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Books
English-Speaking Peoples (12): Gladstone and Disraeli
23
Jan
2023
1
By Josh Hypes
By examining Gladstone and Disraeli, Churchill reminds us that even the most bitter political rivalries of the day can induce significant change if calibrated to a nation's interest. Politics is a contest where people choose the best candidate for the job. We could take these lessons to heart and seek prudence and guidance in the crises of our own day.
Great Contemporaries: Fleet Admiral William Leahy
12
Jan
2023
By LARRY KRYSKE
The crippled President claimed Leahy was his “leg man,” but really used him to help understand complex military issues associated with waging a world war against two technologically advanced and aggressive nations. Leahy was also to serve as the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff above General Marshall, Admiral King, and General Arnold of the Army Air Corps. Leahy rarely took a contentious point of view during JCS deliberations. Instead he preferred to persuade FDR in private on courses of action he favored.
English-Speaking Peoples (11): Lincoln, Lee, and the Civil War
09
Jan
2023
By Richard M. Langworth
Churchill’s is largely a military account, with sentiments that that surprise some. “We march with Lee and Jackson, with Stuart, with Longstreet, and with Early through autumn woodlands…. Virginia, the proud Founder State…trampled upon, disinherited, impoverished, riven asunder….” Yet Churchill is not pro-Confederacy. His instincts were always with liberty.
The Sordid History of the Collected Works
06
Jan
2023
1
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
The Collected Works raised problems of scholarship. Certain volumes were reset and reedited. Some volumes were taken from editions, which differed radically from the originals. In all, only eight volumes and half of a ninth, offprinted from first or early impressions, contained the original text and pagination. Seven volumes were offprinted from later editions. The other 18 1/2 volumes, though improved with uniform type and better maps, bear no resemblance to the originals. However magnificent in appearance, they are not bibliographically compelling.
English-Speaking Peoples (10): Recovery and Reform
04
Jan
2023
By Zachary Bauder
Recovery and careful reform fostered prosperity at home and the Empire abroad, “based upon Government by consent, and the voluntary association of autonomous states under the Crown,” Churchill writes. “At the death of Queen Victoria it might well have been believed that the problems of past centuries were far on the high-road to gradual solution”
Benjamin Hett on Leadership during the “Gathering Storm”
22
Dec
2022
By William John Shepherd
This excellent commentary notes how Gallipoli, the great millstone of failure, was hung round Churchill’s neck, while the Norway campaign, first great failure of the Second World War, was blamed almost entirely upon Chamberlain. Churchill loyally defended the Prime Minister and, in a display of character, tried to take responsibility. But Chamberlain was wrongheaded and arrogant, while Churchill displayed wit and respect for democracy.
English-Speaking Peoples (9): Napoleon, Nelson and Human Freedom
12
Dec
2022
1
By DUGGAN FOLEY
Clement Attlee once quipped that Churchill’s History should have been entitled, “Things in History Which Interested Me.” Unconsciously Attlee identified the value of history written by one who made it. Churchill writes from his own experience. He understood defending human freedom, and fighting with one’s back to the wall.
English-Speaking Peoples (7): Queen Anne and Marlborough
28
Nov
2022
By Anna Swartz
“Marlborough never fought a battle he did not win or besieged a town he did not take. Nothing like this exists in the annals of war.” Churchill looked to his ancestor as a great example of statesmanship. He draws parallels between himself and Marlborough, and not simply because they were related. They both dealt with a nation ungrateful for its leaders and yet in need of their capabilities.
A New Gospel of Churchill Perfidy by Otto English
11
Nov
2022
By HERBERT ANDERSON
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.
English-Speaking Peoples (6): A Nuanced View of Oliver Cromwell
07
Nov
2022
By DUGGAN FOLEY
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
By WILLIAM JOHN SHEPHERD
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
By ZACHARY BAUDER
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.