for the essential Churchill library.
Alldritt, Keith. Churchill the Writer: His Life as Man of Letters. London: Hutchinson, Random Century Group, 1992, 168 pp. ✸ Written to recount “the career of a professional writer,” this book had mixed reviews. Some put it among the best on Churchill’s literary career, others considered it light and frothy, offering nothing new. Should be read alongside similar works by Weidhorn, Ashley, Woods, Langworth and Rose.
Ben-Moshe, Tuvia. Churchill: Strategy and History. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers; Hemel Hempstead, England: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1992, 396 pp. ✸ An Israeli revisionist argues that Churchill was a habitual believer in backdoor strategies such as the Dardanelles in World War I, Europe’s “soft underbelly” in World War II; that he lacked skill as a strategist; that he deceived his allies and designed his war memoirs to obfuscate his mistakes.
Churchill Archives Centre. A Guide to the Holdings of the Churchill College Archive Centre. Cambridge: Churchill Archives Centre, 1992, 48 pp. Reprints. ✸ Defined by its title, a comprehensive catalogue of the archives, notably including Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.
Kettle, Michael. Churchill and the Archangel Fiasco November 1918-July 1919. London and New York: Routledge, 1992, 582 pp. ✸ Volume 3 of a projected five-volume work entitled Russia and the Allies 1917-1920. Only two others were published: vol. 1, The Allies and the Russian Collapse, March 1917-March 1918 (London: André Deutsch, 1981); and vol. 2, The Road to Intervention, March 1918-November 1918 (London and New York: Routledge, 1988).
Langworth, Richard M. and Redburn, H. Ashley. Churchill Bibliographic Data. Hopkinton, N.H.: International Churchill Society, 48 pp., softbound in grey wrappers. ✸ This work collects two sections of the Churchill Handbook (1992), namely “All the Books of Winston S. Churchill” by Richard M. Langworth and “A Bibliography of Works Concerning or Relating to The Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill” by H. Ashley Redburn. The latter contains biographies and studies strictly about Churchill. Includes Langworth’s foreword, “The 30 Best Works about Churchill.”
Mayer, Frank A. The Opposition Years: Winston S. Churchill and the Conservative Party, 1945-1951. New York: Peter Lang, 1992, 188 pp. ✸ The author contests the broad conception that Churchill in opposition took little interest in postwar domestic policy, but that he put the people and policies in place to convert the defeated Tories to a modern welfare party, enabling them to regain power. Critics complained that the book was riddled with errors, and gave Churchill too much credit for the transformation.
Mein, Margaret. Winston Churchill and Christian Fellowship. Ilfracombe, Devon: Arthur H. Stockwell, 1992, 60 pp. ✸ A scholarly juxtaposition of Churchill’s and de Gaulle’s speeches with elements of the Anglican Liturgy, this work is designed to explore themes of Christian fellowship and common citizenship. The author mobilizes a vast array of quotes (there are more notes than text); but suggestions regarding Churchill’s spirituality are perhaps overstated and misdirected. One could argue that his religion was a civic one, perhaps even deistic, based upon a rational ideal of Western civilization. —WJS
Robbins, Keith. Churchill. London: Longman Group, 1992, 186 pp., several reprints. Translations: Hungarian, Spanish, Swedish. “Profiles in Power” series. ✸ The book aims to show what made Churchill’s “commanding role in national and world affairs” possible. Said to be another “study in failure” (over loss of the Empire), this book praises more than criticizes. Compact, readable and good.
Sutcliffe, J.A., ed. The Sayings of Winston Churchill. London, Duckworth, 1992, 64 pp., softbound. Introduction by Robert Blake. Reissued as a hardback, 2012. ✸ A vest-pocket compilation of quips and quotes, with attributions, on youth, politics, socialism, parliament, contemporaries, war, history, Britain, America, Russia, foreigners, books, painting and himself. Also a section on “repartee.”
Weidhorn, Manfred. Harmony of Interests: Explorations in the Mind of Sir Winston Churchill. Teaneck, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University, London and Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1992, 192 pp. ✸ Considers Churchill’s political philosophy from six aspects: Polemicist, Conservative, Warhorse, Dreamer, Semi-American and “Great Man?” Is Churchill great because he was great, or because he wrote about his greatness? For those who enjoy Weidhorn’s other books, this is of the same high order.
Woods, Frederick. Artillery of Words: The Writings of Sir Winston Churchill. London: Leo Cooper Pen and Sword Books, 1992, 184 pp. ✸ Not on par with Weidhorn’s Sword and Pen (1974), this is a useful reference to Churchill’s books. Too much is made of the assistants who drafted some of Churchill’s advance manuscripts: after all, nothing was published that Churchill didn’t sign off on, and some drafts were rejected outright.
1993
Blake, Robert and Louis, Wm. Roger, eds. Churchill: A Major New Assessment of His Life in Peace and War. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, 582 pp. Reprints, softbound. ✸ Twenty-nine essays by mostly well-qualified contributors, notably including Addison, Pelling, Ziegler, Blake, Kimball, Ambrose and Jenkins. Inevitably uneven, the essays sometimes cover new ground or challenge outdated conclusions, but many other chapters reiterate standard arguments based on widely available sources or revisionist theories already deeply plumbed. Contributors: Paul Addison: “Churchill and Social Reform.” Stephen E. Ambrose: “Churchill and Eisenhower in the Second World War.” Max Beloff: “Churchill and Europe.” Robert Blake: “How Churchill Became Prime Minister.” David Cannadine: “Churchill and the Pitfalls of Family Piety.” Michael Carver: “Churchill and the Defence Chiefs.” Peter Clarke: “Churchill’s Economic Ideas 1900-1930.” Gordon A. Craig: “Churchill and Germany.” Robin Edmonds: “Churchill and Stalin.” Sarvepalli Gopal: “Churchill and India.” John Grigg: “Churchill and Lloyd George.” F.H. Hinsley: “Churchill and the Use of Special Intelligence.” Michael Howard: “Churchill and the First World War.” Ronald Hyam: “Churchill and the British Empire.” Roy Jenkins: “Churchill: The Government of 1951-1955.” Douglas Johnson: “Churchill and France.” R.V. Jones: “Churchill and Science.” John Keegan: “Churchill’s Strategy.” Warren F. Kimball: “Wheel Within a Wheel: Churchill, Roosevelt and the Special Relationship.” Wm. Roger Louis: “Churchill and Egypt 1946-1956.” Richard Ollard: “Churchill and the Navy.” Robert O’Neill: “Churchill, Japan, and British Security in the Pacific 1904-1942.” Henry Pelling: “Churchill and the Labour Movement.” David Reynolds: “Churchill in 1940: The Worst and Finest Hour.” Robert Rhodes James: “Churchill the Parliamentarian, Orator, and Statesman.” Norman Rose: “Churchill and Zionism.” Donald Cameron Watt: “Churchill and Appeasement.” D.J. Wenden: “Churchill, Radio, and Cinema.” Philip Ziegler: “Churchill and the Monarchy.”
Charmley, John. Churchill: The End of Glory, A Political Biography. Sevenoaks: Hodder and Stoughton, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1993, 742 pp. Reprints ✸ What publicized this work was a section arguing that Churchill should have backed away from fighting Germany in 1940 in order to preserve Britain’s wealth, power and empire. (Charmley did not say “make peace with Hitler,” as some reviewers stated.) Per the author, Churchill chose instead to make Britain a client state of America, allowing Soviet power to wax and the British Empire to wane. Whatever we may think of that argument, this is a well-written, critical biography from a self-described “Thatcherite” historian. The bibliography lists every significant book in English relating to the political Churchill, but is light on foreign works.
Delpla, François. Churchill et les français: six personnages dans la tourmente [Churchill and the French: Six Characters in Turmoil] 1939-1940. Paris: Plon, 1993, 824 pp., text in French. New edition, 2000.
Lambakis, Steven James. Winston Churchill, Architect of Peace: A Study of Statesmanship and the Cold War. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1993, 186 pp. ✸ After World War II, the author says, Churchill was a statesman attempting to achieve the high-minded international and domestic political tasks he had worked so vigilantly to keep alive during the war. The author lays out a frame of reference for understanding Churchill’s aspirations, efforts and accomplishments.
Parish, Michael W. Aegean Adventures 1940-1943 and the End of Churchill’s Dream. Sussex: The Book Guild, 1993, 400 pp. ✸ In this partly autobiographical work, the author says Churchill’s dream was to invade Europe from the southeast before or perhaps instead of the cross-channel invasion. Parish suggests that Churchill was betrayed by his allies, especially Roosevelt, and the result was Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe.
Wu, Chen-i. Chìu-chi-erh Yü Chan Shih Ying-kuo 1939-1945. Taipei, Republic of China: Taiwan shang wu yin shu kuan, 1993, text in Chinese.
1994
Baron, Alexander. The Churchill Papers: Revising the Revisionist, Unmasking Irving. London: Infotex, 1994, 150 pp. ✸ A critique of the revisionist writer David Irving and his book Churchill’s War (1987).
Costello, John. Day of Infamy: MacArthur, Roosevelt, Churchill, the Shocking Truth Revealed. New York: Pocket Books, 1994, 448 pp. Reprints, softbound. ✸ Another in the line of conspiracy notions unproven by facts: the cabal of Churchill and Roosevelt brought about Pearl Harbor, while MacArthur lost the Philippines and won the Medal of Honor.
David, Saul. Churchill’s Sacrifice of the Highland Division: France 1940. London, Washington: Brassey’s, 1994, 276 pp. Reprints. ✸ In this history of the 51st (Highland) Division in France in 1939-1940, the author concludes that Churchill “needed to sacrifice” the Division to provide a concrete example of Britain’s determination to stand by France to the end.
Gilbert, Martin. In Search of Churchill: A Historian’s Journey. London: HarperCollins, 338 pp. New York: John Wiley, 1994, 416 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ The official biographer’s fascinating adventures and interviews in the process of compiling the official biography. This is also Gilbert’s answer to critics over the years who accused him of being uncritical about a man others have spent years denouncing. Having examined more evidence than anyone in writing the official biography, Gilbert states that he came away even more impressed with Churchill’s intellect, generosity, statesmanship and humanity. Cited by many as the best Churchill book of 1994. Especially useful to the scholar interested in primary source material.
Humes, James C., ed. The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill. New York: Harper, 1994, 234 pp., “Harper Perennial.” Reprints, softbound. Foreword by Richard M. Nixon. ✸ Interesting chapters entitled “Orations and Opinions,” “Coiner of Phrases,” “Saints and Sinners,” “Escapades and Encounters,” with appendices on milestones in Churchill’s life and his writings. Unfortunately, the quotes are not attributed, and quite a few are either apocryphal or inaccurate.
Jablonsky, David, ed. Churchill and Hitler: Selected Essays on the Political-Military Direction of Total War. Ilford, Essex and Portland, Ore.: Frank Cass, 1994, 328 pp. ✸ A mildly revisionist and somewhat technocratic presentation analyzes aspects of the style, thought and actions of Churchill and Hitler as they apply to the direction of total war. Jablonsky presents a thoughtful, persuasive and well-written examination of the leadership abilities that made Churchill a hero and Hitler a villain. —WJS
Kilzer, Louis C. Churchill’s Deception: The Dark Secret That Destroyed Nazi Germany. New York and London: Simon and Schuster, 1994, 336 pp. ✸ The author argues that Churchill tricked Hitler into attacking the Soviet Union, a deception that led to the deaths of 20 million Russians, unleashed the Holocaust and resulted in the Cold War. The author should have read Mein Kampf.
Lace, William W. The Importance of Winston Churchill. San Diego: Lucent Books, 1994, 128 pp. In the “Importance of” series. ✸ Juvenile.
Lawlor, Sheila. Churchill and the Politics of War 1940-1941. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, 270 pp., softbound and a limited number hardbound. ✸ Analyzes conflicting views and reactions to events among Britain’s leaders. Lawlor consults diaries and private letters to show how Chamberlain joined Churchill in concluding there was no compromise with Hitler after the fall of France, while Halifax leaned toward a negotiated settlement. Her book demonstrates that latter-day hindsight is no substitute for primary source material recorded at the time.
Marshall, John David. In Pursuit of a Ticket for Churchill’s Fulton Speech: The Story Behind Ticket 1476. Murfreesboro, Tenn.: Chartwell South Press, 1994, 20 pp., softbound. Limited to “about 101 copies.” ✸ In a self-published monograph, the author tells how, as a high school student in 1946, he gained admission to hear Churchill’s “Sinews of Peace” speech at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri.
Ponting, Clive. Churchill. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1994, 900 pp. Reprints, softbound. ✸ A compendium of vitriol which is hard to beat for twisted facts and out-of-context quotes, sorely lacking in scholarship. A leading example of what William Manchester called “generational chauvinism”: condemning figures of the past for failing to measure up to the moral standards, such as they are, of the present. Recommended for the library that must have everything.
Riott, Pat. The Greatest Story Never Told: Winston Churchill and the Crash of 1929. Oak Brook, Ill.: Nanoman Press, 1994, 216 pp. ✸ This must be the most bizarre conspiracy theory: Churchill helped cause the Wall Street debacle that wiped him out financially.
Roberts, Andrew. Eminent Churchillians. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994; New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995, 354 pp. ✸ Patterned after Lytton Strachey’s Eminent Victorians, and equally literate. While not in Zoller’s original Section A, this is an important book about Churchill, whose relations with the “eminences” described is closely followed, particularly in two chapters: “The Tories versus Churchill during ‘Their Finest Hour’” and “Churchill, Race and the ‘Magpie Society.’”
Rose, Norman. Churchill: An Unruly Life. London: Simon and Schuster; Churchill: The Unruly Giant. New York: Free Press, 1994, 516 pp. Softbound reprints. Translations: Russian. ✸ “Rose lays more stress on Churchill’s struggles and flaws than on his successes and strengths [but] presents Churchill’s early career as preparation.” This biography by an Israeli historian gleams with unfamiliar quotations, although the copy editor could have done a better job. Rose’s book is a model among political biographies: judicious and well-crafted.
Sainsbury, Keith. Churchill and Roosevelt at War: The War They Fought and the Peace They Hoped to Make. New York: New York University Press, London: Macmillan, 1994, 224 pp. Revised edition, 1996. ✸ Described by a reviewer as “Charmley Lite,” this scholarly collection of essays aims to reexamine and reinterpret the Churchill-Roosevelt relationship, particularly over the issues of France, China, Poland and the World War II Second Front, to show how Churchill presided over the decline of British greatness. —WJS
Sandys, Celia. From Winston with Love and Kisses. London: Sinclair-Stevenson/Reed Consumer Books, 1994, 224 pp. The Young Churchill. New York: Dutton 1995, 224 pp. Translations: Japanese. ✸ A colorful and interesting book on Churchill’s youth by his granddaughter, with many fascinating new color and black and white illustrations. Though the ground is well-trod by other works, this uncritical work by his granddaughter provides useful insight into Churchill’s formative years.
1995
Alldritt, Keith. The Greatest of Friends: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill 1941- 1945. New York: St. Martin’s Press; London: Robert Hale, 1995, 224 pp. ✸ An account of a colorful relationship between two formidable and complex personalities, with its rich vein of wit, poignancy and hubris, and its parade of successes and failures, betrayals and jealousies, tiffs and snubs. Some readers find it fairly light, with little that is new.
Ashizawa, Yoshiko. Chāchiru. Tokyo: Gyosei, 1995, 304 pp., text in Japanese. ✸ Juvenile.
Cavalleri, Giorgio. Ombre sul lago: dal carteggio Churchill-Mussolini [Shadows on the Lake: The Correspondence Churchill-Mussolini]. Casale Monferrato, AL: Piemme, 1994, 240 pp., text in Italian. ✸ Commentary by Hillsdale. Surely more ink has been wasted on the non-existent or forged Churchill-Mussolini letters than on any other fictitious assertion.
Charmley, John. Churchill’s Grand Alliance: The Anglo-American Special Relationship 1940-1957. London: Hodder and Stoughton, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1995, 428 pp. Reprints. ✸ The author argues that Churchill and his successors rendered Britain the vassal state of America. Charmley’s argument has a degree of validity, though many of Britain’s wounds were self-inflicted. For example, the author ignores the many instances, such as India, where Churchill successfully opposed Roosevelt’s initiatives and prescriptions. Nevertheless, this book is a solid critical history, well researched and welcome to thoughtful readers.
Hermann, Richard. Med skejebnen i hånden: Churchill-slekten i krig og fred [With Destiny in Hand: The Churchill Clan in War and Peace]. Oslo: Cappelens, 1995, 380 pp., text in Norwegian.
James, Alfred, ed. References in the Indices to Sir Winston Churchill, Parliamentary Debates, Official Report (Hansard) House of Commons. 2 vols., 1901-25 and 1926-65. Wahroonga, Australia, privately published by the author, 1995, 175 pp. and 190 pp. respectively. Limited to 20 copies. ✸ A useful index to Churchill in Hansard, since eclipsed by online resources.
Jordan, Anthony J. Churchill: A Founder of Modern Ireland. Dublin: Westport Books, 1995, 208 pp. ✸ Discusses Churchill’s role in forging the 1922 Irish Treaty.
Larres, Klaus. Politik der Illusionen: Churchill, Eisenhower und die deutsche Frage [Politics of Illusion: Churchill, Eisenhower and the German Question]. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1995, 336 pp., text in German.
Mansfield, Stephen. Never Give In: The Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill. Elkton, Md.: Highland Books, 1995, 225 pp. Reprints. Republished Never Give In: The Character and Greatness of Winston Churchill. Hero in Time of Crisis, 2000. ✸ Explains eloquently why Britain lacked Churchill’s will during the rise of Hitler, but the influence of religion is seriously overdrawn. Churchill “never felt obligated [crassly to] advertise himself as a believer” (perhaps because he wasn’t one). There are also many incorrect statements about Churchill’s wife, son, mother, even Chartwell Farm. Churchill was indeed, “a noble spirit.” His nobility of character still deserves exposition. —Michael Richards
Mieder, Wolfgang and Bryan, George B. The Proverbial Winston S. Churchill: An Index to Proverbs in the Works of Sir Winston Churchill. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press; London: Cassell, 1995, 436 pp. Reprints, softbound. ✸ The authors track Churchill’s use of proverbs, folklore and famous expressions in his writings and speeches. (Look up “blood, toil, tears and sweat” and you find Churchill joined “blood and tears” in 1900 and added “sweat” in 1931.) When Churchill used quote marks around an expression, the authors find the source. But they display little knowledge of Churchill’s canon, make many errors, and use a clumsy numerical reference to Churchill’s books following no bibliographic order. The book does show how Churchill’s photographic memory helped him cast back for proverbs in his writings and speeches.
Montague Browne, Anthony. Long Sunset: Memoirs of Winston Churchill’s Last Private Secretary. London: Cassell, 1995, 376 pp. Reprints. ✸ An intimate memoir of “life on the inside,” eloquently written by his 1952-65 private secretary; forthright and at times blunt, eminently readable and exciting. Also covers Montague Browne’s career in the wartime RAF, the postwar Foreign Office, and as a courtier to HM the Queen.
Parker, R.A.C., ed. Winston Churchill: Studies in Statesmanship. London: Brassey’s, 1995, 260 pp. Expanded edition, 2002. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Papers range from the daughterly observations of Lady Soames to Churchill’s relations with Adenauer and his approach to such abstracts as “the European Idea.” Contributors: Martin Gilbert: “Churchill and the European Idea.” Tage Kaarsted: “Churchill and the Small States of Europe: The Danish Case.” François Kersaudy: “Churchill and de Gaulle.” Warren Kimball: “Churchill, Roosevelt and Post-War Europe.” Wolfgang Krieger: “Churchill and the Defence of the West 1951-1955.” Bernd Martin: “Churchill and Hitler, 1940.” Brian McKercher: “Churchill, the European Balance of Power and the USA.” Phillip O’Brien: “Churchill and the U.S. Navy.” Ritchie Ovendale: “Churchill and the Middle East.” Alistair Parker: Introduction. Paolo Pombeni: “Churchill and Italy 1922-1940.” Anita Pramowska: “Churchill and Poland.” Hans-Peter Schwarz: “Churchill and Adenauer.” Mary Soames: “Memories of Winston Churchill.” Jon Sumida: “Churchill and British Sea Power 1908-1929.” Maurice Vaisse: “Churchill and France 1951-1955.” A diverse international collection of Churchill studies, produced in association with Correlli Barnett and Churchill College, Cambridge. Contributors are from Poland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Canada, the USA and UK. —RML
Rachev, Stoian. Churchil, Bulgaria i Balkanite 1939-1945 [Churchill, Bulgaria and the Balkans]. Sofia: S. Rachev, 1995, 500 pp., text in Bulgarian.
Ramsden, John A. The Age of Churchill and Eden 1940-1957. London, Longman, 1995, 350 pp. Volume 4 in the series “The History of the Conservative Party.” ✸ This important work naturally contains numerous political references to the premierships of Churchill and Eden.
Ratnu, Inder Dan. Alternative to Churchill: The Eternal Bondage. Jaipur, India: self-published by the author, 1995, softbound. ✸ Part fiction. World War II is recounted accurately until May 1940, when the author fashions an alternate history: Chamberlain remains prime minister, loses the Battle of Britain; Russia falls to the Germans; America is isolated, then subdued with the help of atomic bombs; the Third Reich triumphs; Churchill ends his life in exile in the Falkland Islands, where he sparks a guerrilla movement. The text wanders and English is not the author’s first language, but this is an imaginative and chilling account of what might have happened.
Rintala, Marvin. Lloyd George and Churchill: How Friendship Changed Politics. Lanham, Md.: Madison Books, distributed by National Book Network, 1995, 232 pp. ✸ A good book on the subject is needed, but this isn’t it. There is much about Lloyd George and Churchill, some of it incorrect, some written in poor English; but the main fault is insufficient comparison between them and analysis of their complex relationship. There is nothing, for example, on their pre-World War I collaboration on defense, and little on their post-1917 political relations.
Shogan, Robert. Hard Bargain: How FDR Twisted Churchill’s Arm, Evaded the Law, and Changed the Role of the American Presidency. New York: Scribner, 1995, 320 pp. Reprints. ✸ In the destroyers-for-bases swap with Churchill, the author writes, Roosevelt helped keep Britain in the war in 1941—but he also laid groundwork for an Imperial Presidency, which led in time to Korea, Vietnam, Iran-Contra, Desert Storm and Haiti. Despite its hair-raising title, this book comes with notable endorsements and is worth a look.
Thomas, David A. Churchill: The Member for Woodford. Iford, Essex: Frank Cass, 1995, 224 pp. ✸ A detailed history of Churchill and the constituency he represented from 1924 to 1964. The author, a naval historian, takes time out from his usual pursuits to compile the results for every Churchill election, summarizing the campaigns and tracing the history of Churchill’s career as a local MP. Excellent resource.
Wilson, Thomas. Churchill and the Prof. London: Cassell, 1995, 248 pp. ✸ In an impeccably researched and well-written book, Professor Wilson, who worked in his twenties under Professor Lindemann, presents the first study of Churchill’s scientific adviser in thirty years. The main subject is Lindemann’s role in World War II, which naturally closely involves the prime minister.
1996
Andriola, Fabio. Mussolini-Churchill: carteggio segreto [Secret Correspondence]. Casale Monferrato: Piemme, 1996, 296 pp., text in Italian. ✸ More on the alleged letters between Churchill and Mussolini.
Brown, James. The Life and Times of Winston Churchill. Bristol: Paragon Book Service, Ltd., 1996, 74 pp. ✸ A gift shop miniature, 3 1/4 x 4 1/4”, scaling Churchill’s life in 12,000 closely set words. The author, who is judicious and friendly, records his debt to Martin Gilbert’s Churchill: A Life.
Haffner, Sebastian. Kanttekeningen bij Htler and Churchill [Comments on Hitler and Churchill]. Amsterdam: Bakker, 1996, 282 pp., text in Dutch.
Kemper III, R. Crosby, ed. Winston Churchill: Resolution, Defiance, Magnanimity, Good Will. Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 1996, 244 pp. ✸ A superlative collection of Kemper Lectures at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri with a foreword by the editor that is alone worth its place in the scholarship. Contributors: Lord Amery: “Memories of Churchill and How He Would Have Seen the World Today.” Robert Blake: “Churchill and the Conservative Party.” Sir John Colville: “The Personality of Sir Winston Churchill.” Sir William Deakin: “Churchill and Europe in 1944.” Martin Gilbert: “The Origins of the ‘Iron Curtain’ Speech.” Sir Michael Howard: “Churchill: Prophet of Détente.” Reginald V. Jones: “Churchill as I Knew Him.” R. Crosby Kemper III: “The Rhetoric of Civilization.” Sir John Plumb: “The Dominion of History.” Sir Robert Rhodes James: “Churchill, the Man.” Edwina Sandys: “Winston Churchill: His Art Reflects His Life.” Lady Soames: “Winston Churchill: The Great Human Being.” Philip Ziegler: “The Transfer of Power in India.”
Langworth, Richard M., ed., Correspondence: Winston S. Churchill to Christine Lewis Conover, 1899-1943. Washington: The Churchill Center, 1996, 36 pp., softbound, 50 copies hardbound in leather. ✸ Foreword by Martin Gilbert. Returning from India in 1899, Churchill met a young American girl and carried on a correspondence for several years, sending his regrets that he could not attend her wedding in Philadelphia. When he visited Washington in 1943 she wrote him there. He remembered, sending her an autographed photo to match the one he had inscribed for her in 1899. Includes a charming memoir by Conover. Illustrated with photos and copies of their early correspondence. Note: the letter on page 10 is misdated 4 February and should be 2 April.
Neville, Peter. Winston Churchill: Statesman or Opportunist? London: Hodder-Stoughton, 1996, 158 pp., softbound. ✸ Clearly, says Neville, Churchill was the latter; but the scholarship offered to back up this opinion is not persuasive.
Ramsden, John. “That Will Depend on Who Writes the History”: Winston Churchill as His Own Historian. London: Queen Mary and Westfield College, 1996, softbound. ✸ First publication in volume form of a lecture delivered 22 October 1996.
Roberts, Andrew. Churchill: Embattled Hero. London: Orion Books “Phoenix Edition,” 1996, 62 pp., softbound. ✸ An abridgement of Chapter 3 of the author’s Eminent Churchillians (1995), designed to show why Churchill has been reassessed so much of late, and why it will have no effect on his standing in history.
Severance, John. Sir Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist. New York: Clarion Books, 1996, 144 pp. ✸ An illustrated biography for young people restores an appreciation for Churchill not being taught in schools, while puncturing many widely held beliefs about him. This book was highly praised by Lady Soames as one of the best juveniles yet published.
Talbott, Frederick. Churchill on Courage: Timeless Wisdom for Persevering. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 1996, 162 pp. ✸ A physically handsome little book which provides carefully attributed quotes demonstrating Churchill’s courage, informing us of the context and remarks from which the words are drawn.
Vogt, Werner. Winston Churchill: Mahnung, Hoffnung und Vision [Warning, Hope and Vision] 1938-1946. Zürich: Verlag Neue Züricher Zeitung, 1996, 576 pp., text in German. ✸ A media study of Churchill’s coverage by Zurich’s leading newspaper during the period when Switzerland preserved a precarious neutrality, swimming in a Nazi continent. The author, a member of the Churchill Society, is ardently pro-Churchill and not critical; included is Churchill’s “Europe Unite” speech in Zurich in 1946.
Waszak, Leon J. Agreement in Principle: The Wartime Partnership of Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski and Winston Churchill. New York: P. Lang, 1996, 120 pp. ✸ Churchill said, “There are few virtues the Poles do not possess, and few mistakes they have avoided.” Sikorski might have made a difference, had he lived. A unique study of the Churchill-Sikorski wartime partnership.
Young, John H. Winston Churchill’s Last Campaign: Britain and the Cold War, 1951-1955. Oxford and New York: Clarendon Press, 1996, 368 pp. ✸ The author describes Churchill’s awareness of the peril for the world following the invention of nuclear weapons, and his measures to avoid a nuclear war. Churchill’s last cause was world peace: his efforts, unsuccessful as they were, are presented exhaustively and sympathetically.
1997
Beiriger, Eugene Edward. Churchill, Munitions and Mechanical Warfare: The Politics of Supply and Strategy. New York: Peter Lang, 1997, 188 pp. ✸ Originally a Ph.D. thesis, University of Illinois, 1992. A study of Churchill at the Ministry of Munitions (July 1917-January 1919). His greatest contribution was his comprehensive approach to military warfare and the supply of mortars, tanks, and airplanes. Reliable on Churchill’s strategic thinking, but the author does not put Churchill’s actions into context or examine his influence. Larry Arnn’s dissertation on Churchill at the Munitions Ministry is much better and more discerning.
Denniston, Robin. Churchill’s Secret War: Diplomatic Decrypts, the Foreign Office and Turkey, 1942-1944. New York: St. Martin’s; Stroud: Sutton, 1997, 208 pp. Reprints. ✸ An interesting study of Churchill’s use of secret signals intelligence before and during World War II, and his efforts to bring Turkey into the war. New information on the 1943 Cicero spy scandal when secret foreign office documents were stolen in Ankara by the British Ambassador’s valet, who passed them to the Germans—Britain’s biggest Foreign Office security lapse of the war. The author, whose father ran GCCS in Bletchley Park till 1942, forcibly illustrates Churchill’s penchant for reading raw intelligence material, the way he used it and the potent mix of hope and desperation that often provided information for his political and strategic thinking.
Gilbert, Martin. Winston Churchill and Emery Reves: Correspondence 1937-1964. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 1997, 398 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Reves was Churchill’s “diffuser,” spreading Churchill’s screed to Europe through books and articles. After the war, Reves helped sell the serial rights to Churchill’s war memoirs. The story of the sale of the war memoirs to Henry Luce for Life would make a movie, and perhaps should. An absorbing book, this work documents the dual genius of Reves and Churchill. —RML
Hayward, Steven F. Churchill on Leadership: Executive Success in the Face of Adversity. Rocklin, Calif.: Forum, 1997. 250 pp. Reprints, softbound. Translations: Japanese. ✸ A study in “applied Churchill” for leaders, businesspeople or those who must speak for a living. Hayward presents Churchill as a model, using his life to illustrate the maxims and character that he relied upon. Far and away the best of this genre, since it is based on serious study of Churchill and offers many specific examples.
Kimball, Warren F. Forged in War: Roosevelt, Churchill and the Second World War. London: Harper 1997; New York, 1998, 422 pp., softbound. Reprints. ✸ The author blends a sound view of the war with a barrage of sources and his own challenging opinions, presenting a thoughtful book that furthers understanding, or at least debate, on “the partnership that saved the west.”
Legrand, Jacques. Churchill. Bassillac: Éditions Chronique, 1997, 128 pp.
Muller, James W., ed. Churchill as Peacemaker. New York and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 344 pp. Reprints. ✸ A collection of essays from The Churchill Center’s First Churchill Symposium, held in conjunction with the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Washington. To understand the peacemaker, examine his actions: How did Churchill further peace from the Boer War to the Cold War? What were his approaches during the Second World War, when he was finally a peacemaker rather than a minor player or an observer? Contributors: Paul Addison: “The Search for Peace in Ireland.” Kirk Emmert: “The Peaceful Purposes of Empire.” Douglas J. Feith: “Palestine and Zionism, 1904-1922.” Martin Gilbert: “From Yalta to Bermuda and Beyond: In Search of Peace with the Soviet Union.” James W. Muller: “The Aftermath of the Great War” and Introduction. Patrick J.C. Powers: “Peaceful Thoughts and Warring Adventures.” Paul A. Rahe: “‘The River War’: Nature’s Provision, Man’s Desire to Prevail, and the Prospects for Peace.” Sir Robert Rhodes James: “The Enigma.” S. Burridge Spies: “Peace and Two Wars: South Africa, 1896-1914.” Manfred Weidhorn: “A Contrarian Approach to Peace.”
Notley, David, ed. Winston Churchill: Quotations. Norwich: Jarrold Publishing Ltd., 1997. A “Jarrold Gift Book.” ✸ A mini-book for gift shops, with illustrations and short quotes, which appear accurate but carry no citations. There is no editorial comment; Notley has confined his input to captions.
Pansini, Anthony J. The Duce’s Dossier: The Secret Mussolini Churchill Wartime Correspondence. Kopperi, Tex.: Greenvale Press, 1997, 540 pp.; Waco, Tex.: Greenvale Press, 2001, 112 pp. ✸ To this point we counted ten volumes purporting to investigate this totally fictitious Mussolini correspondence, with more to come. A new high, or low?
Pelling, Henry. Churchill’s Peacetime Ministry, 1951-1955. London: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s, 1997, 216 pp. ✸ An important contribution to the historiography of Churchill’s postwar premiership, which should be compared with Seldon’s Churchill’s Indian Summer (1981). Pelling, whose 1974 Churchill biography was excellent, takes the optimistic view, arguing that Churchill’s administration set the stage for nearly a half century of Tory dominance.
Read, Craig. Challenging the Tribe: Sir Winston Churchill, World Government and Leadership. London: Minerva, 1997, 402 pp., softbound. ✸ A book on leadership, looking at Churchill from the standpoint of world government which the author says Churchill favored (he didn’t); and Churchill’s dedication to liberal democracy. Many errors occur in a superfluous biography which seems to be represented as a specialized study.
Stafford, David. Churchill and Secret Service. London: John Murray, 1997; Toronto: Stoddardt, Woodstock, N.Y.: The Overlook Press, 1998, 386 pp. Several reprints. Translations: Polish. ✸ Stafford’s expert account of Churchill’s involvement with secret intelligence provides three things hitherto lacking: a complete account of WSC’s involvement with intelligence spanning Churchill’s full career; a parade of facts hitherto obscure or missing; and, most important, up-to-date research based on recently released secret papers.
Strawson, John. Churchill and Hitler: In Victory and Defeat. London: Constable. New York: Fromm International, 1997, 540 pp. ✸ Strawson recognizes the crucial Churchill-Hitler duel when Britain was faced with fighting or turning aside; but he takes the story of both men through the war, devoting big chapters to each year, and ends with a “Verdict” that considers the views of Churchill’s admirers, critics and colleagues. WSC, says this positive account, “did not want war, but the war he got changed history.” Criticized as light and offering little new material; gratuitous jibes at some revisionist historians could have been left out.
1998
Blake, Robert. Winston Churchill. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 1998; Greenwich, Conn.: Sutton Publishing, 1999, 110 pp., softbound. Translations: Polish. ✸ In a compact 20,000 words, an accomplished historian combines all the undisputed facts about Churchill’s life and career with a selection of certain myths, distortions, scandals and subjective opinions. He dismisses a few canards but leaves others dangling.
Blanc, Jean-Louis. Churchill et son temps [and His Times]. Paris: Mango, 1998, 64 pp. text in French. ✸ Juvenile.
Bredin, William A. Winston S. Churchill, 1874-1965: Catalogue of Stamps of the World Including the British Local Islands. Phantom Press, 1998, softbound. ✸ An attempt to list and catalogue all the many postage stamps, starting during World War II, that depicted Churchill. Includes British local post issues, purportedly issued to cover the cost of mail transfers from offshore islands. Eclipsed by Celwyn Ball’s World Stamp Catalogue (2012).
Brooman, Josh. Winston Churchill: The Man Who Saved the World? Longman, 1998, 48 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Delaforce, Patrick. Churchill’s Secret Weapon: The Story of Hobart’s Funnies. London: Robert Hale, 1998, 256 pp. Reprints. ✸ Churchill in the title abets sales, but this is mainly about Britain’s technical devices and weaponry, which he supported. “Hobart” (Major General Percy, nicknamed “Hobo”), was an irascible but clever tank authority in charge of what some called “Churchill’s Toy Factory.” The PM was fascinated by his wizardry, but this is a book about Hobart, not Churchill.
Kessler, Leo. The Churchill Papers. Sutton, UK and New York: Severn House, 1998, 214 pp. ✸ Eleventh book (!) on the alleged Churchill-Mussolini letters.
Langworth, Richard M. A Connoisseur’s Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill. London: Brassey’s, 1998, 372 pp. Second revised edition, 2000. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A guide to Churchill’s works for bibliophiles, scholars and collectors combining a buyer’s guide, book review and catalogue of editions, issues, states and variants—English, American, Canadian, Australian and others. Includes current values, aesthetic judgments, comments of contemporary reviewers and the author about each title; about 200 photos. —Dave Turrell
Public Record Office. Churchill: The War Leader. Kew: PRO Publications in association with the Imperial War Museum and Churchill Archives Centre, 1998. ✸ Facsimiles of thirteen documents relating to Churchill and the Second World War in the Public Record Office (now the National Archives), or the Churchill Archives Centre.
Ratnu, Inder Dan. Layman’s Questions about Churchill. Jaipur, India: Mumal Publishers, 1998, 112 pp., softbound. ✸ Contains 100 questions Indians frequently ask about Churchill. Many involve Gandhi, and why Indians should admire the man who opposed the Mahatma. The author, who recites Churchill war speeches to Indian audiences, is an admirer of both. Ratnu makes a strong case for Churchill as his country’s indispensable and ultimate liberator, by making the world safe for democracies like India.
Rochas, Yves. 1940, Churchill et les français; un été fertile en légendes [Churchill and the French: A Summer Full of Legends]. Paris: Nouvelle Éditions latines, 1998, 198 pp., text in French.
Soames, Mary, ed. Speaking for Themselves: The Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill. London: Transworld, 702 pp. New York: Doubleday and Don Mills: Stoddart: Winston and Clementine: The Personal Letters of the Churchills, 1998, 702 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ A masterful compilation of personal correspondence over 58 years. Mary Soames is a fine editor. Her unrivalled knowledge of the subject is complemented by literary and historical skills which are gracefully worn but highly professional….In bringing together both sides of the correspondence, and eliminating everything else, she has revealed as never before the inside story of a marriage that was also a great political partnership. —Paul Addison
Sotheby’s, staff of. Painting as a Pastime: Winston Churchill—His Life as a Painter. London: Sotheby’s, 1998, 200 pp., softbound. ✸ An exhibition catalogue which qualifies for inclusion here through its copious new material on Churchill’s hobby. Contributors: Lady Soames: Introduction. David Coombs: “Sir Winston Churchill—His Life and Painting” and “Churchill as Art Critic.” Henry Wyndham: Foreword. Also includes Churchill’s complete text from his essay “Painting as a Pastime,” lists of paintings, references, lenders, etc.
Unknown. The Quotable Churchill: A Prime Collection of Wit and Wisdom. Philadelphia: Running Press, 1998, 124 pp. ✸ A miniature hardback, 2 3/4 x 3 1/4”, containing photographs along with citationless quotes, divided into chapters: “On Life, At War, On the World, Churchill and his Contemporaries,” and a catch-all final chapter, “Churchill at Last.” With an unsigned introduction.
Wilson Mike. Sir Winston Churchill. London: Hodder and Stoughton in association with The Basic Skills Agency, 1998, 28 pp. Reprints.
1999
Bédarida, François. Churchill. Paris: Fayard, 1999, 571 pp., text in French. Translations: Spanish. ✸ The author is a French authority on British history and the Second World War. “Seeks to scrutinize the resiliency of a fantastic personality, both flamboyant and contradictory. Bédarida believes young Winston’s lack of affection from his parents left ‘an indelible mark on his innermost being,’ resulting in an incessant need to attract attention and to seek recognition. Throughout his life he had to fight against his cyclothymic nature.” —Le Monde
Headlam, Cuthbert. Parliament and Politics in the Age of Churchill and Attlee. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999, 666 pp. Reprinted 2000, 680 pp.
Hill, Malcolm. Churchill’s Radical Decade. London: Othila Press, 1999, 144 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Relatively little has been published on Churchill’s ten years (1904-14) as a crusading Liberal, railing against the privileges of his class, proposing old age pensions, prison reform and unemployment insurance. Hill believes that Churchill’s quest was “hopeless” because he did not believe the state should “take responsibility by taxation for retirement, education, health and welfare.” Yet Churchill showed “unusual stature” in his efforts to mitigate poverty, well in advance of Roosevelt. —RML
Højris, René. Churchill: Århundredets Person [Person of the Century]. Copenhagen: Forlaget Roger, 1999, 298 pp., softbound, text in Danish. ✸ An extensive volume of Churchill quotations, black and white photographs and cartoons covering his entire life, with special emphasis on Churchill and Denmark.
Jackson, Michael J. A Scottish Life: Sir John Martin, Churchill and Empire. London: Radcliffe Press and New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999, 280 pp. ✸ John Martin was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister during the war years. This is an expanded account to his previous book, Downing Street: The War Years, describing more fully his work with Churchill by published observations of and interviews with his colleagues.
Krockow, Christian von. Churchill: Eine Biographie des 20. Jahrhunderts [A Biography of the 20th Century]. Hamburg: Hoffman and Campe, 1999, 328 pp., text in German. Churchill: Man of the Century. London: London House, 2000, 270 pp., text in English. Translations: Estonian. ✸ Count Krockow, a political scientist, aims to provide readers with a fair and truthful picture of Churchill as the exemplary antagonist of tyranny, instead of merely the colorful figure of popular myth and legend.
Lukacs, John. Five Days in London, May 1940. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999, 236 pp. Reprints. ✸ An account of the five days between 24 and 28 May 1940, when the British Cabinet debated whether to negotiate with Hitler, a period the author believes settled the outcome of the war. Lukacs shows that Halifax, though he dropped appeasement before Chamberlain, had become more defeatist by May 1940, arguing that Britain should approach Mussolini to arbitrate between Britain and Germany. Once even Churchill seemed to lean toward a deal—although he quickly changed his tune, and carried his entire Cabinet with him. Highly praised by reviewers. The author’s earlier book, The Duel, is a parallel work.
Marx, Roland. Winston Churchill: Enfance et [Childhood and] Adolescence. Paris: Éditions Autrement, 1999, 170 pp. ✸ Describes the formative years, ending when Churchill enters public life. The author believes Churchill was greatly influenced by the fame of his father and the wealth of his mother; his mother would not agree that she had any wealth, although she lived as if she did.
Muller, James W., ed. Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech Fifty Years Later. Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 1999, 180 pp. ✸ Papers from a colloquium at Fulton on the 50th anniversary of Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech, which forms the first section of the book. At the end is a 50-year perspective by Lady Thatcher. In the middle are papers by historians analyzing aspects of the original. Contributors: Larry P. Arnn: “True Politics and Strategy.” Winston S. Churchill: “The Sinews of Peace” (1946). James W. Muller: Preface. Daniel J. Mahoney: “Moral Principle and Realistic Judgment.” Patrick J.C. Powers: “Rhetorical Statesmanship.” Paul A Rahe.: “The Beginning of the Cold War.” John Ramsden: “Mr. Churchill Goes to Fulton.” The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Thatcher: “Epilogue: New Threats for Old.” Spencer Warren: “Philosophy of International Politics.”
Penn, Geoffrey. Fisher, Churchill and the Dardanelles. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Leo Cooper, 1999, 280 pp. ✸ A dramatic account, this is the first book to look at the Dardanelles Campaign from the political rather than the military angle. Why was it decided to force the Dardanelles “by ships alone”? Was the concept sound, or flawed from the start? And who was responsible for what? Churchill does not escape some blame, but does not come off too badly. A unique, judicious and balanced study.
Sandys, Celia. Churchill: Wanted Dead or Alive. London: Harper, 1999; New York, Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2000, 234 pp. Reprints. ✸ In this extensive recap of her grandfather’s adventures in South Africa during the Boer War, Churchill’s granddaughter retraces his footsteps and interviews the descendants of the people who aided and opposed Churchill’s epic escape from the Boer prison camp. One of the author’s best books, with much new and revealing material on her grandfather’s prison break.
Stafford, David. Roosevelt and Churchill: Men of Secrets. London: Little Brown, 1999; New York: Overbrook Press, 2000, 360 pp. Republished with new preface, London: Abacus, 2000, 360 pp., softbound. Reprints. ✸ Based on recently released classified data, and developing his themes from his previous Churchill and Secret Service (1997) on the personal level, the author discusses the use and influence of secret intelligence by Roosevelt and Churchill. He concludes that they hid much from each other, yet simultaneously arrived at a personal relationship unique in history,
Stewart, Graham. Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for Tory Party. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1999, 534 pp. London: Phoenix House, 2000, 544 pp., softbound. Burying Caesar: The Churchill-Chamberlain Rivalry. Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 2001, 534 pp. ✸ What were the political machinations that kept Chamberlain in office during the late 1930s, and Churchill out? Was Churchill the prophet of uncomfortable truths or was Chamberlain right to pursue appeasement? “Examines the restrictions party conformity places upon ambitious politicians, and analyzes how best dissidents can alter Government policy….An engrossing tale, well told—a real historical thriller.” An evenhanded account of the politics of the fatal late 1930s.
Thorsteinsen, Tom. Winston Churchill. Oslo: Libretto forlag, 1999, 96 pp., text in Norwegian. ✸ Part of a series of books about 20th century history.
2000
Ashworth, Leon. Winston Churchill. Slough: Cherrytree Books, 2000, 32 pp. Reprints. Toronto: Evans Brothers Ltd.; Slough: Cherry Tree, 2001. ✸ An impressive demonstration of how Churchill’s massive life can be compressed, but it falls short of Fiona Reynoldson’s superlative juvenile (2001) with only half the page count. More suitable for youngsters just beginning to read than Reynoldson’s 10-13 age group.
Barrett, Buckley. Churchill: A Concise Bibliography. Westport, Conn., London: Greenwood Press, 2000, 216 pp. ✸ Breaks Churchill’s books into collections/selections, histories and miscellaneous, books about Churchill into literary/rhetorical/artistic, biographic/personal, politics/governance, foreign/military, philosophy/psychology/religion, fiction/satire/media and juvenile. Categories are arbitrary and some books overlap. Within each section, books are alphabetical by title, not chronological as normal, so it’s more a book for browsing than reference. This book succeeds or fails on its annotations, which seem thoughtful and unbiased.
Baughman, T.H. and Suelter, Emily E., eds. Aspects of Winston S. Churchill. Largo, Fla.: Theresa Press, 2000, 148 pp. ✸ Eight Benedictine College undergraduate essays on Churchill on Free Trade, women’s suffrage, Germany, Versailles, the Irish Treaty, General Strike, Zionism and Palestine. Thoroughly footnoted, they quote many sources. But the conclusions are not always well thought out, and there’s little new that pops out.
Brodhurst, Robin. Churchill’s Anchor: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound, OM, GCB, GCVO. Barnsley: Leo Cooper, 2000, 320 pp.; London: Leo Cooper, 224 pp. ✸ A first-class biography of an underrated Churchill military advisor, eclipsed in history by the more showy figures of Brooke, Cunningham and Montgomery. Much on WSC. Highly recommended.
Carlton, David. Churchill and the Soviet Union. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2000, 234 pp., hardbound and softbound. ✸ A critical work which traces Churchill’s encounters with Bolsheviks from the October 1917 Revolution through the Iron Curtain speech, accusing Churchill of self-motivation and somersaults, immaturity, unsteadiness and lack of proportion. A well-written treatise which deserves attention.
Čermák, Josef. Winston Churchill: nástin života [Outline of Life]. Zin: Atelier IM, 2000, 82 pp. Text in Czech.
Castor, Harriet. Winston Churchill. New York and London: Watts, 2000, 48 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Challenger, Margaret. Winston Spencer Churchill: Author, Artist, Statesman. Canada: privately published by the author, 2000. ✸ A limited edition (20) miniature book measuring 2” x 2 3/8”. Calligraphy, design and construction by the author. Japanese rice paper on covers, bound in fold-out style. Contains two quotes by Churchill, one by Violet Asquith, and a Low cartoon “Stand aside Sir!” In purple paper covered cardboard slipcase.
Folly, Martin H. Churchill, Whitehall and the Soviet Union, 1940-1945. New York: St. Martin’s Press; Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000, 238 pp. ✸ Not revisionist history, just a plainspoken summary of previous books and official documents. It is thorough, not to say tedious, and draws unremarkable conclusions: Churchill and the Anglo-Americans didn’t cause the Cold War; neither did they do much overtly to prevent it. (Could it have caused itself?)
Heath, I. The Man Who Captured Churchill: General S.F. Oosthuizen: His Role in the Flow of Events of the Anglo-Boer War, 1889-1900. Centurion: I. Heath, 2000, 46 pp.
James, Alfred, compiler. Churchill in the Index to “The Times” 1898 to 1965. Wahroonga, NSW, Australia: Privately published by the author, 2000, 402 pp. Limited to 20 copies. ✸ The book consists of photocopies of pages from the various printed indices of The Times, mostly from the “Official Index”; includes references to members of the Churchill family, including Lady Churchill.
Kersaudy, François. Winston Churchill: Le pouvoir de l’imagination [The Power of the Imagination]. Paris: Tallandier, 2000, 600 pp.
Kryske, Larry. The Churchill Factors: Creating Your Finest Hour. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, 2000, 230 pp., softbound. Reprints. ✸ Several self-help books for speakers using Churchill as an example exist. Along with only Hayward’s excellent Churchill on Leadership (1997), this book expands on the theme, using Churchill’s practices to show how to lead, communicate, meet goals, withstand failure, build self-esteem, and use simplicity and risk to your advantage.
Parker, R.A.C. Churchill and Appeasement. London: Macmillan, 2000, 290 pp. ✸ Could Churchill have prevented World War II? Oxford historian Parker thinks he could have, if he had controlled British foreign policy in the 1930s and persuaded Stalin that Britain and France were safer collaborators than Hitler. Authoritative and elegantly written, a brilliant reappraisal of Churchill’s most depressing political failure, with a tantalizing glimpse of how very different 20th century history might have been.
Rasor, Eugene L. Winston S. Churchill, 1874-1965: A Comprehensive Historiography and Annotated Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000, 704 pp. ✸ Aims to define the literature by and about Churchill, with annotations on its content, with an annotated bibliography and subject and author indexes. There are many errors and omissions, particularly foreign language titles, and much material listed has at best only a peripheral bearing on Churchill: “…can only be condemned outright for its essentially valueless treatment of works by Churchill. The rest of the volume contains a wealth of useful information…even if it must be used with caution. It is a frustrating, confusing, and sometimes misleading work, but for the time being it is the best reference book available on the vast literature about Winston Churchill. —Christopher H. Bell
Rueda Gonzalez, Ricardo. La Historia medica de Winston Spencer Churchill [Medical History of Winston Spencer Churchill]. Bogotá: Instituto de Genetica Humana Facultad de Medicina, Pontifica Universidad, 2000, 238 pp. Text in Spanish. ✸ Reviews some of Churchill’s illnesses, but the text is unreferenced. No original sources of medical information appear to have been consulted, which explains how inaccuracies in the medical history have been introduced. The book concludes with 33 general references, which excludes several highly relevant books published before 2000.
SSCB [Sovyet Soyalist Cumhuriyet Berligi] Dişişleri Bakanliği, Ikinci dünya savaşi’nda Stalin, Roosevelt ve Churchill’in Türkiye üzerine yazişmalari [The Second World War, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill’s Correspondence with Turkey]. Istanbul, Turkey: Cumhuriyet, 2000, 144 pp. Text in Turkish, translated from Russian.
Tunçoku, A. Mete. Çanakkale, Churchill ve Anzaklar [Chanak, Churchill and Anzacs]. Ankara: Genekurmay Basim Evi, 2000, 212 pp. Abridged in English, 2001, 104 pp.
Wood, Ian S. Churchill. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 210 pp., hardbound and softbound. London: Macmillan, 210 pp.
2001
Berthon, Simon. Allies at War: The Bitter Rivalry among Churchill, Roosevelt and de Gaulle. New York: Carroll and Graf, 354 pp.; London: HarperCollins, 2001, 345 pp. ✸ Book derived from the TV series of the same title.
Best, Geoffrey. Churchill: A Study in Greatness. London: Hambledon and London, 2001, 370 pp. Reprints. Translations: Spanish. ✸ At first glance, a book for the general reader: no archival research evident but well-written and sympathetic. “This book is particularly impressive when it comes to criticizing the views of the Tory Nationalist school, which takes Churchill to task for not making peace with Hitler in 1941 [and] dismisses them as resting on the suppositions that the Empire was not already crumbling and that Britain could somehow have remained free within easy reach of a Nazi-dominated Europe…By encouraging his readers to come to their own conclusions, Best subtly guides us towards his own mature and overwhelmingly pro-Churchill ones.” —Books on Line
Brown, Shelley J. Why Winston S. Churchill Would View Guerrilla Warfare as a Viable Tactic During World War II. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI, 2001, 118 pp.
Downswell, Paul. Churchill. London: Hodder Wayland, 2001, 64 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Enright, Dominique (compiled and edited). The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill. London: Michael O’Mara, 2001, 162 pp. Numerous reprints. ✸ One of the poorest quotation books, not to be relied upon; filled with errors and invented quotes and with no attribution. Indeed the author herself admits that “some of the stories are definitely authentic, but there are no doubt many that have been embellished”—which makes the whole exercise useless.
Fripiat, Bernard. Winston Churchill: La décision qui sauva le monde [The Decision That Saved the World]. Paris: Hartmattan, 2001, 92 pp. ✸ A theater playscript.
Humes, James C. Eisenhower and Churchill: The Partnership That Saved the World.. Rocklin, Calif.: Prima; London: Pearson Education, 2001, 256 pp. Reprints. ✸ An admiring but unbalanced account which fails to confront or analyze the many issues which divided them, from wartime strategy in Europe to a summit with the Soviets, to the Suez Crisis after Churchill left office.
James, Alfred, compiler. References to Sir Winston Churchill in “The New York Times” 1895-2000. Wahroonga, N.S.W., Australia: Privately published by the author, 2001, 84 pp. Limited edition of 20 copies. Consists of photocopies of pages from the annual index to The New York Times. The years from 1895 to 1912 and 1983 to 2000 have been re-typed because of the small number of entries.
Jenkins, Roy. Churchill: A Biography. London: Macmillan; New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001, 1002 pp. Reprints, e-book. Translations: Spanish. ✸ Beautifully written, though it helps to have a thesaurus and a French-English dictionary. The statesman-author adds perspective as a veteran of the House of Commons, explaining much about the offices he and Churchill held. (The Home Office, he writes, is “a plank of wood out of which all other domestic ministries have been carved.”) Jenkins concludes that having previously considered Gladstone the greatest prime minister, he now gives that title to Churchill.
Leruez, Jacques. Le système politique: De Winston Churchill à Tony Blair [The Political System: From Winston Churchill to Tony Blair]. Paris: Dalloz, 2001, 332 pp. Second edition, Paris: Colin, 332 pp. Text in French.
Reynoldson, Fiona. Winston Churchill. London: Heinemann, 2001, 64 pp. “Leading Lives” series. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Written for ages 8-15, this is far and away the best juvenile ever published, anywhere, by anybody. Reynoldson delivers unadulterated, factual information—so much wisdom to be so attractively wedged into 64 pages. We should all buy five copies and get them into the hands of schools, libraries and young people of promise.
Spinosa, Antonio. Churchill: il nemico degli italiani [The Enemy of the Italians]. Milano: Mondadori, 2001, 332 pp. Text in Italian.
2002
Bratianu, Maria G. Acordul Churchill-Stalin din [The Churchill-Stalin Agreement of] 1944. Bucharest: Corint, 2002, 202 pp., text in Romanian. L’accord Churchill-Staline de 1944. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2002, 158 pp., text in French. ✸ A critique of the “Tolstoy” meeting in which WSC and Stalin agreed on spheres of influence. Unpopular in liberated Romania, but few understand that Churchill viewed this as a temporary expedient pending a final peace conference, which never materialized.
Brooks, Evelyn. Portraits in Greatness: Gandhi, Churchill, Mandela. Pelham, New York: Benchmark Education Co., 32 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Cannadine, David. In Churchill’s Shadow: Confronting the Past in Modern Britain, London: Allen Lane, 2002; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003, 386 pp. Reprints. ✸ A collection of the author’s essays, some written for the book, some revised after earlier publication. The subjects range wide: Parliament, statecraft, monarchy, language and speeches, piety, emollience, diplomacy, in which Churchill often looms large. Also cultural topics, such as Gilbert and Sullivan, historic preservation, Noël Coward’s patriotism, Ian Fleming’s Bond novels. —AC
Day, David. The Politics of War: Australia at War 1939-45, From Churchill to Macarthur. Sydney, N.S.W.: HarperCollins, 2002, 750 pp. Reprints.
Dossena, Paolo A. Hitler and Churchill: Mackinder e la sua scuola: alle radici della geopolitica [Mackinder and His School: At the Roots of Geopolitics]. Milano: Terziaria, 2002, 415 pp., text in Italian. ✸ Sir Halford John Mackinder (1861-1947), English geographer and politician, was a founding father of geopolitics and geostrategy. His last major work, The Round World and the Winning of the Peace (1943), foresaw the North Atlantic community, the “Great Ocean” (Indo-Pacific Rim), and the growth of power in India and China.
Dowswell, Paul. Churchill. London: Hodder Wayland, 64 pp.; Churchill og hans tid [and His Time]. Holte: Flachs, 2002, 64 pp., text in Danish). ✸ Juvenile.
Heywood, Samantha. Churchill: Questions and Analysis in History. New York: Routledge, 2002, 130 pp., hardbound and softbound. ✸ Discusses Churchill’s career from Secretary of State for War and Air in 1919 through Prime Minister in 1940-45 and 1951-55.
Hillers de Luque, Sigfredo. Franco, Hitler, Churchill: España en la II Guerra Mundial [Spain in the Second World War]. Madrid: Ediciones Arcos, 2002, 304 pp., text in Spanish.
Humes, James C. Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln. Roseville, Calif.: Prima Publishing, 2002, 208 pp. ✸ A former presidential speechwriter shows “how great leaders through the ages used simple yet effective tricks to speak, persuade and win followers.”
Keegan, John. Winston Churchill: A Penguin Life. New York: Viking Press, 196 pp. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2002, 182 pp. “Penguin Lives” series. Several reprints. ✸ A respected military historian first highlights Churchill’s strength and leadership in 1940. It’s a good start, but it doesn’t maintain the pace. The rest reiterates a well-trod palimpsest which Robert Rhodes James would label just another “case for the defence.” The great columnist Florence King said you could measure the worth of books by her marginal notes, furiously written all over the books that absorb her (for good or ill). Well, I went through this one without a solitary note and only two dog-ears.
Kersaudy, François. Churchill contre Hitler: Norvège 1940: la victoire fatale [Churchill against Hitler: Norway 1940: the Fatal Victory]. Paris: Tallandier, 2002. 368 pp., text in French. Churchill mot Hitler: Norge 1940: den ödesdigra segern. Rimbo: Fischer and Co., 2005, 320 pp., text in Swedish.
Kersaudy, François. Churchill et Monaco. Monaco: Editions du Rocher, 2002, 112 pp., text in French. ✸ A book on Churchill and Monaco would be thin indeed, so Kersaudy covers Churchill’s visits to and relationships with the French Riviera in general. We meet his Riviera hosts from Maxine Elliott to Wendy Reves and follow his search for a villa of his own. Not much is new except for French readers, for whom the account is mainly intended. —AC
Larres, Klaus. Churchill’s Cold War: The Politics of Personal Diplomacy. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002, 584 pp. ✸ A fresh new look at Churchill’s international politics in the nuclear age and his search for détente with the Soviets. Well written, balanced and comprehensive.
Lukacs, John. Churchill: Visionary, Statesman, Historian. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002, 200 pp. Reprints. Translations: Portuguese, Swedish. ✸ A scholar turns his attention to Churchill’s relations with Stalin, Roosevelt and Eisenhower, and his farsighted prediction of World War II and the Cold War; to his ability as a historian; and to the contradictory ways he is perceived today. The last chapter is a moving account of Churchill’s funeral, which Lukacs attended.
Michon, Cedric. Winston Churchill. Paris: Hatier, 2002, 92 pp., text in French.
Ragionieri, Ernesto. Churchill. Palermo: Sellerio, 2002, 152 pp., text in Italian.
Ramsden, John. Man of the Century: Winston Churchill and His Legend since 1945. London: HarperCollins, 2002, 652 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Examines the development of Churchill’s postwar reputation and impact on Anglo-American-Australian-Canadian relations and British history. Drawing on fresh material, Ramsden shows how Churchill’s personality and self-vision shaped our perceptions of nationhood. He argues that Churchill’s romantic, imperial view of Britain contributed to contemporary political culture, including Britain’s attitude toward Europe.
Reed, Craig. Winston Churchill: Man of the Twentieth Century. Leicester: Minerva Press, 2002, 202 pp., softbound. ✸ Makes all the arguments Time failed to consider when it chose Einstein for that honor.
Rodgers, Nigel. Churchill: A Beginner’s Guide. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2002, 86 pp., softbound. ✸ Part of a series examining “cultural icons.” Each chapter ends with a review section for reference and to test the reader’s understanding of the text. Churchill for Dummies? Maybe WSC by dummies. The book seems not to have been reviewed by people familiar with Churchill, resulting in some ghastly errors, such as the title of Churchill’s novel, Romola. There are better brief lives all over this bibliography.
Ruotsila, Markku. Churchill ja Suomi: Winston Churchill Suomea koskeva ajattelu ja tolminta [Churchill and Finland: Winston Churchill’s Thinking and Action about Finland] 1900-1955. Helsinki: Otava, 2002, 282 pp. Text in Finnish. ✸ Published doctoral thesis tracing Churchill’s relations with Finland from 1918 through 1945. Ruotsila argues that Churchill remained sympathetic to Finland only as long as he didn’t need Russia: that his geo-strategical side took priority over his anti-communist leanings.
Stewart, Vance. Three Against One: Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin vs. Adolph Hitler. Santa Fe, N.M.: Sunstone Press, 2002, 286 pp.
Unknown. Churchill. Madrid: Edimat Libros, 2002, 188 pp., text in Spanish.
Valiunus, Algis. Churchill’s Military Histories: A Rhetorical Study. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002, 196 pp. ✸ An eloquent writer breaks ground by examining Churchill’s intentions in writing his war books. Valiunas shows how The World Crisis, Marlborough and The Second World War teach the prudence needed for self-government in a democracy. An important book, with good insights, that sorely needed more work on the author’s part before it was published: its references are exceedingly sloppy.
Williams, Frank J. A Comparison of Leadership: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill: The Warrior Communitarian and Echo Men. Beaver Dam, Wis.: Lincoln Fellowship of Wisconsin, 2002, 33 pp.
Wood, Ian S. Churchill: A Pictorial History of His Life and Times. London: Caxton Edition, 2002, 184 pp.
Wrigley, Chris. Winston Churchill: A Biographical Companion. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio, 2002, 368 pp. ✸ A useful reference on events and people with whom Churchill was associated, along with the issues that divided or united them. But there are so many omissions, and so much space devoted to the relatively unimportant, that it becomes a massive error of proportion. More a “Biographical Acquaintance” than a companion.
2003
Adams, Simon. Winston Churchill. London: Franklin Watts; Austin, Tex.: Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers, 2003, 112 pp.; London: British Library, 144 pp. ✸ Much like Reynoldson’s superb juvenile, this one organizes old chestnut photos with relevant sidebars and large text, aiming at ages 10-15. The sidebars cover much the same material, are fewer in number and lack Reynoldson’s deft and unerringly accurate observations.
Arthur, Max. Churchill at War. London: Carlton, 2003, 160 pp.
Ball, Stuart. Winston Churchill. New York: New York University Press; London: British Library, 2003, 144 pp. “Historic Lives” series. ✸ Sparsely though deftly illustrated, well-written, falling for neither extremes, that WSC was superhuman genius or a flawed hack done in by ambition and lack of judgment. The result is an accurate portrayal.
Delpla, François. La face cachée de 1940: comment Churchill réussit à prolonger la partie [The Dark Side of 1940: How Churchill Extends the Game]. Paris: Guibert, 2003, 192 pp., text in French.
Dover, Katherine. Winston Spencer Churchill, 1874-1965: The Health of a World Leader. London: privately published, 2003, 58 pp.
Enright, Dominique. Winston Churchill: The Greatest Briton. London: Michael O’Mara Books, 2003, 256 pp. ✸ Not examined, but judging by the content of the author’s quote book (2001), a title to be approached with caution—especially given all the excellent “brief lives” by Martin Gilbert (1967), Geoffrey Best (2001) and Paul Addison (2005).
Festorazzi, Roberto. Mistero Churchill. Verese, Italy: Pietro Macchione Editore, 2003, 254 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: While continuing to speculate on the fake Churchill-Mussolini letters, Festorazzi usefully covers Churchill’s September 1945 trip to Italy. Of course he attempts to say this was made to recover the embarrassing letters. But in that wild goose chase, Festorazzi reveals some interesting details on Churchill’s journey. —Patrizio R. Giangreco
Fowells, Gavin. An Alternate View of Churchill. London: Gavin Fowells, 2003, 68 pp., softbound.
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill at War: His “Finest Hour” in Photographs, 1940-1945. London: Carlton; New York: W.W. Norton, 2003, 160 pp. Reprints. ✸ Expertly assembled with accurate captions, a thorough pictorial coverage of the war years with reliable captions.
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill and the Middle East. Toronto: Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy, 2003, 48 pp. ✸ Reprint of an address to the Society. The official biographer culls his thoughts from Volume 5 of his Winston S. Churchill, dwelling on WSC’s search for compromise and peace in troubled lands.
Gilbert, Martin. Winston Churchill’s War Leadership. New York: Vintage Books, 2003; Continue to Pester, Nag and Bite: Churchill’s War Leadership. Toronto: London: Pimlico, 2004, 104 pp., softbound. Reprints. Churchillovo válečne vůdcovstvi: neustále dotírejte, sekýrujte a kousejte [Continue to Pester, Nag and Bite], Prague: BB Art, 2004, 116 pp., text in Czech. ✸ A brief paperback offering WSC’s experience as a guide today. While Gilbert makes it clear that the war on terrorism bears no relation to sustained two-year bombing of cities, millions of deaths, and ferocious battles on land and sea, he generously dedicates this volume to President Bush and Prime Minister Blair.
Hack, Karl and Blackburn, Kevin. Did Singapore Have to Fall? Churchill and the Impregnable Fortress. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, 300 pp. Reprints.
Humes, James C. Winston Churchill. New York: DK Pub.; Arts and Entertainment Network, 2003, 160 pp.
Macdonald, Fiona. Winston Churchill. Milwaukee, Wis.: World Almanac Library, 2003, 48 pp. Reprints. ✸ Juvenile.
Maurer, John H. Churchill and Strategic Dilemmas Before the World Wars: Essays in Honor of Michael I. Handel. London and Portland, Ore.: Frank Cass, 2003, 164-176 pp.
Neillands, Robin H. Winston Churchill: Statesman of the Century. Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.: Cold Spring Press, 2003, 216 pp. Reprints. ✸ What does this “brief life” add? Some canny observations, at least: “One of the most curious aspects of Winston Churchill’s early career is how short these various, dramatic episodes that marked his life actually were.” In the main, Neillands gets his facts right, but he too easily accepts cant.
Parker, Alistair, ed. Churchill: Studies in Statesmanship. London: Brasseys, 2003, 282 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The collection attempts neither to rewrite nor to demythologize Churchill, as did the concurrent Churchill: A Major New Assessment. Nor does it try to whitewash him. It is “international,” with contributors from Poland, Denmark, Germany and Italy as well as the USA, Britain and Canada. They reach no conclusions about Churchill’s character that have not been reached by others—critics and supporters alike. —RML
Roberts, Andrew. Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2003, 202 pp. Reprints and published in large print edition. Translations: Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Czech.
Rogers, Anthony. Churchill’s Folly: Leros and the Aegean: The Last Great British Defeat of the Second World War. London: Cassell, 2003, 288 pp. Reprints. ✸ Documents, photos and eyewitnesses describe a little-known disaster. Rogers criticizes Churchill and the military, often venomously detracting from valid strategic questions, as if WSC was condemned before the evidence was gathered. —WJS
Rubin, Gretchen Craft. Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill: A Brief Account of a Long Life. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003, 308 pp. Reprints.
Sandys, Celia. Chasing Churchill: The Travels of Winston Churchill. London: HarperCollins; New York: Carroll and Graf, 2003, 294 pp. Reprints. ✸ Explores Churchill haunts worldwide, with good photographic coverage. Pursuing his tracks as often left his granddaughter more or less camping out rather than enjoying luxury, but her account is imaginatively conceived to give the reader a taste of his wide travels. Don’t miss it.
Sandys, Celia. Churchill. London: Contender Books, 2003, 160 pp. ✸ Written to accompany a TV series; I expected just another “brief Churchill life,” a field thickly populated with the good, the bad and the potboilers, but found this one of the best short biographies ever published about Churchill, and in my opinion Celia Sandys’ best book yet.
Sandys, Celia and Littman, Jonathan. We Shall Not Fail: The Inspiring Leadership of Winston Churchill. New York: Portfolio, 2003, 284 pp. Reprints.
Theakston, Kevin. Winston Churchill and the British Constitution. London: Politico’s, 2003, 320 pp. Reprints. ✸ Solid study on Churchill’s understanding and appreciation of the oldest unwritten constitution, and his applications in his speeches and writings. This balanced and instructive book joins Martin Gilbert’s Churchill’s Political Philosophy (2001) as a key source on a generally untrodden area of Churchill studies.
2004
Binns, Tristan Boyer. Winston Churchill: Soldier and Politician. New York: Franklin Watts, 2004, 128 pp.
Cannadine, David and Quinault, Roland. Winston Churchill in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press for the Royal Historical Society, 2004, 250 pp., softbound. ✸ Conference papers marking the centenary of Churchill’s 1901 Parliamentary debut. Historians including the editors, David Reynolds and John Charmley; contemporaries Tony Benn, Lord Carrington and Lord Deeds; and WSC’s daughter Lady Soames, explore Churchill’s complexities and legacy. —WJS
Cantalapiedra Cesteros, Luis. Winston Churchill: el rugido del léon [Roar of the Lion]. Madrid: Dastin Export, 2004, 268 pp., text in Spanish.
Catherwood, Christopher. Churchill’s Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq. New York: Carroll and Graf, 2004, 268 pp. Reprints. ✸ A hastily written, presentist version of Churchill’s creation of the modern Middle East a subject much
better covered by Martin Gilbert, David Fromkin, and Brad Faught. The thesis is that Churchill pursued British interests rather than self-determination for Kurd and Shia minorities. —WJS
Catherwood, Christopher. Winston Churchill: Flawed Genius of World War II. New York: Berkley, 2004, 352 pp. Reprints.
Gilbert, Martin, ed. Churchill and the Great Republic. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress with D. Giles Ltd., 2004, 94 pp. ✸ On Churchill’s long relationship with America, emphasizing the Second World War alliance, the product of an important exhibit at the Library of Congress. Distinguished contributors include Mary Soames, James Billington, Daun van Ee and the editor. —WJS
Giminez, Manuel. Churchill. London: Edimat Books, 2004, 190 pp.
Hatter, David. Winston Churchill: His Politics and Writing. Ongar: privately published, 2004, 30 pp. softbound. ✸ The author, a longtime guide at Chartwell, compiled this to answer questions most frequently asked by visitors. See also Rodway, 1986.
Kastory, Andrzej. Winston Spencer Churchill. Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy imienia Ossolínskich Wydawn, 2004, 488 pp., text in Polish.
Kimball, Warren F.; O’Brian, Robert A.; and Tisch, Daniel. The Place in History of Churchill, Roosevelt and the Second World War: An After Dinner Meditation: Like Goldfish in a Bowl: An Address. Toronto: Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy, 2004, 38 pp. softbound.
MacDonald, Alan and Goddard, Clive. Winston Churchill and His Great Wars. London: Hippo, 2004, 192 pp. Winston Churchill and His Woeful Wars. London: Scholastic, 2009; 192 pp. “Horribly Famous” series. Translations: Czech, Spanish. ✸ Juvenile. Not examined, but judging by the promo—”the terrible truth, including his career as a demon bricklayer”—there is not much to learn here.
Mann, Heinrich. Zur Zeit von [To the Tent of] Winston Churchill. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 2004, 544 pp. Reprints.
Midgely, Peter. The Heroic Memory, Vol. 1, Memorial Addresses to the Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill Society, Edmonton, Alberta, 1965-1989. Edmonton: The Churchill Statue and Oxford Scholarship Foundation, 2004, 438 pp. ✸ The first Churchill Society, and the only one founded with Sir Winston’s personal approval, Edmonton hosted some of the great figures in the Churchill world at a time when the Second World War was only two decades or so old. We asterisk our opinion of the best, but in reality, all should be read. Contributors (chronological order): Lord Harding, Earl Mountbatten,* Earl Alexander,* Lord Butler, Sir Alec Douglas Home, Gen. Mark Clark, Lt. Gen. Sir Ian Jacob,*, Viscount Amory, Viscount Boyd, Sir Colin Coote,* Sir John Colville,* Lord Shawcross, Viscount Head, Lord Hailsham,* Lord Soames,* Sir Fitzroy Maclean,* Vice-Adm. Sir Peter Gretton,* Sir Anthony Montague Browne,* Lady Soames,* Viscount De L’Isle, Sir John Peck, Sir Martin Gilbert,* Lord Blake, Lady Soames.* For Vol. 2 see Cohen, 2016.
Packwood, Allen: Churchill: Forging an Alliance for Freedom. Washington: Heritage Foundation, 2004, 12 pp. softbound.
Reynolds, David. In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War. New York: Random House; In Command of History: How Churchill Waged the War and Wrote His Way to Immortality. London: Allen Lane, 2004, 600 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Paul H. Courtenay. A lasting and important contribution to our understanding of Churchill’s literary methods, this exhaustive work has been roundly praised by Churchill proponents and critics alike. Reynolds digs deep into the bones of the war memoirs, showing how they were written, in part by a crack team of experts, while not discrediting Churchill for signing off on the final text.
Ruotsila, Markku. Churchill and Finland: A Study in Anti-communism and Geopolitics. London: Routledge; New York, 2004: London: Frank Cass, 2005, 256 pp. Translations: Finnish. ✸ A new version of the author’s Churchill ja Suomi (2002).
Rzheshevskii, Oleg Aleksandrovich. Stalin i Cherchill’: vstrechi, besedy, diskussii: dokumenty, kommentarii [Meetings, Conversations, Discussions: documents, comments] 1941-1945. Moskva: Nauka, 2004, 562 pp., text in Russian. Stalin and Churchill. London: Constable and Robinson, 2007.
Zoller, Curt J. Annotated Bibliography of Works about Sir Winston S. Churchill. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2004, 432 pp. ✸ This work covers books primarily about Churchill (Section A) and books containing significant Churchill material. Also included are major articles about Churchill in periodicals, reviews of Churchill’s books, and master’s and Ph.D. theses concerning him. Section A annotations, like those here through 2004, are by Richard M. Langworth.
2005
(From this year all annotation authors are indicated.)
Addison, Paul. Churchill: The Unexpected Hero. Oxford: New York: Oxford University Press, “Lives and Legacies” Series, 2005, 308 pp. ✸ The author makes an often-missed point: In the Second World War, Churchill won twice: over Nazi Germany, and over a legion of sceptics who derided his judgement and denied his claims to greatness. Regarded by many critics as of the best “brief lives” ever published on Churchill. —RML
Benson, Tim. Churchill in Caricature. London: Political Cartoon Society, 2005, 96 pp. ✸ Expertly captioned portrayal of Churchill in cartoons, where artists took advantage of his famous props: cigars, siren suits, hats and victory salutes. Foreword by former Prime Minister Edward Heath.
Bercuson David Jay and Holger J. Herwig. One Christmas in Washington: The Secret Meeting Between Roosevelt and Churchill That Changed the World. Woodstock: Overlook Press; Toronto: McArthur and Co., 2005, 320 pp. One Christmas in Washington: Churchill and Roosevelt Forge the Grand Alliance. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2006. 320 pp. Reprints.
Best, Geoffrey. Churchill and War. London: New York: Hambledon and London, Bloomsbury, 2005, 354 pp. ✸ Geoffrey Best highlights the dominant theme of war in Churchill’s career, starting with his early service in India and going all the way to the nuclear age he feared. This accomplished historian shows how Churchill’s experience in prior wars governed his actions and decisions in the Second World War. An outstanding study of Churchill as war leader. —RML
Cannadine, David. Winston Churchill: Abenteurer, Monarchist, Staatsman. Berlin: Berenberg, 2005, 188 pp., text in German.
Charmley, John. Der Untergang des Britischen Empires: Roosevelt—Churchill und Amerikas Weg zur Weltmacht [The Fall of the British Empire: Roosevelt, Churchill and America’s Road to World Power]. Graz: Arez Verlag, 2005, 472 pp., text in German. ✸ Drawn on or translated from the author’s Churchill’s Grand Alliance (1995). —RML
Dilks, David. The Great Dominion: Winston Churchill in Canada 1900-1954. Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers, 2005, 472 pp. 512 pp. ✸ The most thorough, best-researched account on Churchill’s long love affair with Canada, where he once contemplated emigrating, and to which referred to as the “linchpin” of the English-Speaking Peoples. A standard work. —RML
Fenby, Jonathan. The Sinking of the Lancastria: Britain’s Greatest Maritime Disaster and Churchill’s Cover-Up. London: Simon and Schuster; New York: Carroll and Graf, 2005, 270 pp. Reprints. ✸ The liner Lancastria was sunk on 17 June 1940 off St. Nazaire while evacuating soldiers and civilians. Details were censored through 2040. This has not prevented investigations and interviews with survivors, from which Fenby sees a cover-up. A bit odd, since Churchill mentioned the “frightful incident” in his war memoirs, and later said: “I had intended to release the news a few days later, but events crowded upon us so black and so quickly that I forgot to lift the ban, and it was some years before the knowledge of this horror became public.” —RML
Fisher, David E. A Summer Bright and Terrible: Winston Churchill, Lord Dowding, Radar and the Impossible Triumph of the Battle of Britain. Washington, D.C.: Shoemaker and Hoard, 2005, 288 pp., softbound 2006.
Forster, John and Bapasola, Jeri. Winston and Blenheim. Woodstock: Blenheim Palace, 2005, 20 pp. softbound.
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill and America. New York: Free Press; London: Pocket Books; Toronto: McClelland and Stewart 2005, 560 pp. Reprints, audiobook. Translations: Czech. ✸ The official biographer examines the breadth of Churchill’s 60-year relationship with America and Americans, and his 16 visits, some of them lengthy, to the United States. Unprecedented depth of detail, but a more clinical approach than Robert Pilpel’s Churchill in America (1976). Both books should be read. —RML
Hayward, Steven. Greatness: Reagan, Churchill and the Making of Extraordinary Leaders. New York: Crown Forum, 2005, 204 pp. Reprints, softbound. ✸ An insightful and not uncritical analysis of two great and independent thinking political figures of the 20th century, who demonstrated that individuals can translate wisdom into action for public good. Connected by the Cold War that was bookended by Churchill’s 1946 Iron Curtain speech and Reagan’s 1987 “Tear Down This Wall” speech, both believed the ideological conflict could be won peacefully against the face of conventional wisdom. —WJS
Hickman, Tom. Churchill’s Bodyguard. London: Headline, 2005, 312 pp., hardbound and softbound. ✸ Covers detective-inspector Walter H. Thompson—the tall, angular figure who accompanied Churchill in the 1920s and again during and after the Second World War. Criticized for inaccuracies; the reader is better advised to read Thompson’s own four books (search for “Thompson”). —RML
Holmes, Richard. In the Footsteps of Churchill. London: BBC Books, 2005, 352 pp. ✸ The author produced television documentaries, and this book was published alongside the BBC series by that name, following Churchill’s footsteps from the mud of Flanders to the White House. Not easy to access, valuable in its own way, but Holmes sometimes grinds his own Europhobic axes while discussing Churchillian politics. —AC
Hunter, Ian, ed. Winston and Archie: The Letters of Sir Archibald Sinclair and Winston S. Churchill, 1915-1960. London: Politico’s, 2005, 530 pp. ✸ A long and rich correspondence, much never before published. Churchill and Sinclair served together in First World War trenches, united to oppose the Bolsheviks in the War Office, and managed the Empire at the Colonial Office. In the 1930s Sinclair, as leader of the Liberals, stood with Churchill against appeasement. After he became prime minister, Churchill appointed Sinclair Secretary of State for Air. —RML
Jong, Oebele de. Churchill en de Nederlanders. Zutphen: Walburg, 2005, 238 pp., text in Dutch.
Kenny, Mary. Allegiance: Michael Collins and Winston Churchill, 1921-22: A Dramatized Account. Dublin: Kildare Street Books, 2005, 96 pp. Reprints. ✸ The stirring account of a friendship begun in antagonism. Collins and Churchill were key figures in crafting the 1922 Irish Treaty that give the republic its independence. Collins was assassinated for his efforts. One of his last messages was, “Tell Winston we could have done nothing without him.” —RML
Legrand, Jacques and Nida, François. Churchill. Trélissac: Éditions Chronique, 2005, 128 pp., text in French.
Lénárt, Levente. Churchill és az európai gondolat [Churchill and the European Thought]. Pomáz: Marconi Kft, 2005, 160 pp., text in Hungarian.
Lewis, Brenda Ralph. Churchill: An Illustrated History. London: Reader’s Digest, 2005, 256 pp. Translations: Czech. ✸ A disappointment. The publisher commissioned an established writer to produce a book on “WSC without checking whether she knew much more about the subject than the ordinary person in the street—and it shows. Exasperating minor errors are so numerous that they ruin whatever merits the book may have.” —PHC
Lloyd George, Robert. David and Winston: How the Friendship Between Churchill and Lloyd George Changed the Course of History. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 2005, 304 pp. David and Winston: How a Friendship Changes History. London: John Murray, 304 pp. Reprints.
Mahoney, Richard J., illustrations by Dalin, Shera. The Quotable Winston Churchill. Fulton, Mo.: Winston Churchill Memorial and Library, 2005, 160 pp.
Moradiellos, Enrique. Franco frente a Churchill: España y Gran Britaña en la Segunda Guerra Mundial [Franco versus Churchill: Spain and Great Britain in the Second Word War] (1939-1945). Barcelona: Ediciones Peninsula, 2005, 480 pp., softbound, 2007.
Nicholson, Arthur Pole. Hostages to Fortune: Winston Churchill and the Loss of the Prince of Wales and Repulse. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton, 2005, 234 pp. ✸ Churchill sent the two warships to form a “vague menace,” hoping to forestall the Japanese onslaught on Singapore. Air power proved their undoing and both were promptly sunk off Malaya. —RML
Paterson, Michael. Winston Churchill: His Military Life 1895-1945. (Preliminary title: “…Personal Accounts of the Great War Leader.”) Newton Abbot and Cincinnati, Ohio: David and Charles; 320 pp. Softbound, 2006. Reprints. Translations: Czech. ✸ The first word of the introduction, Churchill’s burial place (“Blandon”) might suggest it is unnecessary to read further. Accurate in chronology but laced with lengthy extracts from other people’s writings and insignificant people’s comments. Russell’s work (below) is the place to go for authoritative information on this subject. —PHC
Rompuy, Hubert van. Winston Churchill: kampioen van de vrijheid [Champion of Freedom]. Antwerp: Apeldoorn: Garant, 2005, 146 pp., text in Dutch.
Russell, Douglas S. Winston Churchill, Soldier: The Military Life of a Gentleman at War. London: Brassey’s, 2005, 280 pp. Second edition with corrections, London: Conway Maritime Press, 2009. ✸ A standard work on Churchill’s military career from Sandhurst through the Great War, deeply researched with many fresh sources. —AC
Sandys, Celia. Churchill: The Book of the Museum. London: Imperial War Museum, 2005, 160 pp.
Spencer-Churchill, Henrietta. Blenheim and the Churchill Family: A Personal Portrait. London: Cico; New York, Rizzoli, 2005, 224 pp.
Thompson, Walter. Beside the Bulldog. London: Apollo Publishing, 2005, 144 pp. ✸ A reprint of bodyguard Thompson’s Sixty Minutes with Winston Churchill (1953) with an introduction by Thompson’s grand-niece Linda Stoker.
Walters, Neil and Ramsden, John. Churchill, Gifts to a Hero. Westerham, Kent: National Trust Chartwell, 2005, 40 pp., softbound. ✸ A catalogue to accompany a special exhibition of gifts to Churchill exhibited at Chartwell on the 40th anniversary of his death. Text by Walters, essay by Ramsden. —RML
Wigg, Richard. Churchill and Spain: The Survival of the Franco Regime, 1940-1945. London and New York: Routledge, 2005, 212 pp. Revised edition, Brighton, E. Sussex and Portland, Ore.: Sussex Academic Press, 2005, 2008, softbound. Translations: Spanish.
Williamson, Daniel Charles. Separate Agendas: Churchill, Eisenhower and Anglo-American Relations, 1953-1955. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, 146 pp. Reprints.
Winckelmann, Thomas. Winston Churchill, England’s Lion. Glenview, Ill.: Pearson/Scott Foresman, 2005, 16 pp., softbound.
2006
Adam, Simon. Winston Churchill. London: Franklin Watts, 2006, 112 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Alkon, Paul. Winston Churchill’s Imagination. Lewisburg, Penna.: Bucknell University Press, 2006, 268 pp. ✸ A unique analysis of Churchill’s use of imagination in his writings. Alkon dwells on WSC’s relationship with Lawrence of Arabia, Charlie Chaplin and film producer Alexander Korda. He contemplates WSC’s imaginative engagement with science and science fiction: “the depiction of time, duration, and alternative history.” He also considers The Dream, a “private article” by the 72-year-old Winston, as he discusses the history of the 20th century with the ghost of his father. Well researched, this work is clearly argued and eloquently written. —RML
Allende, Juan Martin. Winston Churchill: visto por un sudamericano [Winston Churchill: as Seen by a South American]. Buenos Aires: Editorial Dunken, 2006, 550 pp., text in Spanish.
Alter, Peter. Winston Churchill (1874-1965): Leben und Überleben [Live and Survive]. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2006, 326 pp., text in German.
Berthon, Simon and Potts, Joanna. Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-Creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2006, 358 pp. Reprints.
Brezina, Deborah Davis. The Spirit of Churchill. New York: Avalon Press, 2006, 348 pp. ✸ Bluntly admiring, lacking anything that is new, and without criticism, this is the type of one-sided hero-worship that does a disservice to Churchill by pretending that he is perfect. His human imperfections, and the way he surpassed them, are keys to his greatness. —RML
Chambers, Ian. The Churchills and Chamberlains in Ireland 1874-1922. Amherst, N.Y.: Cambria Press, 2006, 364 pp.
Cohen, Ronald I. Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill. London: Thoemmes; New York: Continuum, 3 vols., 2006, 2184 pp. ✸ The product of thirty years’ research and collecting, this is the ultimate and ever-standard bibliography of Churchill’s writings, encompassing Churchill’s published books, pamphlets, leaflets, contributions, articles, speeches, letters, memoranda and statements, together with the circumstances of publication. Its publication put all previous attempts at bibliography in the shade, and it will forever be consulted as the “last word.” —RML
Corrigan, Gordon. Blood, Sweat and Arrogance and the Myths of Churchill’s War. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2006, 496 pp., Reprints. ✸ An ex-Gurkha major who likes “pricking the pompous” turns to Churchill, unable to grasp that in war, politics cannot be ignored. For example, he blithely asserts that sinking the French fleet in 1940 was unnecessary: the French “would have come to an agreement.” He has the luxury of such assumptions today. Anyone is free to hold Churchill in contempt, but to do so requires learning something about him. —Robert Courts
Daynes, Katie. Winston Churchill. Tulsa, Okla.: EDC; London: Usborne, 2006, 64 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Delaforce, Patrick. 274 Things You Should Know about Churchill. London: Michael O’Mara, 2006, 192 pp. Translations: Czech.
Gilbert, Martin. The Will of the People: Winston Churchill and Parliamentary Democracy. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2006, 152 pp. Translations: Czech. ✸ A fine exposition by the official biographer of Churchill’s lifetime faith in constitutionalism, or representative government, and the rule of law. —RML
Hall, Douglas. The Book of Churchilliana. London: New Cavendish Books, 2006, 192 pp. ✸ A luxurious, full color, folio compilation of every souvenir item from toby jugs to cigar bands, along with Churchill-related places from Admiralty House to Westminster Abbey. Not a complete catalogue, and it’s sometimes hard to find the narrative connected to the illustrations, but the author includes notes on values (in 2006) and important details about manufacturers and their artists. The best bric-a-brac volume to date. —RML
Hamilton, Janice. Winston Churchill. Minneapolis, Minn.: Twenty-First Century Books, 2006, 112 pp. ✸ Juvenile.
Haugen, Brenda. Winston Churchill: British Soldier, Writer, Statesman. Minneapolis, Minn.: Compass Point Books, 2006, 112 pp. ✸ A juvenile for ages 10-13, with good photos in color and black and white, a timeline, and a glossary of terms, important for those ages. A good little book marred by a few factual errors. —RML
Kersaudy, François. Winston Churchill. Buenos Aires: Ateneo, 2006, 562 pp., text in Spanish.
Kinvig, Clifford. Churchill’s Crusade: The British Invasion of Russia, 1918-1920. London: Hambledon Continuum, 2006, 374 pp. Reprints. Translations: Polish. ✸ Although not the architect, Churchill was the invasion’s chief advocate, with laudable goals but unrealistic expectations, writes the former Sandhurst lecturer. Superior study to Damien Wright’s misnamed Churchill’s Secret War with Lenin (2017). —WJS
Paterson, Mike. Winston Churchill: Photobiography. Newton Abbott and Cincinnati, David and Charles, 2006, 204 pp. Translations: Czech.
Read, Craig. Winston S. Churchill: Last of the Conservatives: An Analysis of Churchill, Recent History, and His Conservative Ideals. Philadelphia: Xlibris Corp., 2006, 138 pp. Republished as Winston S. Churchill: An Analysis of Churchill, Recent History and His Conservative Ideals, 2007.
Thomson, Malcolm. Fenomén [Phenomenon] Winston Churchill. Prague: Vladimir Korinek, 2006, 394 pp., text in Czech. ✸ A Czech edition of Thomson’s Life and Times, first published in 1945.
2007
Addison, Paul. Winston Churchill. Oxford: New York: Oxford University Press, “VIP” series, 2007, 138 pp. ✸ The author’s Churchill entry for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Hailed as a miniature masterpiece, an even briefer life than Addison’s Unexpected Hero. It is dramatic and penetrating, despite being fewer than 150 pages. The ideal book to read if you read nothing else about Churchill. —RML
Andriola, Fabio. Carteggio segreto Churchill–Mussolini [Secret Correspondence of Churchill and Mussolini]. Milano: Sugarco, 2007, 406 pp. ✸ Another in the endless supply of Mussolini-Churchill fake letters: the longest-running published canard in the Churchill field. The total is now thirteen. But 400 pages on this? —RML
Bar-Noi, Uri. Anglo-Soviet Relations During Churchill’s Peacetime Administration. Brighton: Sussex Academic, 2007.
Bennett, Gil. Churchill’s Man of Mystery: Desmond Morton and the World of Intelligence. London and New York: Routledge, 2007, 404 pp. ✸ A textbook on the history of the SIS, including many tedious details of internal jealousies. But as a piece of detective work covering information about an intensely private man, it will be required reading for those who want to know everything possible about an important figure at Churchill’s elbow. —PHC
Buczacki, Stefan. Churchill and Chartwell: The Untold Story of Churchill’s Houses and Gardens. London: Frances Lincoln, 2007, 324 pp. ✸ The reigning authority on the Kentish home Churchill loved—and all his other homes: primary residences, government quarters, loans from or shares with family or friends, country houses, even holiday cottages. The result is the first comprehensive book about where Churchill lived throughout his long and eventful life. Standard work. —RML
Callahan, Raymond A. Churchill and His Generals. Lawrence, Kans.: University Press of Kansas, 2007, 310 pp. ✸ A careful and readable analysis by a scholar who avoids popular cant and concentrates instead on reality. “An outstanding study concerning the impressive institutional transformations of the British and Indian armies under great stress in World War II. —David Jablonsky
Fenby, Jonathan. Alliance: The Inside Story of How Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill Won One War and Began Another. London: Simon and Schuster, 2007, 464 pp. Reprints, softbound. Translations: Polish. ✸ Focusing on the Big Three relationship, Fenby crafts an intelligent story that starkly captures the more poignant moments from wartime summits: FDR’s physical frailty and his increasing mental incapacitation; Churchill’s frantic efforts to stay in FDR’s good graces as Britain’s status waned; and, perhaps most starkly, Stalin’s casual cruelty to friend and foe alike. —Ted Hutchinson
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill and the Jews: A Lifetime Friendship. London: Simon and Schuster; New York: Henry Holt; Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2007, 360 pp. Reprints. ✸ Churchill was forever committed to Zionism and the State of Israel. In the early 1920s he fought for the right of Jews to emigrate to Palestine, while always remaining optimistic that Arabs and Jews there could settle their differences. Drawn from a wide range of archives and private papers, speeches, newspaper coverage and wartime correspondence, this is one of several important works on Churchill and Jewry. —RML
Hesse, Helge. Das Churchill-Prinzip: mit Persönlichkeit zum Erfolg [The Churchill Principle: with Personality to Success]. Frankfurt: M. Eichborn, 2007, 236 pp., text in German.
Hunter, Ian, ed. Collected Correspondence of David Lloyd George and Winston S. Churchill 1904-1945. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, 292 pp. ✸ Hunter collects the personal and official letters between Churchill and his early political mentor, fascinating and witty chapters in a complex friendship, not always a smooth one. The editor contextualizes each letter, helping readers understand the personalities and issues involved. —RML
Kersaudy, François. Le monde selon Churchill: sentences, confidences, prophéties et réparties [The World According to Churchill: Sentences, Confidences, Prophecies and Repartees]. Paris: Alvik, 2007, 282 pp., text in French.
Kupfermann, Thomas. Zum Teufel alle miteinander! Anekdoten über Churchill [Hell, Everyone! Anecdotes about Churchill]. Berlin: Eulenspiegel Verlag, 2007, 126 pp.
Lavery, Brian. Churchill Goes to War: Winston’s Wartime Journeys. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press; London: Conway, 2007, 392 pp. Reprints. ✸ A finely-documented account of Churchill’s numerous wartime journeys. Clear maps help the reader follow the journeys by land and sea, from the luxury of the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth to the unheated and little-pressurized “Commando,” a transport version of the B-24. Well-written and fastidiously sourced, making it a standard work on the topic. —RML
Lee, Celia and Lee, John: Winston and Jack: The Churchill Brothers. London: self-published, 2007, 408 pp. ✸ The only comparative joint life of Winston and his brother, authoritatively drawn from personal correspondence and family archives. “A portrait of Jack that is at once impressive and humane. Jack was in many ways a simple man, a family man. He loved his wife, children and brother dearly. He was a hard worker and ambitious, but content to support rather than emulate Winston’s quest for political prominence.” —Ted Hutchinson
Lukacs, John. Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: Winston Churchill and the Speech That Saved Civilization. New York: Basic Books; London: Perseus, 2007, 176 pp. Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Dire Warning. Reprints, softbound. ✸ Examines Churchill’s first speech as Prime Minister, 13 May 1940, a pivotal moment in his life, admitting that even Churchill had his doubts, at that juncture, to see “a way through” the war with Germany. An ardent admirer, Lukacs admits that “Churchill made no promises to his country in his speech, because he knew he had none to make.”
Makovsky, Michael. Churchill’s Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007, 342 pp. ✸ An excellent account which should be read alongside Gilbert’s Churchill and the Jews (2007, below). More critical than Gilbert, Makovsky notes Churchill’s inconsistencies in his views and policies, tracking the influence of politics and world strategy on his actions. But the author has no doubt about the moral impact of the Holocaust, and Churchill’s sentimentalism toward the Jewish people. —RML
McGinty, Stephen. Churchill’s Cigar. London: McGinty, 2007, 214 pp. Reprints. ✸ Nothing one can’t read about in the standard biographies, say reviewers: “Not an intense historical piece but does give information about cigar history in England and insight into Churchill and his love of cigars throughout his life. Would recommend this to any cigar smoker.” —Alfred James
McMenamin, Michael and Zoller, Curt. Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Young Winston and His American Mentor. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007, 276 pp. Second Edition: Sarasota, Fla.: Design Publishing, 2022, 482 pp. ✸ Second Edition reviewed by Hillsdale: A valuable and enlightening work on young Winston’s mentor, Irish-American politician Bourke Cockran. The authors begin by showing how Churchill adopted Cockran’s political and economic views on democracy, capitalism, the Gold Standard, Free Trade and Socialism. Yet the story is biographical, covering all their meetings and private correspondence. The title is well taken, for this is the story of young Winston growing up. —RML
Moody, Joanna and Margerison, Olive. From Churchill’s War Rooms: Letters of a Secretary, 1943-45, Stroud, Glos.: Tempus, 2007, 256 pp. ✸ Uses Churchill in its title to enhance a book that is not about Churchill. It is instead the life of a delightful 92-year-old, Olive Margerison, who worked briefly in the War Rooms but has little to say of them except the deficient toilet facilities. It evokes memories, but does not add to our knowledge of WSC. —PHC
Olson, Lynne. Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; London: Bloomsbury; Toronto: Anchor Canada, 2007, 436 pp. Troublesome Young Men: The Churchill Conspiracy of 1940. London: Bloomsbury. 2008. Several reprints. Translations: Dutch, Polish. ✸ A popular writer looks at the few politicians willing to risk their careers by supporting Churchill’s fight against 1930s appeasement: Macmillan, Boothby, Amery, Ronald Cartland, Lord Cranborne and others. Olson is excellent on the political and personal dramas that played out as a result. Although the ground she covers is not new, the focus is unique and dramatic. Well worth the reading. —RML
Reynolds, David. From World War to Cold War: Churchill, Roosevelt, and the International History of the 1940s. Oxford University Press, 2007, 364 pp. Reprints. ✸ An anthology of nearly a score of the historian’s articles on the 1940s, in chronological order, shows how the world of diplomacy was radically changed during the war and postwar years. One of the six parts is a valuable argument for why it made sense to fight on in 1940, rather than seek a withdrawal from the contest. Reynolds, however, thinks Churchill was over-optimistic in expecting this would quickly bring American into the war. —Michael Richards
Serra, Enrico. Winston Churchill: luci e hombre [Lights Is Man]. Firence: Le lettere, 2007, 90 pp., text in Italian.
Toye, Richard. Lloyd George and Churchill: Rivals for Greatness. London: Macmillan, 2007, 504 pp. Reprints, softbound. ✸ Although mostly pro-Lloyd George, neither protagonist emerges well. The Welshman remained the leading holdout from Churchill’s 1940 coalition government, but WSC forgave him and offered him an earldom in 1944. —RML
2008
Austin, Douglas. Churchill and Malta: A Special Relationship. Stroud, Glos.: Spellmount, 2008, 226 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A chronology of Churchill’s visits to and relationship with the Mediterranean island from his first encounter in 1896 to the Second World War, when Malta staged a heroic defense. Though he spent only an aggregate two weeks there, Churchill visited six times, and held Malta’s resistance glorious. Foreword by Martin Gilbert, who writes that the book provides “both true history and high drama.” —Deborah W. Nutter
Baker, Nicholson. Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008. Reprints. ✸ Baker’s non-book offers, at best, disjointed fragments of the truth. In the words of my 18-year-old grandson, the fragments “read like beat poet Allen Ginsberg writing history for USA Today, only without the goofy graphics.” Churchill, the villain, can do no right. His alleged wish to starve Jews was worse than Hitler, who simply wanted them dead. Churchill never wanted to starve them at all. To pretend otherwise is ludicrous, but then, as Baker explains in an interview: “I used Wikipedia during the writing of the book, especially to check facts.” —Andrew Roberts
Bar-Noi, Uri. The Cold War and Soviet Mistrust of Churchill’s Pursuit of Detente 1955. Brighton, Sussex and Portland, Ore.: Academic Press, 2008, 238 pp. ✸ Soviet archives has allowed several historians to re-examine Anglo-Soviet relations during Churchill’s peacetime administration. Bar-Noi is best when explaining why Churchill’s efforts to end the Cold War with a “summit” (1951-55) were resisted in Moscow. A work worthy of contemplation. —AC
Buchanan, Patrick, J. Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World. New York: Crown Publishers, 2008, 518 pp. ✸ A problem illustrated by this book is the rampant use of selective quotes to distort the facts and to fit a predetermined mindset. Churchill was enthusiastic to fight when the Great War came; therefore, he is a warmonger. The German Kaiser was a noble prince; therefore, he was badly misunderstood. Hitler never wanted to go to war with Britain; therefore he was goaded by Churchill. Hitler never wanted the Jews….what? Dead? This is an entertaining polemic by a good writer, whose preconceived notions prevented him from representing reality. —RML
Clarke, Peter. The Last Thousand Days of the British Empire: Churchill, Roosevelt, and the Birth of the Pax Americana. New York: Bloomsbury; London: Allen Lane, 2008, 560 pp. ✸ The author marshals numerous letters and diaries from the major figures in the Empire’s decline. He offers a forensic analysis of American influence, which was at once pro-Britain and anti-Empire (an impossible thing to be?) As such, we are shown when and how, very quickly, America came to supplant Britain as the leading Western power. —Michael Richards
Courtinat, Roland. Les accords secrets Pétain-Churchill [The Secret Pétain-Churchill Agreements] (octobre-novembre 1940). Coulommiers: Dualpha, 2008, 100 pp., text in French. ✸ If such there were, it would surprise us. A review of this title would be most welcome.
D’Este, Carlo. Warlord: Churchill at War, 1874-1945. London: Allan Lane. Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945. New York: Harper, 2008, 880 pp. Reprints. Translations: French. ✸ D’Este has given us the lion not only in winter, but at war: impetuous, brazen, misguided, but indefatigable, indomitable and magnanimous: the greatest and most energetic generalissimo of the 20th century. —Boston Globe
Duchesne, Jacques (Saint-Denis, Michel). Deux jours avec Churchill [Two Days with Churchill], Londres, 21 octobre 1940, Paris, 11 novembre 1944. LaTour d’Aigues: de Aube, 2008, 78 pp.
Freudenberg, Graham. Churchill and Australia. Sydney: Pan Macmillan, 614 pp. ✸ The author really tells the story of Australia and Britain, not specifically Churchill. Its lesson, he says, “is how much, in the final analysis, we [Australians] must rely upon ourselves. And, of course, the lesson of his whole life: ‘Never Despair.’” That said, there is no more comprehensive survey of UK-Australia wartime relations, sometimes fraught, and between Churchill and Prime Ministers Menzies and Curtin. A standard work. —RML
Giblin, James Cross. Did Fleming Rescue Churchill? New York: Holt, 2008, 64 pp. ✸ Juvenile for ages 8-12. The story of a 5th grade student confronted with an old canard. Supposedly Alexander Fleming saved Churchill twice: from drowning in a bog as a youth, and from pneumonia with his invention, penicillin, in 1943. The student refers to the internet and quickly gets to the bottom of the story all by himself. Good reading. —Michael Richards
Herman, Arthur. Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry That Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age. New York: Bantam Books; London: Hutchinson, 2008, 722 pp. ✸ Cutting through decades of shallow reporting, Arthur Herman offers a balanced and elegant account of two famous personages, which captures both Churchill’s generosity of spirit and Gandhi’s greatness of soul. While recognizing their faults, he shows what motivated them and made them great—with impressive research which leaves “no stone unturned, no cutlet uncooked.” The last two chapters, and the author’s conclusion, are alone worth the price of what has proven to be the most comprehensive work on the subject. —RML
Ive, Ruth. The Woman Who Censored Churchill. Stroud: History Press, 2008, 136 pp. ✸ The only way Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt could communicate directly long-distance was the transatlantic telephone. Mechanically it had its moments—Churchill liked to bang the receiver on his desk when connections were bad, not enhancing communications. Worse, Ruth Ive was the stenographer assigned to cutting him off if he ventured into classified subjects—a task which did not endear her to the Prime Minister. Entertaining and fun. —RML
Kelly, C. Brian. Best Little Stories from the Life and Times of Winston Churchill. Nashville, Tenn.: Cumberland House, 2008, 430 pp. “Best Little Stories” series. ✸ When a journeyman writer adds Churchill to a vast repertoire one doesn’t expect much, but Kelly has done an excellent job, affording a glimpse of Churchill for young readers without falling for old canards and tall tales, relying on Martin Gilbert and other top experts to back up his two dozen tales, two-thirds from the Second World War; together with a 50-page account of his mother, Lady Randolph, written by Ingrid Kelly. —Michael Richards
Kershaw, Ian. Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941. London: Penguin, 2008, 600 pp. Reprints. ✸ The acclaimed Hitler biographer offers a blockbuster account of key decisions by war leaders: Britain’s decision to fight on in May 1940; Mussolini’s decision to attack Greece; Stalin’s decision to trust Hitler in 1939; Japan’s decisions to expand southward and to go to war with the United States; Roosevelt’s decisions to help Britain and to wage undeclared war against Germany; Hitler’s decisions to attack Russia, to declare war on the USA and to commit genocide in Europe. An amazing commentary on irrationality, which ought to be read by modern decision-makers before they do something stupid. Again. —RML
Knight, Nigel. Churchill: The Greatest Briton Unmasked. Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 2008, 320 pp. Republished as Churchill Reappraised, softbound. ✸ In his assessment of Winston Churchill’s political career, Nigel Knight challenges the sentimental image of the great wartime leader and argues that Churchill’s impact on Great Britain was, in fact, consistently disastrous. Lots of room for inveighing here. It’s possible that Knight just doesn’t know much about Hitler or the Nazis—a flaw which tends to put a Churchill biographer at a disadvantage. —Michael McMenamin
Makins, Clifford; Langworth, Richard M.; and Churchill, Winston S. The Happy Warrior: The Life Story of Sir Winston Churchill, as Told Through Great Britain’s Eagle Comic of the 1950s. Delray Beach, Fla.: Levenger Press, 2008, 96 pp. ✸ A luxurious reissue of the 1958 edition, finely printed with precise color register, with a foreword by Langworth and afterword by Sir Winston’s grandson.
Langworth, Richard, M., ed. Churchill by Himself: The Definitive Collection of Quotations. London: Ebury Press; New York: Public Affairs, 2008, 656 pp. Revised and republished: see Churchill in His Own Words (2012). ✸ Over 4000 quotations in 34 chapters from “Immortal Words” to “At Large,” and an appendix of “Red Herrings” falsely attributed to Churchill. “Cross references clarify, correlate, quote, refer, contextualize, and sometimes take a wider view in an objective, non-partisan fashion. One therefore cannot tell—and rightly so—whether he is a Left or Right Churchillian, only that his erudition is immense. With these judicious notes, he is the Virgil to the reader’s Dante.” —Manfred Weidhorn
Rankin, Nicholas. Churchill’s Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945. London: Faber and Faber, 2008, 704 pp. ✸ Described: “How the British won two world wars by conning the Kaiser, hoaxing Hitler and bluffing their way out of trouble. Pretend German radio stations, broken German secret codes, eavesdropping; every German spy in Britain was captured and many were used to send back false information to their controllers.” This book may not really fit here, since it seems to use Churchill only to enhance the title.
Reid, Walter. Churchill 1940-1945: Under Friendly Fire. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2008, 416 pp. ✸ The alternative title “…Fighting with Allies” appears to be an advance title for this work. The author explains how Churchill had to fight the war on one hand while holding off his friends on the other. A thoughtful examination of WSC’s relations with Chamberlain, Halifax, Roosevelt, de Gaulle and Brooke, among others. —RML
Rhys-Jones, Graham. Churchill and the Norway Campaign 1940. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Military, 2008, 240 pp. ✸ Examines Britain’s response to Hitler’s April 1940 surprise invasion of Norway, an ill-fated campaign for which Churchill took less blame than he might have had, were it not that he was increasingly seen as Chamberlain’s successor. Explains the frequent shifts in civilian authority over the military, which was more inclined to take risks than the politicians were. —PHC
Roberts, Andrew. Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-45. London: Allen Lane, 2008, 736 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ This biographical account of the Second World War features four mighty figures: Churchill, Roosevelt and their commanders Brooke and Marshall. Each was exceptionally tough-willed and strong-minded, and each of them was certain that he best knew how to win the war. The result was often an epic squabble, yet it was a tribute to the Allies that they worked out their differences and pressed on. Solidly researched and infinitely readable. —RML
Roberts, Philip. About Churchill. London: Faber, 2008, 336 pp.
Weigold, Auriol. Churchill, Roosevelt and India: Propaganda During World War II. “Studies in Modern History” series. New York: Routledge, 2008, 210 pp. ✸ While Churchill had spoken in favor of Indian independence as early as 1918, he stoutly resisted it as long as he judged there could never be fairness and fair-play to India’s many minorities and lower caste Hindus. Weigold tracks Churchill’s propaganda efforts to bring American opinion to his point of view. They were not very successful. —RML
Young, John W. The Foreign Policy of Churchll’s Peaetime Administration 1951-55. Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1988, 274 pp. ✸ Scholarly essays on U.S. and Soviet relations, Europen defense, the Schuman Plan, Egypt and Suez, the Baghdad Pact, South Africa, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars.Contributors: Anthony Adamthwaite, G.R. Berridge,Peter Boyle, Peter Lowe, Ritchie Overndale, Brian Holden Reid, J.E. Spence, Geoffrey Warner, John W. Young. Not reviewed.
2009
Axelrod, Alan. Winston Churchill, CEO: 25 Lessons for Bold Business Leaders. New York: Sterling, 2009, 288 pp. Reprints, e-book.
Casini, Fabio. Churchill e la Campagna d’Italia [Churchill and the Italian Campaign]. Siena: Nuova Imagine Editore, 2009, 212 pp.
Dixon, Jack. Dowding and Churchill: The Dark Side of the Battle of Britain. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Aviation, 2009, 364 pp. Also e-book: ✸ Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding created Fighter Command and led it to triumph in the Battle of Britain, not without backbiting criticism within the RAF. Churchill erupted when Dowding was shuffled into retirement, but went along with it. Dixon explains why Dowding was shabbily treated, offering the suggestion that this was not one of WSC’s finest hours. —Max E. Hertwig
Hastings, Max. Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940-45. London: Harper Collins, 2009, 664 pp. Winston’s War: Churchill 1940-45. New York: Knopf, 2009, 576 pp. Reprints, e-book. Translations: Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish. ✸ Reads like Greek tragedy: the hero is pure, but he is doomed by forces far superior to his poor mortal’s endeavors. WSC’s doomed attempt to preserve Britain’s status as a great power was only partially due to his personal faults and mistakes. Hastings recites the cliché “giant among pygmies,” but adds his own thoughtful observation. Churchill exercised “the privileges of a dictator without casting off the mantle of a democrat.” —AC
Havardi, Jeremy. The Greatest Briton: Essays on Winston Churchill’s Life and Philosophy. London: Shepheard-Walwyn, 2009, 432 pp. Reprints. ✸ More from a philosophical than a historical perspective, Havardi comprehensively reviews Churchill’s notable achievements and
persistent myths. A bit over-long, not original, and hindered by some date and factual errors, this
nevertheless is a serious and fair-minded evaluation. —WJS
Holmes, Richard. Churchill’s Bunker: The Secret Headquarters at the Heart of Britain’s Victory. London: Profile. The Cabinet War Rooms and the Culture of Secrecy in Wartime London. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009, 246 pp.
Jenkins, Stanley C. Winston Churchill, Oxfordshire Hussar. Lydney, Glos.: Lightmoor Press, 2009, 64 pp. ✸ Published to accompany a Woodstock exhibition about Churchill’s service as part-time soldier. It attempts to offer a history of his regiment, the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars, and at such a brief lengthy, fails entirely. —PHC
Johnson, Paul. Churchill. New York: Viking; London: Penguin, 2009, 176 and 190 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Among Churchill “brief lives,” Johnson’s ties Paul Addison’s as the best book one can read short of 200 pages. Johnson crisply dismisses the outrageous and preposterous while highlighting the truth: that WSC really was indispensable to that time and that hour. “Of all the towering figures both good and evil,” Churchill was “the most valuable to humanity, and also the most likable. It is a joy to write about his life and to read about it.” —RML
Langworth, Richard M., ed. The Definitive Wit of Winston Churchill. New York: Public Affairs. Churchill’s Wit: The Definitive Collection. London: Ebury Press, 2009, 256 pp. Reprints. Translations: Russian. ✸ A “tasting menu” of the wittiest remarks from the editor’s Churchill by Himself. Indexing such a book, as he admits, is very difficult, but the quotes are short and punchy and the chapter groupings work quite well. I intend to take this lovely little book and dig out of it the perfect epigram for every speech I give or chapter I write. —Warren F. Kimbal
Maloubier, Bob and Rossigneux, Brigitte. Les coups tordus de Churchill [Churchill’s Twisted Blows]. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 2009, 268 pp. ✸ Not a serious book on Churchill, only a string of stories, some very far from accurate. The authors seem determined to comb the fever swamps for tall tales: WSC’s scurrilous ancestors, war crimes, hate for this group or that, etc. No doubt it will entertain those of puny intellects in public-bar conversations, but otherwise a waste of time. —AC
Ridley, Sarah. Winston Churchill and World War II. Darien, Ga.: Sea to Sea, 2009, 24 pp. Reprints. ✸ Juvenile.
Shovel, Binden (pseudonym?). Churchill’s Secret Skills. London: Kernel and Warden [self-published], 2009, 250 pp., softbound. ✸ Ostensibly a Churchill-based self-help guide for businessmen, filled with gibberish, stunningly obvious observations, and a guffaw-inducing contrast between Churchill’s leadership and the author’s. Reissued, incredibly, as “…American Idol” in 2010.
Stossel, Clifford Alain. Churchill and de Gaulle: The Greatest Allies. Privately published, 2009, 340 pp. ✸ No index, no notes, no references and many errors show all the signs of a self-published book. There are much better books available on this relationship in this list, starting with Berthon, Kersaudy and Morrisey. —RML
Van der Vat, Dan. The Dardanelles Disaster: Winston Churchill’s Greatest Defeat. New York: Abrams, 256 pp.
2010
Assouline, Pierre, ed. À la recherche de Winston Churchill [Looking for Winston Churchill]. Paris: Perrin, 2010, 160 pp. Reprinted 2015. Text in French. ✸ Collected from a series of debates, moderated by Assouline, broadcast by the public radio station France-Culture on the 70th anniversary of Churchill’s stand on his “island fortress.” It comprises very good debates by people who know their Churchill in and out—highly recommended. —AC
Austin, Douglas. Churchill and Malta’s War 1939-1945. Stroud, Glos.: Amberley, 2010, 192 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: With his third book on Malta, Douglas Austin depicts Churchill’s great leadership and understanding of the geopolitical importance of the nation of Malta. In this deeply researched volume, the story of Malta’s heroic struggle is told through Churchill’s official Malta Papers and the vitality of Malta’s role in supporting the Allied efforts. —Deborah W. Nutter
Bence-Jones, Gillian. Winston: A Verse Biography (To a Brave Man Who Led a Brave People). London: Tlink, 2010, 60 pp., softbound. ✸ An elderly resident of East Anglia offers a tribute in blank verse, skillfully weaving in events and people from Churchill’s life, and memorable snatches from his speeches. In between are her own memories of growing up in Churchill’s time—a privilege. Unique and effective. —PHC
Catherwood, Christopher. His Finest Hour: A Biography of Winston Churchill. New York: Skyhorse, 2010, 272 pp. ✸ Like the author’s previous works, this one recycles too many spurious charges, many long dismissed, in a quest to find Churchill’s feet of clay. There is plenty to find, and fastidious historians have explored them in detail. But not here, where we are quickly at sea over subjects that should be de rigueur for Churchill scholars. Far better are legitimate critics such as Paul Addison, Ian Wood and John Keegan. —RML
Clews, Graham T. Churchill’s Dilemma: The Real Story Behind the Origins of the 1915 Dardanelles Campaign. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger, 2010, 344 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Exhaustive examination of a failure attached to Churchill. Critical of WSC, Clews assigns equal blame to Kitchener. The Dardanelles, he argues, was intended by WSC as a stepping stone to a more ambitious amphibious operation to knock out Germany, most likely via the island of Borkum. —WJS
Giuliani-Balestrino, Ubaldo. Il carteggio Churchill-Mussolini alla luce del processo Guareschi [The Churchill-Mussolini File in Light of the Guareschi Trial], 2010, 224 pp. Rome: Edizioni Settimo. ✸ The ongoing stream of pure-fiction about Churchill’s letters offering peace to Mussolini. The title refers to the first appearance of the “letters” in 1954, when editor Giovanni Guareschi published them in Candido magazine. Poorly written without even attempting to illustrate the obvious fakes, this can safely be consigned to nonsense. —Patrizio Giangreco
Harbutt, Fraser J. Yalta 1945. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 438 pp. Reprints. ✸ The author argues that the Cold War might have been forestalled if postwar arrangements had not been so much influenced by “Roosevelt’s well-intentioned universalism.” This is certainly arguable, but by 1945 much of the postwar settlement was beyond dispute.
Langworth, Richard M., ed. The Patriot’s Churchill: An Inspiring Collection of Churchill’s Finest Words. London: Ebury Press, 2010, 192 pp. Reprints. ✸ Churchill’s words on patriotic themes, distilled from the editor’s Churchill by Himself, all entries reliably attributed and sourced. The quotations “get to the root of what we think, rarely enough, of patriotism,” says the editor. “Churchill, of course, thought of it frequently. But that was another time.” —PHC
Leaming, Barbara. Churchill Defiant: Fighting On: 1945-1955. New York: HarperCollins, 2010, 368 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ The personal dimension helps make this the most important survey of Churchill’s last active decade. Valuable to those new to Churchill for its keen insight into his lifelong defiance of long odds and formidable adversaries. No footnotes, lots of speech paraphrasing allow Leaming to get to the kernel of WSC in those years, and his final goal, the quest for peace. —RML
Lee, Celia and Lee, John. The Churchills: A Family Portrait. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, 288 pp. ✸ Emphasizes the role of Churchill’s parents and brother and their family relationships. A novel approach quoting many sources including WSC’s nephew Peregrine, Sir Ian and Lady Hamilton, and other family and friends. —WJS
_____ ______. Expanded edition. London: Lume Books, 2021, 412 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The authors acknowledge a veritable Who’s Who of Churchill scholars, but specialize in underutilized or even unused sources, notably Peregrine Churchill and Lord and Lady Hamilton, and more accurate content emerges. —WJS
McCullough, David. In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story. Salt Lake City: Shadow Mountain, 2010, 56 pp. ✸ Condemned by some reviewers as narcissistic (it includes a DVD of a McCullough broadcast as well as Churchill and Roosevelt lighting the White House Christmas tree), this is really a touching reiteration of that well-known occasion. —Michael Richards
Mukerjee, Madhusree. Churchill’s Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India during World War II. New York: Basic Books, 2010, 368 pp. Reprints. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: One could say of Churchill’s Secret War that it is neither a secret nor a war, nor has it much to do with Churchill. Mukerjee, who is no historian, gets herself entangled in three separate and contentious issues: Britain’s battle with Indian nationalists, Churchill’s often tempestuous views on India, and the 1943-44 Bengal famine. She attempts to build a plausible cause-and-effect narrative, but manages only to mangle the facts regarding all three, doing a disservice to both historical and moral truth. —Arthur Herma
Nông, Văn Dân. Churchill, Eden, and Indo-China, 1951-55. New York: Anthem Press, 2010, 390 pp. Reprints. ✸ A Hanoi professor applies Vietnamese, French and English documents to the study of how the fall of Dien Bien Phu, and British reluctance to become involved, led to the division of Vietnam at the 1955 Geneva conference. An obscure page in Churchill historiography. —RML
Perry, John. Winston Churchill. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010, 166 pp. “Christian Encounters” series. ✸ An attempt, not very successful, to describe Churchill’s spiritual life, which gets caught on his many contradictory statements and gets many essential facts wrong. —PHC
Plokhy, Serhii. Yalta: The Price of Peace. New York: Viking Adult, 2010, 452 pp.
Price, Bill, Winston Churchill War Leader. Harpenden, Herts.: Pocket Essentials, 2010, 160 pp. Reprints. ✸ A 45,000-word pocket softback, not about the war leader but a mini-biography with no new quotations and a handful of inaccuracies. Nice enough as it goes, but lays enough eggs to send readers to far better brief lives by Addison and Best. —RML
Rubinstein, Christopher. Royal Flourish. London: Grosvenor House, 2010, 302 pp. ✸ Despite his photo on the cover, Churchill appears rarely in this book, which was written to float a far-out conspiracy that the British government was behind Hess’s May 1941 flight to Scotland, where he was promptly interred. Just another Hess canard. —RML
Spencer-Lewis Leonard (pseudonym). Winston Churchill: An American Idol: The X-Factors That Prove the Greatest Briton Had Talent. London: Kernel and Warden [self-published], 2010, 250 pp. softbound. ✸ A reissue of Churchill’s Secret Skills (2009) as a mock self-help guide. The truly awful English is relieved only by the truly splendid English of WSC, who is quoted admiringly. Paraphrasing Churchill, we like the martial and commanding air with which the author treats apostrophes. He stands no nonsense from them. —RML
Toye, Richard. Churchill’s Empire: The World That Made Him and the World He Made. New York: Holt; St. Martin’s Griffin, 2010, 448 pp. London: Macmillan, 2016. Reprints.
Wells, Mike. Churchill 1920-45. London: Heinemann, 2010, 190 pp. “OCR A-Level History” series. Although uneven in coverage, this study guide informs British A-Level students about Churchill’s most important twenty-five years with a more balanced appraisal than he is likely to get in today’s more politicized atmosphere. It shows how to appreciate both sides of an argument and encourages students make up their own minds. Refreshing. —PHC
White-Smith, Heather. My Years with the Churchills: A Young Girl’s Memories. N. Carrollton, Miss.: Cotesworth, 2010, 64 pp. ✸ The author was hired to assist with Clementine Churchill’s correspondence, but aside from a few anecdotes she offers, there is little that is new. The author apparently doesn’t recall the scary time of his 1953 stroke, or the efforts to keep it a secret from the public. —Michael Richards
2011
Batty, Peter. Hoodwinking Churchill: Tito’s Great Confidence Trick. London: Shepheard-Walwyn, 2011, 384 pp. ✸ Like most conspiracy theories, Batty’s is not all wrong: Tito and his British supporters did help convince Churchill to aid his communist partisans. But WSC made his own decisions based on evidence, and it insults the memory of his envoy to Tito, Sir Fitzroy Maclean, to claim he was hoodwinked. “Conspiracy” doesn’t explain everything. —RML
Downing, Taylor. Churchill’s War Lab: Code Breakers, Scientists, and the Mavericks Churchill Led to Victory. New York: Overlook Press, 2011. 416 pp. ✸ Masterfully contends that World War II generated and Churchill encouraged more incredible ideas, technical advances, and scientific leaps than any other conflict. From radar to the decoding brilliance of Bletchley Park, these were the core of Britain’s victory. —WJS
Edgerton, David. Britain’s War Machine: Weapons, Resources, and Experts in the Second World War. London: Allen Lane, 2011, 464 pp. ✸ A revisionist interpretation of Britain and Churchill in the Second World War, critiquing British historiography and examining Churchill beyond the “Hero of 1940.” It argues that Britain was a “warfare state” before a “welfare state,” prioritizing military capability, especially research and development. Led by the “technological visionary” Churchill, Britain was a well-armed country commanding a global economic system. —WJS
Groth, Alexander J. Accomplices: Churchill, Roosevelt and the Holocaust, 2011, 308 pp. Reprints. ✸ An outrageous conspiracy potboiler contending that the Big Two knew about and did nothing to stop the Holocaust, as if they had plenary authority and fighting for survival was secondary. For reality, read Martin Gilbert’s Auschwitz and the Allies. —RML
Hart, Peter, Gallipoli. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, 560 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ A straightforward denunciation of the Dardanelles-Gallipoli campaign as ill-conceived and doomed to failure, taking little account of the nuances, close calls and might-have-beens. —PHC
Jackson, Ashley. Churchill. London: Quercus, 2011, 424 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ A professor of military history advances the scholarship with and outstanding medium-length biography. While not 100% approving, Jackson dismisses the radical dismissals of a WSC resistant to modern developments who died sad and disappointed. “This interpretation,” Jackson writes, “reflects a desperately ageist and teleological way of looking at things and focuses entirely on the negative.”
Langworth, Richard M., ed. All Will Be Well: Good Advice from Winston Churchill. London: Ebury Press, 2011, 160 pp. ✸ In troubled times, to whom better to turn to for reassurance? Distilled from Churchill by Himself are famous and inspiring words, that warmed the hearts of badly pressed peoples. Witty, dry, rousing, wise, his words are an antidote to modern stresses and strains. —PHC
Legg, Rodney. Winston Churchill. London: Pixz, 2011, 64 pp. ✸ Cheap and cheerful, likely to be found in gift shops related to Churchill, but better than the average, because Legg has done his homework and avoids falling for the usual canards. —PHC
Lovell, Mary S. The Churchills in Love and War. New York: Little Brown, 2011, 672 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ A popular history that begins with John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, and his enduring marriage to Sarah Jennings, courtesan to Queen Anne. Of their descendants, only Winston and Clementine had a comparable marriage. The other Churchills come off badly, especially Winston’s father Lord Randolph. Winston’s cousin, “Sunny,” the 9th Duke, had two disastrous marriages, while Winston’s son Randolph is portrayed as a drunken womanizer. —WJS
Mawdsley, Evan. December 1941: Twelve Days That Began a World War. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011, 360 pp.
Quinault, Roland. British Prime Ministers and Democracy: From Disraeli to Blair. London: Continuum, 2011, 302 pp. Reprints, softbound, e-book. ✸ An examination of the role of democracy in the governments of ten prominent modern prime ministers, with a chapter on Churchill recycled from a 2001 article. Quinault’s premiers were selected for contributions “to the evolution of modern British politics.” He uses the democratic credentials of the nine PMs from Disraeli to Thatcher to eviscerate the tenth, Tony Blair, who “took the name of democracy in vain” with his autocratic rule at home and bloody wars abroad. —WJS
Soames, Mary. A Daughter’s Tale: The Memoirs of Winston and Clementine Churchill’s Youngest Child. London: Transworld, 2011; New York: Random House, 2012, 416 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Churchill’s youngest daughter recounts her first 25 years, 1922-1947. “Assuredly it is one of the great documents of history, that someday may be a major resource for historians. In the meantime, A Daughter’s Tale is a most illuminating portrait of the early life of a remarkable woman who was truly a worthy offspring.” —John G. Plumpton
Smith, T.O. Churchill, America and Vietnam 1940-45. New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, 200 pp. ✸ An American academic distills all there is, and there is not much, on Churchill’s concerns over Vietnam, which tended to be obscure and not often expressed. Eden, Smith says, took more of an interest, wanting to retain a close alliance with France. —RML
Ståhlberg, Knut. Två kära ovänner [Two Dear Enemies]: Churchill och de Gaulle. Stockholm, Norsteds, 2011, 340 pp. Text in Swedish. ✸ Except for non-English-speaking Swedes, this book adds nothing new, though it quotes adroitly from letters and scholarly studies to give a balanced report on the two friendly-enemies. Most valuable is a timeline of encounters from Syria 1941 to WSC’s funeral. —AC
Stelzer, Cita. Dinner with Churchill: Policy-Making at the Dinner Table. London: Short Books, 2011, 302 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Uniquely to date, the author shows how Churchill used fine cuisine to advance policy. Section 1 includes meals during the 1940s, all over the world in multiple venues. Section 2 explains what Churchill ate and drank, interlaced with his humor, curiosity and zest. The final chapter is on rationing, a wartime challenge. —Barbara F. Langworth
Weintraub, Stanley. Pearl Harbor Christmas: A World at War, 1941. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2011, 240 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ The 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor occasioned several books not specifically on Churchill. Neither is this, ostensibly, but Weintraub concentrates deeply on WSC’s reaction to events and snap trip to Washington. Not without criticism, the book offers compelling reading. —RML
2012
Ball, Celwyn. Churchill World Stamp Catalogue. New Brunswick: self-published, 2012, 218 pp., spiral bound. ✸ The ultimate catalogue of Churchill commemorative stamps by a lifetime collector, including local-post issues, all the spurious Arab Trucial State semi-stamps, and hundreds of real ones. This is the only listing of every issue from 1945 (yes, even back then) through 2012. A pox on Scott Stamp Catalogues for refusing to allow use of their numbering system. How much would that have cost them? —RML
Baxendale, Alan S. Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill: Penal Reformer. Originally titled Before the Wars: Churchill as Reformer (1910-1911). New York: Peter Lang, 2012, 232 pp. ✸ A foreword by Martin Gilbert notes that Baxendale has gone deeper into Churchill’s prison reforms as Home Secretary than anyone to date. WSC wasn’t always right, sometimes spectacularly wrong—but he made his mark. Essential reading on this topic. —PHC
Bell, Christopher M. Churchill and Sea Power. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012, 430 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Necessary new scholarship on an old subject, based on sources old and new, puncturing many misstatements from the past. Bell concludes: “Churchill understood the navy’s capabilities and its limitations better than probably any other politician of this period. The nation was fortunate that he was so frequently and prominently involved.” —RML
Botham, Noel and Montague, Bruce. Catch That Tiger: Churchill’s Secret Order That Launched the Most Astounding and Dangerous Mission of World War II. London: John Blake, 2012, 228 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Ostensibly about engineer Major Douglas Lidderdale’s mission to North Africa to capture a German “Tiger” tank, but without documentation except the hero’s diary and invented dialogue. Not to be taken seriously. —RML
Castor, Harriet. Winston Churchill: The Story of a Great British Statesman. London: A. and C. Black, 2012, 130 pp. Softbound, e-book. ✸ An excellent introduction for young people, expanded from the author’s 2002 effort and for an older audience. Castor sticks to the sources and maintains strict accuracy. —RML
Catherwood, Christopher. The Treasures of Winston Churchill: The Greatest Briton. London: Andrew Deutsch. 2012. All about Winston Churchill. Indianapolis: Blue River Press, 2017, 96 pp. ✸ The author previously accused Churchill of genocide in Iraq, communizing Eastern Europe and being an alcoholic “flawed genius”; now he issues what seems to be a tribute, with some novel features: four pockets, for example, of reproduction documents. But the text repeats all previous accusations using biased sidebars and unsubstantiated conjecture, interleaved with accuracies (Monty, Eden, India). You can read about all that in more objective works. —RML
Clarke, Peter. Mr. Churchill’s Profession: The Statesman as Author and the Book That Defined the “Special Relationship.” New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2012, 352 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Neither a polemic nor a panegyric of Churchill’s literary career, especially A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, which Clarke considers the magnum opus, written largely by WSC himself, whereas The Second World War was collaboratively produced. Clarke notes that Churchill succeeded at two careers, while his father could not sustain one, and that Churchill had a great appetite for his own words. —WJS
Dilks, David. Churchill and Company: Allies and Rivals in Peace and War. London: Taurus, 2012, 336 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ A collection of essays with penetrating and sometimes unorthodox insights. They aim, says Dilks, “to illuminate Churchill’s activities among friends and enemies”—two hard-to-separate categories. Dilks teaches us how to appreciate Churchill because he makes us think. Circumstances matter. Judging the past by what we know now, we are obliged to consider how the players of those times had to look at things, based only on what they knew then. —RML
Dimbleby, Jonathan. Destiny in the Desert: The Story Behind El Alamein, the Battle That Turned the Tide. London: Profile, 2012, 532 pp. Reprints, e-book.
Fowells, Gavin, Three Studies of Churchill. Pioneer Press, 2012.
Friedman, Isaiah. British Miscalculations: The Rise of Muslim Nationalism 1918-1925. London: Transaction Publishers, 2012, 394 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A professor emeritus at Israel’s Ban-Gurion University joins David Fromkin (1989) in reminding us how much more there was to know of the Arabic and Islamic world than Churchill and the Allies were aware of or willing to admit in those frenzied and important times. Had the advice of WSC and Richard Meinertzhagen’s advice been followed, they might have crafted a more durable peace in the Middle East. —Erica L. Chenoweth
Gilbert, Martin. Churchill: The Power of Words. New York: Da Capo Press, 2012, 536 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ The official biographer focuses his years of experience in the vineyard of Churchill’s words to offer passages of deep meaning to express WSC’s thoughts during the great climacterics of his life. A thoughtful book, one to keep at hand.
Green, Edward. A Little Bit of Churchill Wit. Chichester, W. Sussex: Summersdale, 2012, 160 pp. ✸ Full of false quotes never uttered by Churchill. If you are looking for a bite-sized stocking filler for someone in the Playstation generation, it costs less than the price of a pint of beer. —Robert Courts
Humes, James C. Churchill: The Prophetic Statesman. Washington, D.C.: Regnery History, 2012, 244 pp. ✸ A Republican Presidential speechwriter, reviews the prophetic accuracy of Churchill’s prognostications culled from his writings and speeches. Humes argues that Churchill had an intuition for the impact of technological innovation and social change on war and society. While there is little new for the Churchill scholar or aficionado, the book has some potential for the general reader. —WJS
John, Peter. Churchill versus Hitler: The War of Words. Birmingham: Bennion Kearny, 2012, 354 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ John thoughtfully asks when did each antagonist first become aware of the other’s existence, though there is no definitive answer. Unfortunately, factual errors, inadequate citation conventions, and heavy reliance on a discredited major source, not to mention the pedestrian quality of print, size, and format, give the impression of a self-published rather than a professionally produced work. —WJS
Langworth, Richard M. Churchill in His Own Words: The Life, Times and Opinions of Winston Churchill. London: Ebury Press, 2012, 620 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ A revised edition of Churchill by Himself (2008) adds a key word and phrase index to locate quotes and some editions and deletions based on prodigious checking and rechecking. Each of the 4120 entries is backed by reliable attribution, unlike so many smaller quote books. The “Red Herrings” appendix of quotes WSC never said is back, and expanded. —PHC
Marsh, Richard C. Churchill, Flandin and Wigram: The Rest of the Story. Ann Arbor, Mich.: The Triple Anvil Press, 2012, 18 pp, illustrated by Rose Jaffe. ✸ A monograph describing Pierre Flandin’s unsuccessful 1936 attempt to enlist British support to confront Nazi Germany. Also, Churchill’s assistance to Flandin during his trial after the Second World War, and Churchill’s friendship with Ralph Wigram and his wife Ava.
Norman, Andrew. Winston Churchill: Portrait of a Unique Mind. Barnsley, Yorks.: Pen and Sword, 2012, 224 pp. Reprints, e-book.
Reardon, Terry. Winston Churchill and Mackenzie King: So Similar, So Different. Toronto: Patrick Boyer Books, 2012, 432 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ It is hard for today’s advocates of the Anglo-American special relationship to believe that there was a time when the U.S. and Britain could not talk directly to each other about substantive issues without an intermediary. That linchpin (a Churchillian term) was not Canada; it was Mackenzie King. —John G. Plumpton.
Sandys, Celia and El Glaoui, Turia. Meetings in Marrakech: The Paintings of Hassan El Glaoui and Winston Churchill. Milan, Skira Editore, 2012, 72 pp., softbound. ✸ A delightful collection of paintings by both artists, published to coincide with an unusual exhibition in January 2012 in London’s Leighton House. —PHC
Selbert, Kathryn. War Dogs: Churchill and Rufus. Watertown, Mass.: Charlesbridge, 2012, 48 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Billed for ages 7-10, this charmer features Churchill’s beloved poodle, who accompanies him on wartime meanderings. Not least important, it includes a 1939-45 timeline, a page on “Churchill and Poodles,” “The Man Himself,” a book list, websites, a bibliography and, most happily, “Quotation Sources.” A really well-done juvenile. —Suzanne Sigman
Singer, Barry. Churchill Style: The Art of Being Winston Churchill. New York: Abrams, 2012, 240 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Like most Abrams titles, this is elegant in appearance, and the author has a unique approach: nine facets of Churchill that were the essence of his style: autos, books, cigars, dining, fashion, friendships, home, imbibing, pastimes. This is a fine little book to browse forever, full color illustrations including rare first editions—an heirloom and an education. —RML
Strange, Robert J. Who Sank the Titanic? The Final Verdict. Barnsley, Yorks.: Pen and Sword, 2012, 224 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Unlikely to be here, but Strange blames Churchill (as President of the Board of Trade) for most of Titanic’s deficiencies, so…. WSC ignored the lack of lifeboats, faulty rivets, dubious steel, etc. And he would not have missed all this, were he not busy courting Clementine and angling for his next office. If only he’d been a mechanic. —Michael Richards
Theakston, Kevin. Winston Churchill. London: Shire Books, 2012, 56 pp. ✸ A lovely little gem that was mainly ignored and not reprinted. Theakston crisply tells the story, not ignoring the literary and family side, studding his text with fresh and colorful illustrations. Not omitted are appendices for further reading and Churchill places to visit. —PHC
White, Philip. Our Supreme Task: How Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech Defined the Cold War Alliance. New York: Public Affairs, 2012, 304 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewers regarded this as a potboiler with little new to add except errors, like WSC wearing a bowler hat and Harry Vaughan as Truman’s “naval aide.” For solid analysis and perspective, turn instead to Muller (ed.), Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech (1999). —RML
2013
Baker, Christopher; Dockrill, Michael L.; Hamilton, Keith, eds. Britain in Global Politics, vol. 1, From Gladstone to Churchill. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2013, 312 pp. ✸ See below, Young et. al. for vol. 2. These academic essays are a posthumous tribute (Gedenkschrift) to Professor Saki Ruth Dockrill of King’s College. Despite the title, they focus primarily on Appeasement, revealing bizarre mental gyrations of progressive academics attempting to salve the reputation of the right-wing Neville Chamberlain while dismissing Churchill’s accounts as self-serving, though relevant and persuasive. —WJS
Beasley, A.W. Churchill: The Supreme Survivor. Mells, Somerset: Mercer Books, 2013, 216 pp. ✸ Churchill’s medical history needs more than 200 pages, and though this book is well-written and illustrated, it was eclipsed by the Vale/Scadding Churchill’s Illnesses (2020). The book does demonstrate Churchill’s hardiness, fortitude and determination. —RML
Black, Jonathan and Ayers, Sara. Abstraction and Reality: The Sculpture of Ivor Roberts-Jones. London: Philip Watson, 2013, 340 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Both an elaborate coffee table book and an art history, this work celebrates the sculptor of Churchill’s best-known statue, which stands watching the Houses of Parliament. This catalogue raisonné documents 156 known works in bronze, plaster, clay, and terracotta, of which London’s 12-foot-high Churchill is most famous. —WJS
Coughlin, Con. Churchill’s First War: Young Winston at War with the Afghans. New York: Thomas Dunn Books, St. Martin’s Press, 2013, 298 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A veteran reporter’s investigation of the historical context to Churchill’s first book, The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898). British India developed a “forward policy” to forestall Russian influence, resulting in several wars, including a tribal revolt in what is now Pakistan. This book has many merits but also errors, such as stating that Churchill’s father was a “Tory peer.” —WJS
Farmelo, Graham. Churchill’s Bomb: How the United States Overtook Britain in the First Nuclear Arms Race. New York: Basic Books, 2013, 576 pp. Also Kindle. ✸ Farmelo argues that Churchill squandered Britain’s scientific lead to the Americans, in part to focus on short-term, practical military necessities. Well-written fusing of science and history, despite some idiosyncratic vocabulary: “wheezes, “cadged,” “frenemy.” No illustrations, but the book relies on many credible sources An ambivalent work tracing the development of nuclear weapons from the perspective of the mostly left-leaning scientists, along with a polemic against Churchill and Lindemann. —WJS
Freeman, Richard. “Unsinkable”: Churchill and the First World War. Stroud, Glos.: The History Press, 272 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill’s remarkable fall and rise again, causing one British newspaper to dub him “the unsinkable politician,” is already chronicled by Martin Gilbert. Does any new book tell us anything more? Usually not, but Freeman adeptly highlights that only Churchill rose from the First World War prepared to fight the Second. —WJS
Frerejean, Alain. Churchill et Staline. Paris: Perrin, 2013, 506 pp., softbound. “Biographies croisées” [Parallel Lives] Series. Text in French. ✸ A comparative biography contrasting the lives of two disparate characters, from youth (unpleasant for both) on up, converging of course in World War II. Not a bad book, with an irritating lack of footnotes, especially to Churchill expressions, and the odd howler: when Frerejean describes Churchill’s slippers as embroidered with the letters “WC.” —AC
Irons, Roy. Churchill and the Mad Mullah of Somaliland: Betrayal and Redemption 1899-1921. Barnsley, Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Military, 2013, 238 pp. ✸ Britain had tried four times to crush the tyrant Sayyid in Somaliland (not to be confused with the Mad Mullah in The Malakand Field Force) when Churchill finally convinced his Liberal colleagues to back off. British authority was withdrawn to the coast, resulting in vast slaughter. Churchill was appalled over this, but the Great War drew British priorities elsewhere. Finally, as Minister for War and Air after the war, Churchill was able to ease the plight of Somalis with the use of air power. —RML
Marsh, Richard C. Young Winston Churchill and the Last Victorian Church of England Anti-Ritual Campaign. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Triple Anvil Press, 2013, 44 pp., illustrated by Rose Jaffe. ✸ A monograph describing Churchill’s political support, early in his career, of the campaign to deritualize the Anglican Church. The campaign was led by his aunt, Lady Cornelia Wimborne.
McNamara, Robert, ed. The Churchills in Ireland 1660-1965: Connections and Controversies. Newbridge, Co. Kildare: Irish Academic Press, 2013, 300 pp. ✸ Collects ten essays including five on Churchill and Ireland. The best and worth reading are the editor’s account of Churchill’s historical writing about Ireland; and Michael McMenamin’s essay on WSC’s Irish-American mentor Bourke Cockran. —RML
Orange, Vincent. Churchill and His Airmen: Relationships, Intrigue and Policy Making 1914-1945. London: Grub Street Publishing, 2013, 314 pp. Reprints, e-book.
Padfield, Peter. Hess, Hitler and Churchill: The Real Turning Point of the Second World War: A Secret History. London, Icon Books, 2013, 480 pp. Reprints, e-book.
Rand, Peter. Conspiracy of One: Tyler Kent’s Secret Plot against FDR, Churchill, and the Allied War Effort. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2013, 272 pp. Reprints, e-book.
Schoeman, Chris. Churchill’s South Africa: Travels During the Anglo-Boar War. Cape Town, South Africa: Random House Struik/Zebra Press, 2013, 224 pp. ✸ A critical reevaluation of Churchill’s Boer War activities, measuring his written accounts against those of other contemporaries. Schoeman is generally accurate with facts, but suspect with interpretation as he presents the worst possible view of Churchill on any given occasion, questioning his honor and veracity with snide and irrelevant criticism. —WJS
Shelden, Michael. Young Titan: The Making of Winston Churchill. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2013, 400 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Shelden diverts our attention from Churchill’s iconic image with a younger man of towering but unrealized ambition, 25 to 40, who climbs a long political ladder, pulling it up after himself. Letting aside the author’s unwonted eagerness to offer new revelations about Churchill’s romances, he tells his story well, and any lapses must be balanced against the real virtues of this book. —JWM
Toye, Richard. The Roar of the Lion: The Untold Story of Churchill’s World War II Speeches. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, 310 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Takes a new approach by analyzing Churchill’s speeches by the reaction to them, though heavily through Mass Observation, which tended to attract carpers, and confined mainly to reaction in Britain, not in America or occupied Europe. Some speeches were flops, Toye writes, while admitting Churchill’s Gallup rating was around 80%. Pretty good for a flop. —Michael Richards
Van Wijnen, Harry. ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears’: Churchills onwrikbare geloof in de overwinning [Churchill’s Unshakable Faith in Victory]. Amsterdam: Balans, 2013, 350 pp. Text in Dutch. ✸ Author was parliamentary editor for Het Parool, and Professor of Media at the Erasmus University. His previous works included books on the Dutch press and monarchy. —Jack Mens
Walker, Jonathan. Operation Unthinkable: The Third World War: British Plans to Attack the Soviet Empire 1945. Port Stroud, Glos.: History Press, 2013, 192 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ As the Second World War ended and the Soviet army advanced Churchill ordered a secret “precautionary study” for a potential Allied preemptive strike. Excellent study using archival resources of an unlikely scenario. —WJS
Weisbrode, Kenneth. Churchill and the King: The Wartime Alliance of Winston Churchill and George VI. New York: Viking, 2013, 224 pp. Reprints, e-book.
Young, John W.; Pedalieu, Effie G.H.; and Kandiah, Michael D. Britain in Global Politics, vol. 2, From Churchill to Blair. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 280 pp. See above, Baker et. al. for vol. 1. This second volume of essays in tribute to Saki Dockrill, focus on the Cold War. Kevin Ruane’s chapter is of note in studying Churchill’s resistance to a potential American nuclear attacks on China or intervention in Indo-China, showing how British leaders often appear to support American policy while working to change it. —WJS
2014
Attenborough, Wilfred. Churchill and the ‘Black Dog’ of Depression: Reassessing the Biographical Evidence of Psychological Disorder. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, 264 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale (followed by lengthy debate): Eventually an erudite synthesis will capture all aspects of Churchill’s personality. This book focuses almost exclusively on his depressed moods, and does not address the relevant diagnoses, such as cyclothymic personality—the opinion of his neurologist, Lord Brain. —John H. Mather
Coleman, E.C. Khaki Jack: The Royal Naval Division in the First World War. Stroud, Glos.: Amberley, 2014, 256 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: An examination of that brainchild in Churchill’s fertile mind, the Royal Naval Division. Unique in military history, the RND was a hybrid unit of seamen serving as infantry alongside soldiers of the British Army. The title is the nickname applied to RND personnel when an officer appeared in khaki version of a Royal Navy uniform. —WJS
Croft, Rodney J. Churchill’s Final Farewell: The State and Private Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. Self-published, 2014, 170 pp. Reprints, softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A professionally produced book with everything we need to know about that day, 30 January 1965. Drawing on copious archival research including the Earl Marshal who organized the funeral, Croft offers an insider’s account, right down to the cost of tea and sandwiches on the train returning from the Bladon burial. —Andrew Roberts
Dix, Anthony. The Norway Campaign and the Rise of Churchill. Barnsley, Yorks.: Pen and Sword, 2014, 272 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ An excellent military history of a failed campaign that ended Chamberlain’s premiership and empowered Churchill, despite his naval responsibility. Dix notes that the Royal Navy inflicted catastrophic losses on the Germans, a significant though under-appreciated factor in winning the later Battle of Britain. —WJS
Glueckstein, Fred. Churchill and Colonist II: The Story of Winston Churchill and His Famous Race Horse. Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, 2014, 108 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: An example of the specialized material still out there to be assembled, this account traces Churchill’s postwar interest in thoroughbred horse racing. But the author reaches back to his earliest interest in horses, as a polo-playing cavalry officer. The distinguished career of Colonist II of course dominates the story. An appendix by Katherine Thompson lists all of Churchill’s brood mares and race horses. Well done. —RML
Hamilton, Nigel. The Mantle of Command: FDR at War 1941-1942. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2014, 544 pp. Reprints, e-book, audiobook. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The author is a partisan, but none the worse a writer for that. His multi-volume life of Montgomery set out Monty’s case for the approbation of history; his American Caesars lauded every recent Democrat president and lambasted every Republican. So long as you know that you are getting a passionate partisan approach, rather than truly objective history, Hamilton’s books are fine, and always highly readable. —Andrew Roberts
Hedengren, Olaf G. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. Malmo: privately published, 2014, 206 pp. ✸ Undated brief biography without endnotes, index, or even an indication of the publisher. Text in Swedish.
Heppell, Timothy. The Tories from Winston Churchill to David Cameron. London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2014, 216 pp. Also softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Absorbing though densely written, it assesses Conservative Party personalities and policy trends since 1945. Of the five main chapters Churchill appears only briefly in the first, and then fades from view. Thus it is of limited importance to Churchill scholars, though it reflects thoughtfully on his legacy. —Christopher H. Sterling
James, Lawrence. Churchill and Empire: A Portrait of an Imperialist. New York: Pegasus, 2014, 456 pp. Also softbound, e-book. ✸ An imperial historian believes Churchill’s views of Anglo-Saxon superiority supported his belief in Empire as a civilizing, humanitarian force. This underpinned his strategic thinking, but left him open to 21st century charges of opposing independence and human rights. —WJS
Johnson, Boris. The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2014, 416 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Perhaps more interesting in retrospect, given the high office the author later achieved, this is a colorful, irrepressible, and sometimes absurd appreciation of Sir Winston. A breezy joy-ride through familiar territory, allegedly written to help the young admire WSC as much as the old, with a little too many apocryphal stories. A BBC commentator remarked: “The trouble with Winston Churchill is that he thinks he’s Boris Johnson.” —Andrew Roberts
Mallinson, Allen. 1914, Fight the Good Fight: Britain, the Army and the Coming of the First World War. London: Bantam, 2014, 624 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Outstanding among many books on the centenary of the Great War, this work acquits Churchill of the charge of war-mongering and points out the enormous sense of responsibility that rested on him, with a finely-developed of Britain’s ancient role in balancing power in Europe. Mallinson also rejects the fashionable post-modernist view that all European Great Powers were equally to blame for the tragedy. Instead he rightly fastens the blame solely where it ought to belong, on the Central Powers. —Andrew Roberts
Maier, Thomas. When Lions Roar: The Churchill’s and the Kennedys. New York: Crown, 2014, 788 pp. ✸ A readable book, elegantly written, which commits some errors. It contains much that is known, though Maier the Joe Kennedy-Churchill relationship is reliably tracked back to 1933. Worth reading for the lyrical prose and charming touching vignettes involving WSC and Jack Kennedy. —RML
Potter, John. Pim and Churchill’s Map Room: Based on the Papers of Captain Richard Pim RNVA, Supervisor of Churchill’s War Room 1939-45. Belfast: Northern Ireland War Memorial, 2014, 76 pp., softbound. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: This fine little book distills Captain Pim’s memoirs, which are lodged in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Expertly compiled, it offers charming vignettes of what it was like to work for Churchill, as Pim saw him on an almost daily basis and travelled with him to almost all the wartime conferences. —Andrew Roberts
Rose, Jonathan. The Literary Churchill: Author, Reader, Actor. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014, 528 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: More yet less: A biography which sometimes strays from Churchill’s life as a man of letters, vide the dull prose of Britain’s Mass Observation polling during the Second World War, or his lengthy account of Churchill’s influence on John F. Kennedy at the end. Yet although Rose touches on Churchill’s literary works, his treatment of most is sketchy, his view distorted by seeing them through his melodramatic prism. —James W. Muller
Smith, Gregory Bell. The American Ancestry of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. Privately published, 2014, 194 pp. ✸ A thoroughgoing work of genealogy tracking every United States ancestor of Sir Winston, to whom the author is related through at least six families. A reference work and significant contribution to the scholarship. —RML
Thornton, Martin. Churchill, Borden and Anglo-Canadian Naval Relations 1911-14. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, 188 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill’s Admiralty had a sympathetic ally in Canadian Premier Sir Robert Borden, who supplied the cost ($35 million) of three Dreadnoughts in exchange for British contracts in Canadian shipyards. This arrangement, with promising benefit to all, fell afoul of Canadian politics, leaving Churchill shorthanded. The failure was not Churchill’s; it lay deep in Canada’s politics. Despite its formidable price tag, this book is well researched and recommended reading for students of the subject. —Barry Gough
Tolppanen, Bradley P. Churchill in North America, 1929: A Three Month Tour of Canada and the United States. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2014, 272 pages. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A deeply researched and well-written account of the Churchill brothers and their sons on their only major holiday together, touring North America’s sights, sounds and personalities in the warning days before the Great Depression. A model for specialized year-studies, alongside David Stafford’s monograph on 1921 (2019). —RML
Wilson, Cat. Churchill on the Far East in The Second World War: Hiding the History of the “Special Relationship.” Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, 278 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A solid and long overdue scholarly exercise, it will be read mainly by specialist historians, since the editing did little to loosen the dense language, appropriate to a dissertation but a barrier to anyone but specialists; and it is overpriced. —Raymond A. Callahan
2015
Apps, Peter. Churchill in the Trenches. Self-published softbound, 2015, 138 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Though it relates the familiar anecdotes of Churchill’s military service, this self-published work ultimately relies too much on other sources, and suffers from a lack of editing or editorial content. In no way unfair to Churchill, it does not amplify, only reflects, Martin Gilbert’s work—or that of Douglas Russell’s Winston Churchill, Soldier (2008). —WJS
Arnold, Michael. Hollow Heroes: An Unvarnished Look at the Wartime Careers of Churchill, Montgomery and Mountbatten. Philadelphia: Casemate, 2015, 304 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A self-described amateur historian and former insurance company executive contributes nothing new, with many inaccuracies, in a potty, polemical approach. Jonathan Swift’s criticism of a 1720 book is apposite: “If this book were stripped of its impertinence, conceitedness, and tedious digressions it would be almost worth reading and would then be two-thirds smaller than it is.” —Erica L. Chenoweth
Arnn, Larry P. Churchill’s Trial: Winston Churchill and the Survival of Free Government. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2015, 240 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill studies can reveal important lessons that remain powerfully relevant for the leaders and citizens of free societies. This notion is itself founded on the belief that though the threats to civilization may have altered since Churchill’s day, there is consistency between his challenges and ours—that he is a good guide to follow in the cause of defending freedom. Such a belief must lie behind any conception of history as providing guidance. If these commonalities do not exist, neither Churchill’s story, nor history in general, has anything to say to us now. A unique and important work on Churchill’s political thought. —Justin D. Lyons
Arthur, Max. Churchill: The Life: An Authorised Pictorial Biography. London: Cassell; Richmond Hill, Ont.: 2015, 272 pp. Reprints. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: There must be a hundred Churchill picture books, since he lived his entire life in the era of the camera. Max Arthur compiles several hundred, a few in color. The large format gives great impact to many we’ve seen before, but the print quality and the lighting is enhanced, making for a singular presentation. —Christopher Harmon
Bungay, Stephen. The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain. London: Arum Press, 2015, 512 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A well-organized, comprehensive, strategic and tactical account of the Battle of Britain from both sides. Questionable aspects are whether Britons ever countenanced an armistice, a questionable source about Churchill’s military competence, and the use of a discredited source for characterizing Luftwaffe Churchillief Hermann Göring. —McM
Carlson, Alison. The Man Within: Winston Churchill—An Intimate Portrait. San Francisco: Inkshares, 2015, 224 pp. Sold with e-book included. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: This photo-documentary has barely a third of the images in more elaborate works, but the photographer-author provides many interesting new ones. Examples: the newlywed Clementine and Winston going to their wedding reception; a lovely shot of their three daughters, Diana, Sarah and Mary, in 1925; several recently discovered group photos of young Winston at Harrow, rescued from a Cotswold barn. Worth seeking out. —RML
Churchill, Anthony. Winston’s Island: Winston Churchill, His Ancestors…Descendants and Formative Influences on the Isle of Wight. Chale, I.o.W.: Cross Publishing, 2015, 112 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The Isle has a unique claim to its place in the saga: WSC’s parents met there; he holidays there as a boy; it was his first Queen’s favorite abode; he visited many times in later life. A pricey, landscape-format highly specialized work, beautifully executed. —RML
Cliffe, Steve. Churchill, Kitchener and Lloyd George: First World Warlords. Oxford and Charleston: Fonthill Media, 2015, 144 pp. Reprints, softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A small volume that surveys the lives and careers of three World War I leaders. There’s not much that is new, nor are there footnotes (at least in the Kindle edition) and index. Coverage is necessarily selective. Still, we are well reminded of the challenges of political-military command at the highest level, and the difficulties that it presents for even like-minded colleagues to pull together in harness. —Patrick J. Garrit
Curran, Tom. The Grand Deception: Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles. Newport, N.S.W.: 2015, 416 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The premise of the work is hardly original: Churchill was solely responsible for both the ill-fated Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns. According to Curran, historians writing since the late 1960s have not recognized the full extent of Churchill’s culpability. Unbalanced, it is little more than a case for the prosecution. —Christopher M. Bell
Dementi, Brian A. Churchill and Eisenhower: Together Again: A Virginia Visit. Dementi Milestone Publications, 2015, 200 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: An elegant, landscape-format photo documentary of the Eisenhower-Churchill Virginia visit in March 1946, after Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri. Also includes the 1943 Williamsburg visit of Clementine and Mary Churchill. Photos are by Williamsburg photographer Frank Dementi. —Max Edward Hertwig
Dockter, Warren. Churchill and the Islamic World: Orientalism, Empire and Diplomacy in the Middle East. London: I.B. Tauris, 2015, 378 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Beginning in 1896, with a letter from Churchill to his old Head Master, Dockter reaches farther back than most accounts of the subject. He shows how Churchill’s Islamic experiences made him different from his contemporaries. Social science jargon appears, especially in early chapters. The book doesn’t shrink from Churchill’s more controversial remarks, but helps dispel modern out-of-context representations. —Erica L. Chenoweth
Dockter, Warren, ed. Winston Churchill at the Telegraph. London: Aurum, 2015, 288 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A collection of articles by and about Churchill from the Daily Telegraph (London). The long relationship began in 1897 when the young army officer wrote his first article (or letter) from the field, along the Afghan/Indian frontier. It culminated with the Telegraph’s extensive coverage of Churchill’s funeral in 1965. Excellent research though it lacks illustrations, an index, endnotes and a bibliography. —WJS
Ferney, Frédéric. Tu seras un raté, mon fils! Churchill et son père [You Will Be a Failure, My Son! Churchill and His Father]. Paris: Albin Michel. Collection La face cachée de l’Histoire, 2015. Text in French. ✸ A strange book, possibly intended mainly for Freudians, who will learn little from it. Lord Randolph appears as the villain (the book heavily concentrates on Winston’s early life), with no redeeming characteristics. His son is conventionally praised, amidst many factual errors. —AC
Fowells, Gavin, Churchill and a View Beyond: “Carry On Winston.” Pioneer Press, 2015.
Franzinelli, Mimmo. L’Arma Segreta del Duce: La Vera Storia del Carteggio Churchill-Mussolini [The Duce’s Secret Weapon: The True Story of the Churchill-Mussolini Papers]. Milan: Rizzoli , 2015, 444 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Latest book about a tall tale which refuses to die, this one finally tells the truth. Unlike almost every other book on the mythical correspondence between Churchill and Mussolini, it reveals the story of a blatant hoax. —Patrizio R. Giangreco and Andrew M. McGarvey
Gorodetsky, Gabriel, ed. The Maisky Diaries: Red Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015, 634 pages. Also e-book, audiobook. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A striking work of scholarship (abridging of a three-volume complete work) this book offers fresh scholarship on Churchill Soviet relations. Ivan Maisky was a penetrating observer of 1932-43 Britain, and Gorodetsky connects every long gap in his diaries with informed accounts of what was happening. Very many references to Churchill throughout. —RML
Hodgkinson, Brian. Saviour of the Nation: An Epic Poem of Winston Churchill’s Finest Hour. London: Shepheard-Walwyn, 2015. ✸ Twenty-four epic chapters of neo-Homeric verse extoll Churchill’s “Finest Hour” heroics. WSC is a modern Beowulf bravely battling the Grendel (i.e., the Nazi) Gang: “The savior of his country; one who’d plucked The flower of safety from the sting of death.” —WJS
Kelly, John. Never Surrender: Winston Churchill and Britain’s Decision to Fight Nazi Germany in the Fateful Summer of 1940. London: Simon and Schuster; New York: Scribner, 2015, 370 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A well-organized review of well-known events, retold with dramatic prose and crisp analysis. Ideal for young people unfamiliar with the scope of Churchill’s achievement in 1940. This book will be compared with John Lukacs’ Five Days in London: May 1940 (1999), but it is broader, and digs deeper. Kelly tracks the story from 1919 through the appeasement years, the drift to war, the colossal defeats of 1940. —RML
Klepak, Hal. Churchill Comes of Age: Cuba 1895. Cheltenham, Glos.: History Press, 2015, 288 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Klepak offers a singular original account through his comprehensive research of archival and published literature in Spain and Cuba, revealing a far more complex account of young Winston’s Cuban interlude than any before published. He punctures many myths, but relies a bit too much on Manchester’s Last Lion (1983). —WJS
Labrecque, Ellen. Who Was Winston Churchill? New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 2015. ✸ Juvenile.
Landemare, Georgina. Churchill’s Cookbook. London: Imperial War Museum, 2015, 160 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Partial reissue of Churchill’s cook’s 1958 book, Recipes from No. 10, with about 250 of her original recipes. It enhances our knowledge of the culinary side of Churchill’s later years. Unfortunately, the original, whimsical drawings by Selma Nankivell are replaced by new ones that are underwhelming. —RML
Langworth, Richard M. Churchill and the Avoidable War: Could World War II Have Been Prevented? Moultonborough, N.H.: Dragonwyck, 2015, 222 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill always maintained that war could have been avoided through firm collective action. Here is a focused examination of that claim at each critical juncture: German rearmament, the Rhineland and Austria, the Czech and Polish crises, the roles of Stalin and Roosevelt. Langworth asks us not to be “innocent readers” of Churchill’s version of the tale, recognizing it is “always subject to re-examination. WSC was not always right. Could the war have been avoided? Yes, but with great difficulty.” —Justin Lyons
Lepine, Mike. Churchill and the Generals, 1939-1945. Solihull: Danann Publishing, 2015, 138 pp. with two DVDs. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: An illustrated chronology of the Second World War with an excellent brief biography of Churchill, using images covering his life. The special value of this book is its compiling of individual stories of various generals and their encounters with the prime minister. —Fred Glueckstein
Lough, David. No More Champagne: Churchill and His Money. London: Picador, 2015, 534 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Ploughing fresh ground, Lough offers a well-written, deeply researched text about Churchill’s finances, and how they affected his politics. As private as some may regard personal finances, the book does not detract from Churchill’s greatness or humanity. It is an absorbing story about an extraordinary man ensuring his financial survival with one hand, while warning about the danger to, and then leading the fight for, Western Civilization with the other. Uniquely, Churchill did both. —Michael McMenamin
Morrisey, Will. Churchill and de Gaulle: The Geopolitics of Liberty. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015, 446 pp. ✸ Inevitably compared to Kersaudy’s much earlier work by the same title, this book is unique in its superbly informed interpretation of how the two leaders strove to preserve their ideals of freedom. This is a fresh way of approaching the subject which makes the book most valuable for anyone interested in international relations as well as two impressive lives. —AC
Purnell, Sonia. Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill. New York: Viking; London: Aurum, 2015, 448 pp. Reprints, e-book. Translations: Lithuanian. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Writing off the leading Clementine biography as the “family’s viewpoint,” the author claims this is new and revealing. Aside from unproven innuendo, established facts labeled as revelations and the elevation of trivia over substance, little is new, save for a very good account of Lady Churchill’s work in the Second World War, and dives into rumors about loves and lovers. —RML
Radice, Giles. Odd Couples: The Great Political Pairings of Modern Britain. London: I.B. Tauris, 2015, 292 pp.. ✸ Included here for Chapter 1, contrasting the audacious Churchill with the efficient Attlee—initiator and facilitator respectively, in the great Second World War winning cabinet, and mutually respectful in postwar opposition. —WJS
Read, Simon. Winston Churchill Reporting: Adventures of a Young War Correspondent. Boston: Da Capo Press, 2015, 328 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill’s early career was a “true tale of adventure…Churchill as Indiana Jones.” Read says his experiences divested him of his father’s shadow, informed his complex views on warfare, and equipped him for the rough and tumble of parliamentary life. It was the crucible of his remarkable moral vision and courage in the 20th century. —WJS
Richardot, Philippe. Hitler face à Churchill: Le front de l’ouest, 1939-1945. Paris: Belin, 2015. ✸ “Hitler and Churchill: The Western Front, 1939-1945.”
Sandys, Edwina. Winston Churchill: A Passion for Painting. Virginia Beach, Va.: Donning, 2015, 128 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Herself an artist, WSC’s granddaughter considers the technical aspects of his paintings, many reproduced in color. Includes an “Abridged Timeline” of Churchill’s life and well-chosen quotes, which add to the overall feel of the book. —Katie Davenport
Sandys, Jonathan and Henley, Wallace. God and Churchill: How the Great Leader’s Sense of Divine Destiny Changed His Troubled World and Offers Hope for Ours. London: Tyndale House, 2015, 268 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The book is clearly inspired by the heartfelt faith of the two authors and the sincerity of their desire to explore the life of a 20th century hero as viewed through the lens of God’s work and His word as revealed in the Bible. Churchill cherished the universal values taught by Christianity and the Bible, but there is room for more discussion on his deeply-held personal beliefs. —Erica L. Chenoweth
Schneer, Jonathan. Ministers at War: Winston Churchill and His War Cabinet. London: Oneworld Publications; New York: Basic Books, 2015, 352 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill’s ministers fought against each other (and WSC) as well as against the Germans. Cripps, Bevin, Beaverbrook, Morrison and possibly Eden all probably harbored hopes of succeeding Churchill if he tripped up. It is ironic therefore that the person who eventually did so was the scrupulously loyal Clement Attlee. The American scholar understands the arcane practices of 1940s British politics, which stands him in good stead in this intelligent and fluently-written book. —Andrew Roberts
Smith, Daniel. How to Think Like Churchill. London: O’Mara.
Vogt, Werner. Winston Churchill und die Schweiz: Vom Monte Rosa zum Triumphzug durch Zürich [Winston Churchill and Switzerland: From Monte Rosa to the Triumphal Procession through Zurich]. Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2015, 232 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Swiss journalist Vogt offers an impressive book that fills a gap. Despite its large format and high-quality binding, this is no coffee table book. In fact, Vogt provides detailed information about Churchill’s lifetime attachment to this small but strategically and economically important country. —Klaus Larres
Wapshott, Nicholas. The Sphinx: Franklin Roosevelt, the Isolationists and the Road to World War II. New York and London: W.W. Norton, 2015, 446 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Not “about Churchill,” it illustrates how badly he is still understood. When he appears here, it is as a bit player, because that fits Wapshott’s interpretation that FDR was the genius who led Americans into war. Really? The U.S. got there, two years and four months after it started. Churchill was never FDR’s Sancho Panza. —Warren F. Kimball
Wolkowski, Z.W. Winston Churchill: The Spirit and the Letter. Self-published, 2015, 40 pp. softbound. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A stylistic arrangement of chirographic and calligraphic depictions of Churchill quotes (some of them genuine). This grossly overpriced item is an under-the-coffee table book: no bulk, little content, likely to dive quickly to the bottom shelf. —WJS
2016
Addison, Paul. Connell Guide to Winston Churchill. London: Connell, 2016, 144 pp. ✸ A short, incisive guide based on the author’s Dictionary of National Biography entry. Text is arranged in Q&A format and designed to answer young people’s questions about Churchill. It analyzes his career and looks at the radically different ways in which historians have seen him. —RML
Aldrich, Richard James and Cormac, Rory. The Black Door: Spies, Secret Intelligence and British Prime Ministers. London: William Collins, 2016. Reprints. ✸ Included for Chapters 4 and 5: “Winston Churchill (1940-1941)” and “Winston Churchill (1942-1945).”
Asbury, Jonathan. Secrets of Churchill’s War Rooms. London: Imperial War Museum, 2016.
Bew, Paul. Churchill and Ireland. Oxford: University Press, 2016, 208 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill’s multi-layered relationship with Ireland receives detailed and forensic treatment. Bew is readable, reliable, and brings new perspectives. He reminds us that Churchill was intimately involved in the Curragh Mutiny, and the incredibly sensitive Irish negotiations up to the outbreak of the First World War—and that this formed his “training” in handling nationalist extremism and domestic political violence. —Robert Courts
Cannadine, David. Heroic Chancellor: Churchill and the University of Bristol. London: Institute of Historical Research, 2016, 86 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Although Churchill was losing support in the 1920s and early 1930s, Bristol stood by him. Through 1954, he frequently visited to speak on current events, and learned much there about addressing academic audiences and accepting many later honorary degrees. This is a brief, excellent survey of a little-known corner of his life.
Cohen, Ronald I., ed., The Heroic Memory, Vol. 2, The Memorial Addresses to the Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill Society, Edmonton, Alberta, 1990-2014. Edmonton: Churchill Statue and Oxford Scholarship Foundation, 2016, 458 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Among its charms are the speakers’ many references to Canada, not often enough acknowledged. Per capita, Canada was the largest contributor of fighting personnel, materiel and capital in the Second World War. No nation was more generous, and the feisty Canadian Navy was one of the largest and most effective afloat. Every speaker here acknowledges the debt we all owe to “The True North Strong and Free.” Contributors: Countess Mountbatten, Sir Robert Rhodes James, Sir David Hunt, Sir Michael Howard, Lord Armstrong, Sir Nicholas Soames, Sir Thomas McPherson, Lord Deedes, Lord Black, David Dilks, Winston S. Churchill, Sir John Keegan, Earl Jellicoe, Hon. Celia Sandys, Lady Soames, John Lukacs, David Montgomery, Dr. David Jablonsky, Dr. Leslie C. Green, Dr. Deborah W. Nutter, Ronald I. Cohen, Sir Robert Corbett, Randolph S. Churchill, Lynne Olson. For Vol. 1 see Midgely, 2004. —RML
Crawford, Jack. Churchill: We Shall Never Surrender: The Life and Legacy of Winston Churchill. London: Self-published, 2016
De Wailly, Henry. Invasion Syria 1941: Churchill and De Gaulle’s Forgotten War. London and New York: I.B. Taurus, 2016, 416 pages. ✸ A campaign history primarily from the perspective of French internecine conflict. Focused on the gritty reality of combat, Churchill is nevertheless a commanding if distant presence. Quoting liberally from Churchill’s memoirs, he is portrayed as a “likable Bulldog” who abandoned prudence for an adventurous thrust that was soon overshadowed by Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union. —WJS
Espada, João Carlos. The Anglo-American Tradition of Liberty: A View from Europe. London and New York: Routledge, 2016, 212 pp. Also softbound, e-book; earlier version in Portuguese. ✸ Appreciative account of liberty in the English-speaking world by Portugal’s leading anglophile and Churchill scholar: see especially the introduction, “Karl Popper, Winston Churchill and the ‘British Mystery,’” and Chapter 13, “Winston S. Churchill: The English-Speaking Peoples and the Free World.” —James W. Muller
Gut, Philipp. Champagner mit Churchill: Der Zürcher Farbenfabrikant Willy Sax und der malende Premierminister [Champagne with Churchill: the Zurich Paint Manufacturer Willy Sax and the Painting Prime Minister]. Bern: Stämpfli, 2016. ✸ Churchill’s preserved painting paraphernalia features tube after tube of Sax’s oil paints. They had a long friendship and WSC the artist held Sax’s products in highest esteem. —RML
Hamilton, Nigel: Commander in Chief: FDR’s Battle with Churchill, 1943. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, 480 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Second in a series, this book continues to explain, as Hamilton sees it, Roosevelt’s political and strategic thought and action. An unbalanced appraisal: The partnership succeeded one leader running roughshod over the other; but through prolonged arguments among serious leaders, men of great political character, if not identical visions. —Patrick J. Garrity
Harte, John. How Churchill Saved Civilization: The Epic Story of 13 Years That Almost Destroyed the Civilized World. New York: Skyhorse, 2016
Hermiston, Roger. All Behind You, Winston: Churchill’s Great Coalition, 1940-45. London: Aurum, 2016, 480 pp. Reprints, softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: “Churchill’s titanic reputation,” Roger Hermiston writes, has tended to eclipse the vast cast who steered Britain through her worst crisis. Hermiston chronicles not only how they worked in harness, despite manifestly different backgrounds, but how Churchill—whom many say had no concern for others—orchestrated their performance. —RML
Heyrendt-Sherman, Catherine. Winston Churchill. Paris: Payot-Rivages, 2016. Collection Biographies gourmandes. ✸ Adds absolutely nothing to Cita Stelzer’s standard work on dining and statecraft, Dinner with Churchill (2011). —AC
Kelly, John. Saving Stalin: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin and the Cost of Allied Victory in Europe. New York: Hachette, 2020, 384 pp. ✸ Mixed reviews generally suggest it has little to do with the title, flirting lightly with Lend-Lease and the convoys to Russia but not coming to grips with the difficult choice faced by the Anglo-Americans in chooseing to right with their Soviet ally.
Kersaudy, François. Churchill: Stratège passionné [Passionate Strategist]. Paris: Perrin/Tallandier, 2016. Collection Maîtres de guerre. Text in French. ✸ The eminent French historian asks: what remained of Churchill’s “passionate” struggle to preserve peace and freedom after the disappointments following victory in 1945? It is a good question, and this book is a tour-de-force, through its mastery in adducing and manipulating massive sources into a readable, convincing narrative. Abetted by large color maps, unfamiliar cartoons, a selection of postage stamps and many useful photos. In short, it is a delight. —AC
King, M.S. The British Mad Dog: Debunking the Myth of Winston Churchill. Self-published, 2016, 306 pp., softbound. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Claims Churchill’s “entire tale is a monstrous lie originally engineered to conceal the foul deeds of a deranged warmonger, and perpetuated out of ignorance and academic arrogance….King [strips] bare the phony façade of this vilest of charlatans. The surgical precision with which Churchill is cut down to size will radically change not only your view of the man, but also of the fake world in which we live.” Need we say more? —Michael Richards
Kisielewski, Tadeusz Antoni. Churchill: Najlepszy sojusznik Polski? [Poland’s Best Ally?]. Poznań: Dom Wydawniczy REBIS.
Klos, Felix. Churchill on Europe: The Untold Story of Churchill’s European Project. London: I.B. Tauris, 2016, 86 pp., softbound. Translations: Dutch. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: There is a fascinating book to be written about Churchill’s relationship with the concept of a United Europe. Unfortunately, for all its hype, Felix Klos has written only the first part of it (WSC’s urgings for united Europe immediately after the war), and not, in fact, the most important part (his firm opposition to Britain joining a federal Europe after he returned to power in 1951). —Andrew Roberts
Knight, Andrew. Winston Churchill: The Incredible Life, Legacy, and Lessons from Winston Churchill. London: Self-published, 2016.
Lovell, Mary S. The Riviera Set, 1920-1960: The Golden Years of Glamour and Excess. London: Little Brown, 2016, 460 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill’s longtime friend and sometime Riviera hostess Maxine Elliott is the central character, and Lovell floats the long-running canard of his fictitious affair with another frequent guest, Lady Castlerosse. Not taken too literally, it is a good description of the life he found there. —AC
Ludlow, Cate. I Love Churchill: 400 Fantastic Facts. Stroud: History Press and London: Pitkin, 2016, 160 pp. softbound. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Not an austere academic compendium, yet this small album would not be out of place in a university library. Its attractive layout has a lot to say for it when one bears in mind how difficult is it sometimes to persuade students to read anything not on their syllabus. —AC
Millard, Candice. Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill. London: Random House; New York: Doubleday, 2016, 394 pp. Also large-print softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Covers a year, 1899, which was absolutely epicentral to the man Churchill later became. It established his national fame, connected his fate to that of the British Empire, introduced him to key figures who were to loom large later in his life, and set him on the road to his phenomenally successful political career. —Andrew Roberts
Patel, Dhirubhai. Winston Churchill: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. London: Self-published, 2016.
Ruane, Kevin. Churchill and the Bomb in War and Cold War. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016, 424 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: There are many valuable accounts of Churchill’s nuclear thinking during his second premiership, notably by Klaus Larres and Peter Hennessey. But, for me, the account Ruane gives here is outstanding for the breadth of its scholarship, the richness of its narrative and the acuity of its judgements. —Graham Farmelo
Ségéric, Jean-José. Churchill et la guerre navale [and the Naval War]. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2016, 436 pp. ✸ The retired naval author is more at ease with a ship than a pen. His grammar and spelling would shame a schoolchild, and he is completely lost in the complexity of British political history, describing, for example, Aneurin Bevan as an American and speaking of “Air-Marshal Tedder of the USAF.” This is a missed opportunity to make this aspect of Churchill better known to the French public. —AC
Stoler, Mark A. and Holt, Daniel D., eds. George Catlett Marshall: The Man of the Age, October 1, 1949-October 16, 1959. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016, 1200 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The seventh and final volume of The Marshall Papers has much on Churchill. Marshall had his critics but as principal military advisor to Roosevelt, he was acclaimed as the “organizer of victory.” In his Nobel Lecture, he acknowledged his “inability to express myself with the power and penetration of the great Churchill.” —Patrick J. Garrity
Thomsa, Jörg-Philipp and Dübbel, Tatjana, eds. Winston Churchill: Schriften. Reden. Bilder [Writings. Speeches. Pictures]. Lübeck: Günter Grass-Haus, 2016. ✸ Exhibition Catalogue with a contribution by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Todman, Daniel. Britain’s War, Vol. 1, Into Battle 1937-1941. London: Allen Lane, 2016, 848 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: New perspectives on prewar decisions that shaped how Britain would plan for and then wage war. Like all syntheses, Todman’s has weaknesses, but in general his book has many countervailing strengths: clarity in exposition and a fine touch when dealing with the oft-scanted civilian and production side of the story. —Raymond A. Callaha
__________. Britain’s War, Vol. 2, A New World 1942-1947, . Oxford University Press, 2020, 994 pages. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Massive but clearly written, thoroughly grounded in the enormous literature on the subject. The huge war effort produced victory, along with bankruptcy and the beginnings of an imperial unraveling. The process is hard to grasp in its entirety and even Todman’s nearly 2000 pages (in two volumes) barely manages to do so. The Todman volumes ably summarize what we now know. As an assessment of the last astounding act in Britain’s imperial era, it cannot be recommended too strongly. —Raymond A. Callahan
Viñas, Ángel. Sobornos: De cómo Churchill y March compraron a los generales de Franco. [Juan March’s Help in Bribing Franco’s Generals]. Barcelona: Crítica, 2016. “Crítica contrastes” series. Text in Spanish.
Watson, Alan. Churchill’s Legacy: Two Speeches to Save the World. London: Bloomsbury, 2016, 224 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A slim volume containing two jewels: Churchill’s 1946 speeches at Fulton and Zürich. It provides much interesting background information on the two milestones. Lord Watson, a Liberal Democrat with wide experience in media, academic and foreign relations, focuses on the critical speeches and their long-term effects. —PHC
2017
Bell, Christopher M. Churchill and the Dardanelles. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017, 464 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Here is an insightful inquiry by a noted naval historian into the ill-fated Dardanelles campaign. It is welcome testimony to how Churchill’s career was temporarily ruined by events beyond his control. All the same, Bell reminds us that at the time, Churchill’s critics, growing in number, regarded him as a danger to British futures. —Barry Gough
Bew, John. Clement Attlee: The Man Who Made Modern Britain. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017, 570 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: An excellent critical study of the Labour prime minister that stands to be a standard work. As Bew notes, “we continue to live in a world of Attlee’s creation.” He provides an understanding of Attlee’s personality and belief system, and accurately portrays his personal modesty. Particularly good in describing the Churchill-Attlee relationship. —Bradley P. Tolppanen
Black, Jonathan. Winston Churchill in British Art, 1900 to the Present Day: The Titan with Many Faces. London: Bloomsbury, 2017, 302 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A book on how Churchill has been presented is a good idea, but this one lacks cohesion and unity. Transitions between the paintings, sculptures and political cartoons are abrupt and unorganized, and images often interrupt the text in mid-sentence. In spite of these aesthetic and organizational flaws, however, Black’s book offers an interesting perspective into Churchill’s multi-faceted personality. —Katie Davenport
Catherwood, Christopher. Churchill and Tito: SOE, Bletchley Park and Supporting the Yugoslav Communists in World War II. Barnsley, Yorks.: Pen and Sword, 2017. ✸ Despite a swipe at right-wing Churchill worship, the author ironically defends Churchill’s 1943 decision, criticized recently by Peter Batty (see 2011 reviw), to switch support from Serbian Cetniks to the Tito’s Communists resisting the Axis in Yugoslavia. Catherwood incorrectly claims this was only based upon onsite reports by Fitzroy MacLean. —WJS
Dean, Judy. Winston Pooh: An Investigation into the Real Story behind the Stories. Koror, Palau: Micromedia Ink, 2017, 314 pp. ✸ Contends with considerable but questionable research that A.A. Milne’s famous children’s bear was modeled after Churchill. —RML
Destremau, Christian. Churchill et la France [Churchill and France]. Paris: Perrin, 2017. Text in French.
Dobson, Alan P. and Marsh, Steve, eds. Churchill and the Anglo-American Special Relationship. Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, 2017, 288 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Nine essays by historians, political scientists and language specialists, with an insightful prologue by Warren F. Kimball. Contributors: David G. Haglund, Alan P. Dobson, Robert M. Hendershot, Srjdan Vucetec, Steve Marsh, Anna Marchi, Nuria Lorenzo-Dus, Sam Edwards, David Ryan. The most contentious is a one-sided view of Churchill on racial issues by Vucetec; our review provides links to more detailed discussions of that subject. —Bradley P. Tolppanen
Gough, Barry. Churchill and Fisher: Titans at the Admiralty. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2017, 640 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A landmark book that updates our understanding of Churchill at the Admiralty (1911-15) and his relations with his top naval commander. Gough deeply considers how Fisher, once a devoted ally, deserted Churchill over the Dardanelles, costing him his office; only to see Churchill, a year or so later, urging that Fisher be rehired as First Sea Lord. —Christopher H. Sterling
Harte, John. Churchill: The Young Warrior—How He Helped to Win the First World War. New York: Skyhorse, 2017, 365 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Part of a proposed five-volume biography: a readable enough summary hitting most of the high spots, based only on secondary sources. Young Warrior seems to have begun as an “early life,” before the other volumes were considered. —Christopher H. Sterling
Harte, John. How Churchill Saved Civilization: The Epic Story of 13 Years That Almost Destroyed the World. New York: Skyhorse, 2017, 386 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Follows onto the above, covering the years 1933-45. Harte claims it will “resolve the lingering mysteries” about the Second World War, quite an assignment for a shortish book that shuns primary sources with maps too small to read. The result is something of a “condensed book,” offering little insight into these mysteries. —Christopher H. Sterling
Hossack, Leslie. Charting Churchill: An Architectural Biography of Sir Winston Churchill. London: Blurb, 2017, 162 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A lavish, very expensive collection of sixty professional photographs of sites and buildings in or around London linked to Churchill’s personal and political life, accompanied by an original descriptive essay, provides new insights into Churchill’s complex character and times. Beautifully executed, though it lacks consideration of the buildings’ importance in Churchill’s story. —WJS
Klos, Felix. Churchill’s Last Stand: The Struggle to Unite Europe. London: I.B. Tauris, 2017, 288 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: In trying to persuade us that Churchill favored Britain joining a federal Europe, the conscientious author comes up against immovable obstacles. The most serious is that in his 1951-55 premiership, Churchill personally, regularly and decisively blocked Britain joining any of the European federal institutions that then existed. —Andrew Roberts
Korda, Michael. Alone: Britain, Churchil and Dunkirk, Defeat into Victory. New York: Liveright, 2017, 540 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill’s relationship with the famous filmmaker Alexander Korda brought his son Michael into close proximity during the “sterner days” of 1940 and the threat of Britain’s defeat and invasion. The author persuasively connects the heroism of Dunkirk with British attitudes of the present toward the continent and the European Union. A rewarding and good read because the author weaves personal experiences into the drama of May-June 1940. —AC
Kryske, Lawrence M. Churchill without Blood, Sweat, or Tears. Self-published, 2017. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A tour de force on Churchill leadership techniques, explored inside and out and accessible for ready application. Churchill’s inspiration is evident throughout his book, as is his humor. Kryske provides a road map to leadership success with practical strategies he describes as “applied Churchill.” —WJS
L’Aulnoit, Beatrix de. Moi. Winston Churchill. Paris: Éditions Tallandier, 2017, 192 pp. Text in French. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Of limited scholarly value, this photo documentary says nothing new and contains a number of mistakes. Its strength, however, is in its unusual photos of Churchill’s family, friends and colleagues, many in large format. There is also a well-chosen collection of cartoons, from Low’s famous “All Behind You, Winston” (1940) to Vicky’s little-known “Voice in the Wilderness” (1934). Worthwhile for the images, not the text. —AC
Langworth, Richard M. Winston Churchill, Myth and Reality: What He Actually Did and Said. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Company, 2017, 250 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: If you have never read a Churchill biography, do not start with this book. But, once you have read such an account, you will find this volume illuminating. Methodically it corrects long-running canards about Churchill’s ancestors, parents and early career; his depiction as a warmonger, a sinker of passenger ships, alcoholism, Zionism, Bolshevism. Eleven chapters explode the myths of the Second World War, from the famous (like bombing Dresden or not bombing Auschwitz) to the obscure (Monte Cassino). The Churchill who emerges is human, all too human. His failures are those of a man with a lot on his plate. —Paul A. Rahe
Lavery, Brian. Churchill Warrior: How a Military Life Guided Winston’s Finest Hours. Oxford: Casemate, 2017, 448 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A naval historian diverts to Churchill’s military service and how it shaped and prepared him for leadership in 1940. Lavery shows how Churchill ultimately listened to his military chiefs, despite challenging their conclusions frequently. More tightly organized than D’Este’s Warlord (2008), less insightful than Russell’s Winston Churchill Soldier or Best’s Churchill and War (both 2005). —Christopher H. Sterling
Lehrman, Lewis E. Churchill, Roosevelt and Company: Studies in Character and Statecraft. Mechanicsburg, Penna.: Stackpole Books, 2017, 472 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Lehrman examines the two through the teams they assembled: advisers, political officials and military leaders. Not a history of the war, but an evaluation of people, decisions and events, a victory followed by a lost peace. A useful chronology and extensive notes are complemented by portrait photographs and two key appendices: a 1940 Roosevelt fireside chat, and Churchill’s victory speech in 1945. —WJS
McCarten, Anthony. Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought Us Back from the Brink. London: Viking; New York: Harper, 2017, 336 pp. Also softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Published to coincide with the film by that title starring Gary Oldman as WSC. After starting out with an potted and somewhat fanciful biography, we have the dubious theory, put forward dramatically as a historic discovery, that Churchill seriously considered peace with Hitler. Aside from insisting that everyone else is wrong about this, it’s an entertaining canter over familiar ground. —RML
Morris, Max: The Smart Words and Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill. New York: Skyhorse, 2017, 160 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Fluffed up to 160 pages but few words per page. “Churchill’s words are now so thoroughly documented that there is no need to misquote him. Morris could have applied himself to achieving accuracy—and thought of a phrase besides “Wicked Wit,” used by a previous, even less accurate quote book.” —WJS
Owen, David: Cabinet’s Finest Hour: The Hidden Agenda of May 1940. London: Haus, 2017, 320 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Owen reproduces minutes of all nine War Cabinet meetings, using his own political experience to analyze what was happening. He argues that Churchill never intended to approach Hitler for an armistice, and was not waiting on events, but cleverly shaping them. “A prime minister,” he writes, “controls the agenda.” —McM
Ricks, Thomas E. Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom. New York: Penguin, 2017, 350 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The two never met or even corresponded. Ricks accepts that they were “vastly dissimilar men, with very different life trajectories.” Churchill, 28 years older, was much more robust, extroverted and oratorically fluent. Orwell had a “phlegmatic and introverted personality.” Orwell named the hero of 1984 “Winston,” and Churchill read it twice. But is that really enough of a connection to justify an entire book? —Andrew Roberts
Shakespeare, Nicholas. Six Minutes in May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister. London: Harvill Secker, 2017, 458 pp. Reprints. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A fascinating account of WSC’s dramatic rise to succeed Chamberlain, covering two key questions: Why did Halifax refuse the job? And what really happened on 9 May 1940, when he, Chamberlain and Churchill agreed on Winston? The author contends that, absent the fiasco in Norway, when Churchill’s Admiralty failed to stop Hitler’s occupation, the crisis might never have arisen. A thoughtful book revealing many little-known aspects of the change in command at Downing Street. —McM
Smith, Nancy. Churchill on the Riviera: Winston Churchill, Wendy Reves and the Villa La Pausa Built by Coco Chanel. Columbus, Ohio: Biblio, 2017, 380 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A good and mainly accurate account of Churchill’s postwar visits to the Reves and La Pausa, covering the ageing Churchill’s habits, tastes, wishes and mental framework—in short his personality in the last decade of his life. Also speculates on the estrangement from his hosts, a sad chapter in the story. —AC
Scott, Brough. Churchill at the Gallop. Newbury, Berks.: Racing Post Books, 2017, 230 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A horse racing journalist, Scott considers Churchill’s equine experience from a unique angle. Take the charge at Omdurman, Churchill exchanging sword for pistol without taking his left hand off the reins. “It’s actually pretty difficult to do,” let alone as the horse crashed into the seething throng of the enemy. Such feats encouraged Scott to dig deeper, producing a unique aspect completely untouched by other works. —RML
Smithback, John Bell. Asia Betrayed: How Churchill Sacrificed the Far East to Save England. Hong Kong: Earnshaw Books, 2017, 268 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale. An English writer long resident in Asia highlights Japan’s crimes against Asians by charging that Churchill covertly tricked Japan into the Second World War to secure United States entry. No credible proof is produced whatsoever in a well written but poorly sourced and sloppily edited book. —WJS
Toye, Richard, ed. Winston Churchill: Politics, Strategy and Statecraft. London: Bloomsbury, 2017. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Claiming to analyze “key themes in Churchill’s life” (which many like books do better), it offers little that is new and lacks editorial unity. Some authors deliver solid accounts, others cover the same ground less effectively, and agree or disagree, with no cross-references or attempts to contrast their opinions. Contributors: Paul Addison: “Churchill and Women.” Stuart Ball: “Churchill and the Conservative Party.” Jeremy Black: “Churchill as Strategist in World War Two.” Peter Catterall: “Churchill as Chancellor of the Exchequer”; “Churchill and the General Strike.” Warren Dockter: “Churchill and the Islamic World.” Richard Overy: “Churchill and Airpower.” Kevin Ruane: “Churchill and Nuclear Weapons”; “Churchill and the Cold War.” David Thackeray: “The Young Statesman.” Richard Toye: “Churchill and the Empire.” David Woolner: “Churchill and the Birth of the Anglo-American ‘Special Relationship.’” Christopher Wrigley: “Churchill and Labour.” —Michael Richards
Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. Royal Oak, Mich., Scribe Publishing, 2017, 330 page. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Indian nationalists believed that British had to leave for India to thrive. But they did not think that the British were the root of India’s problem. A one-sided, hypercritical half-truth, like half a brick, is always more forcible as an argument than a whole one. It carries better. —Tirthankar Roy
Wiles, Richard. Biographic Churchill. Lewes, Sussex: Ammonite Press, 2017, 96 pp. “Great Lives in Graphic Form” series. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A serious book in what used to be the preserve of juvenile albums. Line art, silhouettes, maps, tables and timelines replace photos. The author is no Churchill historian and makes various errors. Unconventionally attractive, with intriguing tidbits: where else will we find (in “Clothes Maketh the Man”) a sketch of WSC’s pink silk drawers? —AC
Wright, Damien. Churchill’s Secret War with Lenin: British and Commonwealth Military Intervention in the Russian Civil War, 1918-1920, 576 pp. Gilwice, Poland: Helion, 2017. ✸ A massive glossy tome sympathetically documenting Britain’s campaign against the Bolsheviks. The title, however, is misleading. Both Churchill and Lenin are almost completely nonexistent throughout the text. —WJS
2018
Albuquerque, Miguel. Winston Churchill na [in] Madeira. Lisbon: Alétheia, 2018, 144 pp., softbound. Text in English and Portuguese. ✸ The story of the Churchills’ holiday in Madeira, where WSC painted, in January 1950, written by the president of the island’s government. Introduction by Portuguese scholar João Carlos Espada; profusely illustrated with photos of their visit. —James W. Muller
Brendon, Piers. Churchill’s Bestiary: His Life Through Animals. London: Michael O’Mara Books, 2018; Churchill’s Menagerie: Winston Churchill and the Animal Kingdom. New York: Pegasus, 2019; 320 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Encyclopedic account of Churchill and animals, starting with “Albatross” and ending in “Zoos.” Brendon avoids repeating old material and deeply investigates each species. The text is sprightly and readable, “unputdownable.” Anyone interested in the personal side of the great man should have this book. —RML
Cannadine, David. Churchill: The Statesman as Artist. London: Bloomsbury, 2018, 186 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Part One comprises twelve Churchill essays and speeches on art, of which only “Painting as a Pastime” is well known. Part Two includes appreciations of Churchill’s work by eminent authorities such as Eric Newton, Thomas Bodkin, and the Tate Gallery’s Sir John Rothenstein. An interesting adjunct to the more elaborate books on Churchill’s art. —AC
Capet, Antoine. Churchill: Le dictionnaire. Paris: Perrin, 2018, 862 pp. Softbound. ✸ Reviewed by Cercles: An encyclopedia offering expert narrative and chronology, on all the key themes, topics, sub-topics and controversies. A magnum opus and a major landmark in Churchill studies: the first comprehensive and critical guide to every aspect of his life and times. This is a prodigious feat of intellect and hard work. It emancipates readers by handing them the keys to scores of Churchillian themes and topics. It is written with meticulous attention to detail, and a mastery of the subject reflected in a sparkling stream of insights and reflections. It is deeply serious for long stretches but great fun at intervals. C’est magnifique. —Paul Addison
Cohen, David. Churchill and Attlee: The Unlikely Duo Who Won the War. London: Biteback, 2018. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: “Interspersing the careers of the two prime ministers, Cohen eschews references, commits many errors and typos, and does not refer to the Churchhttps://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/clement-attlee-bew-cohen/ill Documents. Despite the sub-title “Unlikely Allies,” their wartime relationship receives only 81 pages out of 362. —Bradley Tolppanen
Cusic, Don. Winston Churchill’s Love of Music: Churchill Didn’t Have a Tin Ear. Nashville: Brackish Publishing, 2018, 122 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The text traces Churchill’s life and career, tracking every reference the author found to music and song. We range from the marches, ditties and Gilbert and Sullivan Churchill loved to the powerfully inspirational. Which lyrics are presented is purely arbitrary, but once chosen, we get every word. Churchill’s youthful encounters with the ’cello and piano are duly noted. —RML
Delmas, Vincent and Regnault, Christophe. Churchill, 2 vols. Paris: Éditions Glénat/Fayard, 2018, 58 pp. per volume. Churchill: A Graphic Biography, Barnsley, Yorks.: Greenhill Books/Pen and Sword, 2020, 112 pp., softbound. ✸ Illustrations by Alessio Cammardella and Alessia Nocera, historical commentary by François Kersaudy. Part of a series of comic strip works on famous figures. The quality of the art does not match Frank Bellamy’s in Clifford Makins’ superb Happy Warrior (1958), and is uneven: Alanbrooke is not bad, Montgomery execrable. Fortunately, the commentary is by a reputable Churchill historian. —AC
Heyking, John von. Comprehensive Judgment and Absolute Selflessness: Winston Churchill on Politics as Friendship. South Bend, Ind.: St. Augustine’s Press, 2018, 224 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Von Heyking considers how much friendship matters in politics and statesmanship, examining WSC’s greatest friendships, including F.E. Smith, Max Beaverbrook, and Franklin Roosevelt. Worth the reading, this is an interesting scholarly work placing Churchill’s practices of friendship within a philosophical grounding. —Bradley P. Tolppanen
Keysers, Ralph. Le Crayon du Diable: Philipp Rupprecht alias Fips: Trois chefs de guerre contre Hitler: W. Churchill, J. Staline et F. Roosevelt dans le Stürmer de 1939 à 1945 [The Devil’s Pencil: Philipp Rupprecht alias Fips: Three Warlords against Hitler…in the Stürmer from 1939 to 1945]. Paris, S.L.S.N., 2018, 352 pp., softbound. ✸ One of a series of books of cartoons by Philipp Rupprecht (“Fips”) savaging the Big Three in Julius Streicher’s Nazi weekly, Der Stürmer. Poorly designed with too much white space and too small reproductions, though it does pull together a huge collection of propaganda cartoons. —AC
Kryske, Lawrence M. Churchill Without Blood, Sweat, or Tears: Applying His Methods for Today’s Leaders. Plano, Texas: self-published, 2018, 158 pp., softbound. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A useful guide in “Applied Churchill,” applying Churchill’s methods to ourselves today. A tour de force on Churchill leadership techniques, explored inside and out and interpreted for modern application. Churchill’s inspiration is evident throughout his book, as is his humor. —WJS
Leebaert, Derek. Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower, 1945-1957. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2018, 614 pp.; also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill told a general: “Improvise and dare…He improvose and dore.” Leebaert sees America’s walk to global leadership in much the same way. Attlee’s and Churchill’s postwar governments were not always America’s poodles; only after Suez (1956) does the US assume leading power status. Well-researched, highly readable. —WJS
Lehrman, Lewis E. Lincoln and Churchill: Statesmen at War. Guilford, Conn.: Stackpole, 2018, 544 pp.; also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: An accomplished historian offers an intimate comparison of the two greatest democratic war leaders. The first comparative book-length history of the two commanders, each in wars of national survival, setting heroic standards of leadership through mastery of language. Sumptuously sourced and footnoted. —WJS
Lough, David, ed. My Darling Winston: The Letters Between Winston Churchill and His Mother. London: Pegasus, 2018, 610 pp.; also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A comprehensive collection of Churchill’s exchanges with his mother Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill, from Winston at age seven to the very last letters before Jennie’s death, aged 67, in June 1921. Sheds bright light on the youthful Churchill’s hopes and dreams, while revealing his mother’s worldly, solicitous, loving influence. —RML
Napier, Stephen. Churchill: Military Genius or Menace? Stroud, Glos.: History Press, 2018, 448 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Provocative title, but readers may be rather surprised that the preamble and first chapter praise Churchill’s warnings of the need to rearm in the face of Nazi Germany. Napier then adds several straightforward chapters covering the early days of the war and Churchill becoming prime minister. —Terry Reardon
Packwood, Allen. How Churchill Waged War: The Most Challenging Decisions of the Second World War. Barnsley, Yorks.: Frontline, 2018, 288 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The objective is to illustrate how Churchill approached wartime challenges, not to assess the results of his decisions. Therefore the book is best for those who already have an understanding of the wartime events. Readers with a more rudimentary knowledge might expect “the rest of the story.” —Terry Reardon
Reynolds, David and Pechnatov, Vladimir, eds. The Kremlin Letters: Stalin’s Wartime Correspondence with Churchill and Roosevelt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018, 680 pp. Reprints, softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The correspondence is now accompanied by a narrative providing historical context providing a record of what Stalin thought about what Churchill and Roosevelt told him. The book contains 75% of the exchanges; the rest, lengthy lists of supplies, birthday greetings, etc., will be available in a digital edition. The narrative is a major re-examination of the politics of the war. —Warren F. Kimball
Roberts, Andrew. Churchill: Walking with Destiny. London: Allen Lane; New York: Viking, 2018, 1152 pp. Reprints, softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale; for a second Hillsdale review click here): What can justify another big biography? New sources, for one thing. But the real justification is that this book is excellent, the best Churchill biography since Sir Martin Gilbert’s Churchill: A Life (1991). It has the adventure, energy, and incessant movement that Churchill produced. It is witty, fluent, and precise, in rhythm with the material. It gallops across decades and through the largest episodes in history. It is devoid of the smug second guessing that we all may commit, especially when writing history. It is the product of a massive and faithful labor. It tells the story of a wonderful life with accuracy and dash, with richness and comprehension. It raises all the questions and provides the material for their contemplation. —Larry P. Arnn
Rose, Jill.. Nursing Churchill: A Wartime Life from the Private Letters of Winston Churchill’s Nurse. Stroud, Glos.: Amberley Publishing, 2018, 286 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The author’s mother nursed Churchill in London after he returned from a near-death battle with pneumonia in February 1943. Beyond that, the book is well worth the read describing her parents, deeply in love, separated by war, with shrewd observations of life at the top. A delightful account of experiences of so many Britons in the Second World War. —RML
Steyn, Richard. Churchill’s Confidant: Jan Smuts, Enemy to Lifelong Friend. London: Robinson Publishing, 2018, 352 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Among many close personal friendships that Churchill enjoyed in political and military life, one of the more unlikely was with a former foe, the South African statesman Jan Christian Smuts. Richard Steyn has offered a plethora of new information and insights in a readable account of this important friendship. —Terry Reardon
2019
Attenborough, Wilfred. Diagnosing Churchill: Bipolar or “Prey to Nerves”? Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2019. ✸ The author’s second monograph on the subject (see 2014) aims at “a more rounded, more securely founded, understanding of Churchill’s psychological functioning— an understanding that, although not complete, will be substantial.”
Bouverie, Tim. Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill and the Road to War. New York: Tim Duggan Books, 2019, 462 pp. Reprints, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Chamberlain: “A mind sequestered in its own delusions.” A well-written, well-researched study of appeasement from the time Hitler became Chancellor. Extending through Munich, Poland and the onslaught on the West, it concludes with Lord Halifax’s unsuccessful efforts, in May 1940 to determine Hitler’s terms for peace. —McM
Clews, Graham T. Churchill’s Phoney War: A Study in Folly and Frustration. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2019, 360 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill hoped the effective use of naval power would defeat Germany in the short term and deter Italy and Japan further on. But he was constrained—not only by Pound but by the political-military straitjacket of the Anglo-French alliance. —WJS
Cohen, David. Churchill and Attlee: The Unlikely Allies Who Won the War. London: Biteback, 2019, 362 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A narrative interspersing the two careers. Cohen eschews references, and does not list the Churchill Papers in his bibliography. Their wartime relationship receives only eighty-one pages. Typos and errors slip in. Readers interested in the Churchill-Attlee relationship are better off with Bew (2017) and McKinstry (2019). —Bradley P. Tolppanen
Crowcroft, Robert. The End Is Nigh: British Politics, Power and the Road to the Second World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019, 304 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: In seeking to demolish Chamberlain and Churchill for losing both Empire and peace, Crowcroft argues that both were self-serving and lacked vision. He is cynical about democracy, which, he maintains, has always been a system steeped in humbug and manipulated by politicians selling bogus promises and wishful thinking. Perhaps he should consider Churchill’s appraisal of democracy versus “all the other systems.” —Paul Addison
Fairweather, Jack. The Volunteer: One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz. (The Story of Witold Pilecki.) New York: HarperCollins, 2019, $28.99, Amazon $20.49, Kindle $13.99. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The story of a valiant Pole who caused himself to be arrested and sent to Auschwitz to report on goings on is essentially a story of the Polish experience. It does give a stark vision of what Pilecki saw of the Holocaust, coupled with detailed but somewhat elliptical view of when Churchill knew, and what he might have done. —Richard Cohen and RML
Field, Jacob E. The Eccentric Mr. Churchill: Little-Known Facts About the Greatest Briton. London: Omara, 2019, 192 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Part of a popular genre, this collection of facts and anecdotes offers an array of obscure material, and certainly delivers—to the point where one wonders where some of it came from. —AC
Gristwood, Sarah and Gaskin, Margaret. Churchill: An Extraordinary Life. London: National Trust, 2019. ✸ Pictorial album.
Hamilton, Nigel. War and Peace: FDR’s Final Odyssey, D-Day to Yalta, 1943-1945. (“FDR at War,” Book 3). New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019, 592 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Revisionist history is an essential part of the process. But it must comport with the known facts, and be done with a rapier, not a cudgel. Why would Hamilton raise the inconsequential to the significant? With admirers like this, Churchill’s memory needs no enemies. —Warren F. Kimball
McKercher, B.J.C. and Capet, Antoine, eds. Winston Churchill: At War and Thinking of War Before 1939. London: Routledge, 2019, 220 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale. Contributors: Christopher M. Bell: “Churchill’s Downfall in 1915.” Warren Dockter: “Churchill, France and the Middle East.” John H. Maurer: “Churchill and the German Naval Challenge before the Great War.” Brian McKercher: “The Limitations of the Politician-Historian” (on origins of the Second World War). Will Morrisey: “What Churchill and de Gaulle Learned from the Great War.” James W. Muller: “At War on the Nile: What Winston Churchill Learned from the River War.” Richard Toye: “Churchill and the Golden Age of Journalism.” John W. Young: “Churchill and Britain’s Decision for War in 1914.” “This collection of substantive and challenging essays offers many useful observations that will stimulate further historical discussion and scholarship.” —Bradley P. Tolppanen
McKinstry, Leo. Attlee and Churchill: Allies in War, Adversaries in Peace. London: Atlantic Books, 2019, 736 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Thorough and scrupulously fair, McKinstry tells the story, backed by a voluminous bibliography, extensive research and private correspondence. In scope and balance, the book is like Herman’s Gandhi and Churchill—another elegant account of two contentious figures which captures Churchill’s generosity of spirit and his rival’s greatness of soul. —RML
Phillips, Adrian, Fighting Churchill, Appeasing Hitler: Neville Chamberlain, Sir Horace Wilson, & Britain’s Plight of Appeasement 1937–1939. New York: Pegasus Books, 2019, 384 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: “A compellingly researched condemnation of Chamberlain’s and Horace Wilson’s naiveté, worth reading for the precise details which made a middle-rank civil servant an architect of foreign policy.” —Connor Daniels
Stafford, David. Oblivion or Glory: 1921 and the Making of Winston Churchill. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A masterful portrait of a key Churchill year. The picture is of a reflective and vulnerable man of character, strengthened by every reverse—a man of vision and, to a few observers, “a prime minister in the making.” Really good books about Churchill are scarce these days, and deserve full appreciation. This one belongs in the top 20 specialized studies. —WJS
Stelzer, Cita. Working with Winston: The Unsung Women Behind Britain’s Greatest Statesman. New York: Pegasus, 2019, 400 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Deftly researched and readable, this specialized study of the women of Churchill’s private office shows the importance WSC attached to everything, from routine domestic matters to the terror of imminent extinction. This book is essential to understand the rounded picture. —RML
2020
Adams, Nick. Trump and Churchill: Defenders of Western Civilization. New York: Post Hill Press, 2020, 224 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Superficial similarities accompany 48 pages of Trump speeches and seven pages of Churchill’s to support specious comparisons which are ahistorical, as with similar comparisons equating WSC with modern political figures. —WJS
Allport, Alan. Britain at Bay: The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938-1941. New York: Knopf, 2020, 608 pp. Also e-book, audiobook. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Allport sees the reality of the Anglo-American wartime alliance, but the long shadow of Churchill’s memoirs still dominates the most studied war in history. Perhaps it is still too soon to discount the “Churchill effect.” —Raymond A. Callahan
Baruma, Ian. The Churchill Complex: The Curse of Being Special, from Winston and FDR to Trump and Brexit. London: Penguin, 2020, 320 pp. Also e-book, audiobook. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: “It’s like a quip-filled column by Maureen Dowd or Tucker Carlson. The quips are amusing, but backed by little evidence they remain somehow unsatisfying. Buruma notes how Anglo-American leaders routinely abducted Churchill to fit their own political purposes—just as Buruma does. The book iteself is testimony to the persistence of the AASR.” —Warren F. Kimball
Carver, Nancy. The Inspiring History of a Special Relationship. Fulton, Mo.: National Churchill Museum, 2020, 338 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Carver explains how Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech came to be delivered at Westminster College; the Anglo-American special relationship which led up to it; and how College imagined and achieved a living memorial to Churchill and his pivotal address. —David Forman
Catherwood, Christopher. Winston Churchill: A Reference Guide to his Life and Works. London & New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020, 216 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Allegedly aimed at young adults, though it is difficult to see what young adults will gain from it. Seat oiut alphabetically, with a brief index and biblioigraphy. A curiously unbalanced mixture. —Dave Turrell
Charlwood, David. Churchill and Eden: Partners through War and Peace. Barnsley, Yorks.: Pen and Sword, 2020, 296 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Not a dual biography, but a new perspective on Eden, with a focus on international relations, in particular with the United States and Russia. Charlwood reappraises Eden in context of his close and sometimes contentious relationship with Churchill as the latter’s “heir apparent.” The author credibly argues that Eden was undervalued as Churchill’s “mainstay.” —WJS
Clark, Peter. Churchill’s Britain: From the Antrim Coast to the Isle of Wight. London: Haus, 2020, 240 pp. “Armchair Traveller” series. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Billed as both a travelogue and a primer for the general reader, this book is neither. There are no photographs, an inadequate index, less than comprehensive coverage. Entries almost always involve what Churchill was doing at the time (with no new revelations) rather than stories of the place and its role in the story. Places, per se, usually get a paragraph or less—and no index entry. Nor are there guides to venues open to visitors. The comprehensive guide to Churchill’s Britain remains to be written. —RML
Costi, Robinio. Churchill “parente povero” tra Roosevelt e Stalin?: quando il serpente statunitense “spolpò” il leone britannico [Churchill “poor relative” between Roosevelt and Stalin?: when the American snake “fleshed out” the British lion.] Rome: 2020, 132 pages.
Fielding, Steven; Schwarz, Bill; and Toye, Richard. The Churchill Myths. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, 216 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Not about Churchill, so the subtitle might be: “How Politicians We Don’t Like Have Exploited Churchill over the Years for Their Benefit.” That list includes Tony Blair, George Bush père et fils, David Cameron, Dick Cheney, Boris Johnson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Donald Trump, etc. Do we really need a catalogue of the misuse of Churchill’s image by politicians? —McM
Hanson, Henry. Winston Churchill: A Biography of Historical Icon Winston Churchill. La Verne, Tenn.: Ingram, 2020, 78 pp., hardbound, softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: No contribution the Churchill corpus, this brief book lacks sourcing, endnotes, bibliography, index, glossaries, photographs and maps. With many gaps in the story, it reads like an extended encyclopedic entry or a rather long crib note. —WJS
Hett, Benjamin Carter. The Nazi Menace: Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Road to War. New York: Henry Holt, 2020, 416 pp., hardbound, softbound, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Hett sees parallels between 1930s globalist autocrats and those of today, reaffirming the preeminence of Churchill and Roosevelt in resisting totalitarianism. —WJS
Kandiah, Michael & Rowbotham, Judith, eds., The Diaries and Letters of Lord Woolton, 1940-1945. Oxford: University Press for the British Academy, 2020, 352 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Very much a work about Churchill, Woolton’s diaries illuminate the complexity and problems of dealing with a high public profile figure like WSC, sure of his own importance and that of his own agenda in politics. A most welcome addition to the personal records from ministers and civil servants on Churchill’s wartime government. —AC
Katz, Catherine Grace. The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020, 416 pp. Hardbound, softbound, audiobook, e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The story and experiences of three daughters who accompanied their distinguished fathers to the Yalta Conference in February 1945: Sarah Churchill, Anna Roosevelt and Kathleen Harriman. They played unique roles, scarcely noticed until this book. —Cita Stelzer
Kluger, Michael and Evans, Richard. Roosevelt’s and Churchill’s Atlantic Charter: A Risky Meeting at Sea that Saved Democracy Hardcover. Barnsley, S. Yorkshire: Frontline, 2020, 248 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The authors argue that the Atlantic meeting between a beleaguered Prime Minister and still officially neutral President was the defining moment of the Special Relationship, as the resulting Atlantic Charter set the moral standards for the postwar world order. They highlight the unsung supporting actors who made the meeting happen, including Harry Hopkins, George Marshall, Sumner Wells, Lord Beaverbrook, and Sir Alexander Cadogan. —WJS
Larson, Erik. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance during the Blitz. London: Random House; New York: Crown, 2020, 546 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The popular historian has once more captured an epochal historical moment and brought it vividly to life in near-novelistic prose, yet without inventing a single thing. Dry-as-dust historians, often in the Academy, have a great deal to learn from writers such as Larson. They introduce the public to the splendor and terror of the past without compromising one iota on fact. —Andrew Robert
Nester, William. Winston Churchill and the Art of Leadership: How Winston Changed the World. Barnsley, Yorks.: Frontline, 2020, 288 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The common thread running through the book is Churchill’s capacity for maneuver in war and politics. Throughout his life Churchill found imaginative remedies to Britain’s political and military crises.Churchill revealed by Nester is a model of statesmanship: prescient and competent, but accompanied by certain errors of strategy. —Casey J. Wheatland
Rafferty, Paul. Winston Churchill Painting on the French Riviera. London: Unicorn Publishing, 2020, 208 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A luxurious, landscape-format tribute to Churchill’s art and his favorite venue. The artist-author has thoroughly explored the Riviera, ferreting out the actual venues where WSC painted, showing how they look today in comparison with Churchill’s oils back in the day. Fastidiously researched and documented, this is a supreme achievement that adds much to our knowledge. —RML
Reguer, Sara. Winston S. Churchill and the Shaping of the Middle East, 1919-1922. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2020, 238 pages. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Focuses on Churchill’s actions as the responsible minister, in reorganizing the Fertile Crescent, Palestine and Mesopotamia (modern Israel, Jordan, and Iraq) after the great war. Less broad in coverage, but a worthwhile supplement to David Fromkin’s A Peace to End All Peace (1989). —WJS
Smith, Gary Scott. Duty and Destiny: The Life and Faith of Winston Churchill. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William Eerdmans Publishing, 2020, 256 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: As an examination of Churchill’s views on religion this is an excellent account. Attempting to prove whether he was a Christian or not is in the end a sterile debate. He was a great human being. That is all that needs to be said. —Robin Brodhurst
Toye, Richard. Winston Churchill: A Life in the News. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, 386 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Churchill’s relations with the press here involve mainly British media, so misses, for example, his first great news controversy, the 1895 Cuban revolt. The book promises to show how Churchill’s “autocratic and repressive instincts against journalistic freedom were successfully contained.” But the case that WSC was against journalistic freedom is so weak as to be non-existent. Churchill doesn’t come off as any more thin-skinned about the press than any other politician, then or now. —McM
Vale, J. Allister and Scadding, John W. Winston Churchill’s Illnesses 1886-1965. Barnsley, Yorks.: Frontline, 2020, 522 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A thoroughgoing forensic examination of Churchill’s maladies from boyhood to old age that must be the standard work in this field. Combines professional commentary with layman’s terms, so no reader will be lost in medical technology. The copious index provides names of diseases and drugs as well as people and places, and the images include many physicians mentioned. No serious Churchill scholar will now be able routinely to quote Lord Moran (1966) without acknowledging the decisive caveats introduced by this new work. —AC
Wynn, Stephen. Churchill’s Flawed Decisions: Errors in Office of the Greatest Briton. Barnsley, Yorks.: Pen and Sword, 2020, 172 pp. Also e-book. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Despite inadequate sourcework, Wynn takes a human view of Churchill to offer an examination of his “flawed decisions.” Not really a hit book, rather the author’s concept of legitimate criticism, but limited with easy moralizing and personal opinion based more on impressions than facts. —David Forman
2021
Brooke, Miranda. Wayward Daughter: Sarah Churchill and Her World. Stroud, Glos.: Amberley Publishing, 2021, 384 pp. Reviewed by Hillsdale: Brooke has paved the way for the next author who attempts a biography of Sarah by uncovering a great deal of material, including some wonderful photographs, that might have been overlooked. For that we owe her thanks. —Cita Stelzer
Buckey, Christopher M. Genesis of the Grand Fleet: The Admiralty, Germany, and the Home Fleet, 1896-1914. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2021, 392 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: With much on Churchill and Fisher, Buckey studied pre-Great War naval strategy and technology in a perceptive critique of revisionist historians and a re-affirmation of the long established works of Arthur Marder. —WJS
English, Otto. Fake History: Ten Great Lies and How They Shaped the World. London: Welbeck, 2021, 320 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Insofar as Churchill goes, this is a work of history. The writing doesn’t inspire confidence and is, rather, an inaccurate and mean-spirited political polemic. —Herbert Anderson
Heffer, Simon. Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries 1918-1938. London: Hutchinson, 2021, 1024 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: An indispensable improvement on the original 1967 version. “For all his misogyny, anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, Nazi sympathies and snobbery, Chips Channon was an inspired diarist. After devouring this volume readers will be anxious for the next. —Andrew Roberts
_____ _____. Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries 1938-43. London: Hutchinson, 2021, 1098 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Channon, a superb diarist, had an extraordinary ability to capture and present the interesting. One can only admire the energy it must have taken simply to make hand-written daily, mostly lengthy, entries, amidst the social whirlwind in which he lived. Two thousand pages in, and we are left yearning for more. Luckily a third, and final, installment is due out later this year. —Dave Turrell
Ireland, Josh. Churchill & Son. New York: Dutton, 2021, 464 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Randolph emerges as a dynamic speaker, a brilliant journalist, a gallant soldier, a skilled biographer, a frustrated son—and an honest man: as honest about himself, as he was of others. Not so bad an epitaph, after all. —RML
Laderman, Charlie and Simms, Brendan. Hitler’s American Gamble: Pearl Harbor and Germany’s March to Global War. New York: Basic Books, 2021), 528pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Roosevelt always favored a “Germany First” strategy, even after Pearl Harbor. But Churchill was right in continuing to press for a meeting with FDR as soon as possible in December 1941. He correctly disregarded the contrary advice of Eden, Cadogan and Harvey. He knew he needed to be in the room when U.S. military strategy was determined. —McM
Lee, Celia and Lee, John. The Churchills: A Family Portrait. London: Lume Books. 2021, 416pp., paperback. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Revised edition of the 2010 hardback emphasizing the roles of Winston’s parents and brother Jack. Based on underutilized sources, including papers of family and friends, but oddly promoting Jennie’s supposed Native American heritage. —WJS
Sandys, Celia. Churchill’s Little Redhead (Stroud, Glocs.: Fonthill Media, 2021), 306 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A charming memoir of a life well-lived by Sir Winston’s granddaughter, built around her relationship with the great man. This is a tale of a loving and forgiving, mature woman who has experienced all that life can give, both pleasures and pains. —Cita Stelzer
Soames, Emma, ed., Mary Churchill’s War: The Wartime Diaries of Churchill’s Youngest Daughter. London: Two Roads-Hachette, 2021. 416 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Mary was 17 when war broke out. She watched her father as he wrote his wartime speeches; joined him his tours of Blitzed cities. She was his aide-de-camp at Quebec and Potsdam, stayed in White House. Fortunately for historians, she also kept a diary: essentially a daily love letter from a brave young woman to her adored father. Immensely evocative of wartime Britain they are occasionally powerfully moving, but also historically important. —Andrew Roberts
Trethewey, Rachel. The Churchill Girls: The Story of Winston’s Daughters. Cheltenham, Glos.: The History Press, 2021, 320 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A well-researched, useful addition to the family history. Eschewing old newspaper gossip columns, Trethewey relies on the Churchill Archives Centre to provide an authoritative portrait. —Raymond A. Callahan
Tucker-Jones, Anthony. Churchill, Master and Commander: Winston Churchill at War 1895-1945. New York: Osprey, 2021, 384 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A readable and critical account of Churchill as warlord. While worth considering, not all his criticisms are convincing. He correctly observes that Churchill took many a proverbial beating, from which he emerged still optimistic. —WJS
Wheatcroft, Geoffrey. Churchill’s Shadow: The Life and Afterlife of Winston Churchill. London: Bodley Head; New York: Norton, 2021, 640 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The author declares this is not by intention, nor consciously revisionist, or contrarian. He then launches into a long book that is virtually uninterrupted in its hostility to Winston Churchill, his memory, and especially anyone who has had the temerity to admire Churchill or learn lessons from his life and career. —Andrew Roberts
Whitworth, Kieran. The Churchill Quiz Book. London: Osprey, 2021, 258 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale:A highly accurate collectilon of questions about Churchill from easy softballs to serious brain-twisters, wonderful grist for scholars and the casual alike. —Robin Brodhurst
2022
Ali, Tariq. Churchill: His Times, His Crimes. London: Verso, 2022, 448 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: The Marxist author believes a “Churchill cult” is “drowning” debate,” and parrots every revisionist slur about Churchill. If there were indeed a Churchill cult, it has done a singularly bad job of drowning out criticism of its hero. —Andrew Roberts
Bowman, Graeme, Empire First: Churchill’s War Against D-Day. Greenock, Scotland: Self-published, 2022, 520 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A poorly researched accusation that Churchill opposed the invasion of France virtually up to the moment of D-Day. In reality, he strove for a “lodgment” on the continent from 1941 on, and without him, the invasion would have been harder. —RML
Downing, Taylor. 1942: Winston Churchill and Britain’s Darkest Hour. New York and London: Pegasus, 2022. 432 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Downing convincingly contends despite the widespread belief 1940 was the “Darkest Hour,” this is more accurately applied to 1942 when British arms and Churchill’s reputation were globally pounded until Churchill’s legendary perseverance and
American aid narrowly turned the tide of war. —WJS
Faught, C. Brad. Cairo 1921: Ten Days That Made The Middle East. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2022, 264 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A well-researched centenary re-examination of the famous Cairo Conference. With mixed results at best, Faught argues, the conference was, more progressive and less imperialist-minded than is commonly believed. —WJS
Kershaw, Robert. Dünkirchen 1940: The German View of Dunkirk. Oxford: Osprey, 2022, 354 p. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A gritty, innovative, and almost real time reinterpretation based on German archival sources. Churchill’s epic leadership somewhat obscured Hitler’s failure to due to focusing farther south, and the Dunkirk area’s unsuitability for tank warfare. —WJS
Liddle, Andrew. Cheers, Mr. Churchill! Winston Churchill in Scotland. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2022. 274 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Covers Scotland’s profound impact in providing Churchill with a constituency (Dundee), a wife, and a battalion of Scottish soldiers to command. This excellent book also explores Churchill’s position on Scottish and Irish Home Rule (devolution). It is nicely complemented by the local focus of Tony Patterson’s A Seat for Life (1980). —WJS
Prior, Robin. Conquer We Must: A Military History of Britain 1914-1945. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022, 832 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: An admirable work stresses that the critical need in war is for the correct political leadership. Lloyd George in the First World War and Churchill in the Second were right for the task. Both managed to gain the support of their citizens. Once that is accomplished, Prior concludes, “democracies at war can be fearsome.” —Cyril Mazansky
Saltman, Alan I. No Peace with Hitler: Why Churchill chose to fight WWII Alone Rather than
Negotiate with Germany. Delhi: W.G. Hobart Publishers, 2022, 784 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Using Churchill’s own words and many other sources, Saltman effectively refutes arguments against Churchill’s decision by Darkest Hour screenwriter Andrew McCartin, polemicist Patrick Buchanan, and others. —WJS
Sander, Gina & Langer, Roxanne. Winston Churchill: A Drinking Life. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2022, 158 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A light-hearted romp through Churchill’s lifelong relationship with drink, absent serious research and laced with errors. The book is written in a breezy, bubble-headed style which, unfortunately, perfectly matches the content. —Dave Turrell
Stiles, Gary. Churchill in Punch. Lewes: Unicorn, 2022, 480 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: An luxurious compilation of Punch’s 600+ Churchill cartoons, organized chronologically with original captions and a text identifying people and controversies, 1899-1988. Punch‘s cartoons were mostly positive, occasionally brutal, yet almost always amusing. —WJS
2023
Drake, James & Packwood, Allen: Letters for the Ages: The Private and Personal Letters of Sir Winston Churchill. London: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2023. 256 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A carefully curated selection of 100 letters, spanning 1883-1964, with a focus on family, friends and colleagues, demonstrate Churchill as an active participant and articulate observer of history. Facsimiles of key letters with contemporary photographs are skillfully interspersed. —WJS
Stephenson, Charles. Churchill as Home Secretary: Suffragettes, Strikes and Social Reform 1910-1911. Yorkshire and Philadelphia: Pen and Sword Military, 2023, 296 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: A comprehensive examination of Churchill’s brief time in the first of his three great offices of state, and his least favorite. Harassed by suffragettes and bedeviled by labor strikes, he nevertheless achieved prison reforms and proved himself administratively and politically suitable for high office. —WJS
2024
Faught, C. Brad Faught. Churchill and Africa: Empire, Decolonisation and Race. Yorkshire and Philadelphia: Pen and Sword Military, 2023, 188 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: First full study of the subject. Churchill’s thinking on Africa was more sympathetic and sophisticated than credited today. Modern critics’ characterization of his racism are overstated and without historical contextualizaiton. —WJS
Reid, Walter. Fighting Retreat: Churchill and India (London: Hurst, 2024), 344 pp. ✸ Reviewed by Hillsdale: Adopts the usual anti-imperial tropes about how Britain looted the subcontinent of its wealth. No sign here of more nuanced assessments by serious economic historians like Tirthankar Roy. —Zareer Masani
A minor typo: the author of ‘Churchill as Home Secretary: Suffragettes, Strikes and Social Reform 1910-1911’ is CHARLES Stephenson not, as you have it, CHRISTOPHER Stephenson.
We’ve corrected the mistake. Thank you. – The Churchill Project