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The Churchill Project - Hillsdale College > Articles
A New Gospel of Churchill Perfidy by Otto English
11
Nov
2022
On the 1916 Western Front, English claims Churchill was miles away from the “real war,” never in any real danger, and an inept officer. But Martin Gilbert—whose books English cites—offered numerous instances of Churchill surviving German artillery or machine gun fire, and of leading soldiers into No Man’s Land. Soldiers who served with him had every reason to regard him as an aristocratic interloper. In the end they praised him to a man.
Churchill and H.G. Wells Debate Government by Experts
09
Nov
2022
1
Churchill challenged Wells’s prediction of a future world government run by experts: “Human nature is a much more intractable and masterful thing than your speculations admit,” he told HGW. “We shall not change so quickly as you think.” Churchill’s views hadn’t changed 30 years later when he wrote: “It is at once the safeguard and the glory of mankind that they are easy to lead and hard to drive.”
English-Speaking Peoples (6): A Nuanced View of Oliver Cromwell
07
Nov
2022
From Cromwell’s example, Churchill learned the inefficacy of appeasement when dealing with despotism. Cromwell also reified the beauty and fragility of free government: Should one adopt a wrong policy or allow civil war and division to rule the day, a Cromwellian demagogue may be the necessary—and simultaneously evil—solution.
John Smithback Discovers Churchill’s Sins in Asia
02
Nov
2022
Britain was truly overstretched trying to deter Far East attacks with inexperienced troops and second-rate weaponry. That was because all the best soldiers and materials were sorely needed in war against Germany and Italy. And they were spread throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Churchill was very well aware of this. Yet he sent the battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse to Singapore hoping to cow the Japanese. They would act, he said, as “a vague menace.” It is hard to consider such actions—however doomed—efforts to signal British weakness.
English-Speaking Peoples (5): King Charles and the Civil War
31
Oct
2022
Churchill began his History of the English Speaking Peoples in the 1930s, but finished after World War II, the experience of all-powerful dictators etched in his mind. Thus he is careful not to describe Charles I as a tyrant. Tyrants need large militaries and a whole nation’s resources. These were things Charles did not have.
Dudgeon or Duty? Churchill’s Absence from the Roosevelt Funeral
30
Oct
2022
English-Speaking Peoples (4): Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey
24
Oct
2022
"Churchill, himself experienced in the petty struggles of factions within the context of state governance, understood how particular interests create obstacles or opportunities for those quick enough to recognize them. He is particularly gifted, then, not only in recounting past events, but also in effectively portraying their causes."
Gary Stiles Offers a Brilliant Catalogue of Mr. Punch’s Churchill
21
Oct
2022
For an archivist and curator of books such as this writer, Stiles has crafted an exquisite work. It will delight both the connoisseur and the casual reader of Churchill or British history. A noted physician and collector of Churchilliana, Stiles offers an heirloom volume: every Churchill cartoon in Punch, Britain’s famed magazine of humor and satire. Over 600 drawings span nearly a century from 1899 to 1988.
How Churchill Saw the Second World War as a Moral Conflict
20
Oct
2022
1
Hitler appealed to everything that is darkest in the human heart. Churchill himself appealed to different passions. He summoned the virtues of the British people and helped them find strength within themselves. He sought to elevate rather than to debase; to raise Britons from a desire for security above all to a contemplation of the just and the noble; to embolden them to face sacrifice and death rather than see the armies of evil pound their booted rhythms on the earth.
English-Speaking Peoples (3): The Wars of the Roses
17
Oct
2022
“And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:25). Given renewed fame by Lincoln, the verse applies as well to the Wars of the Roses. Their vicious course saw the old order passing to something entirely new. The tragic events are a reminder: The familiarity of Churchill's words is uncanny given the rampant social, political, and ideological divisions in Western countries. Churchill calls us to learn from the tragedies of the past to avoid experiencing a similar upheaval.
English-Speaking Peoples (2): Churchill’s View of Magna Carta
11
Oct
2022
In Book 2 of “The Birth of Britain,” Churchill encapsulates the power of 13th century English political developments. Magna Carta began the slow but steady process of the English-speaking peoples toward liberty and the rule of law. Without this necessary document, that “great fire” for representative rule might never have been ignited.
English-Speaking Peoples (1): Rebellion and Subjugation
03
Oct
2022
1
The conflict between orderly Roman society and the native tribes’ efforts to preserve their homeland produced a distinctly British character over the coming centuries. In part, the rebellion and continued struggle came to define Churchill, himself, nearly 1900 years later. In 1940, he found himself presiding over a period nearly as tumultuous as the rebellion of 61 A.D. Now he was forced into a position similar to that of the Britons.