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Q & A
The Lion and the Mouse: Did Churchill Desecrate Rubens?
14
Mar
2024
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
Did the Prime Minister defile a Rubens? Technically it was possible, especially if Churchill used tempera. But official biographer Sir Martin Gilbert was doubtful: “This story, charming though it is, and often retold, may be typical of (dare I say it?) the wilder shores of oral evidence. Churchill was surely too great an art lover to ‘touch up’ a Rubens.”
Moments in Time : The Churchills at Colonsay, September 1912
19
Feb
2024
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
Churchill’s many voyages aboard HMS Enchantress are relatively little known, although occasionally snippets come out. With the help of Dr. Leigh Knight of Colonsay, we unearthed the hitherto almost unknown account of his 1912 visit to the Hebrides, during fleet manoeuvres in September 1912—and a century-old vision that came true during his visit.
Did Eisenhower Threaten Resignation over Bombing Policy?
11
Dec
2023
By MAX E. HERTWIG
At Kasserine Pass in 1943, Eisenhower realized the critical importance of air power—and the need to avoid parceling out control to different commanders. Eisenhower declared that the invasion of Europe could not come “until we had established ourselves so firmly that danger of defeat was eliminated—all air forces in Britain, excepting only the Coastal Command, should come under my control....”
Churchill Confronts “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp”
28
Sep
2023
1
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
Churchill fought the Second World War with single-minded intensity; thus, his reaction to the Colonel Blimp film. Any distraction from the war effort was inadmissible, even treasonous. His notorious outburst, “I hate Indians...beastly people with a beastly religion” was in reaction to Delhi separatists when India was under invasion. Alas today it is treated as an offense of genocidal magnitude.
Churchill’s Shakespeare: “Romeo and Juliet”
16
Aug
2023
By VALERIE LILLINGTON AND RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
Churchill wrote of his father, “Would he, under the many riddles the future had reserved for such as he, snapped the tie of sentiment that bound him to his party, resolved at last to ‘shake the yoke of inauspicious stars’….?” The line is from Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Sc. 3, almost at the end of the play, where Romeo slays Count Paris....
Churchill’s Novels in Sterner Days: More than Mere Escape
17
Jul
2023
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
Churchill was motivated by H.G. Wells’s views of science in war: “The irresistible Juggernaut, driving through towns and villages as through a field of standing corn—a type which Armageddon itself could not achieve....” That was an accurate description of the Blitzkrieg that swept over France in May 1940, though WSC himself had his reasons to speak less alarmingly. He settled for a “remarkable combination of air bombing and heavily armoured tanks.” He was, after all, about to admonish Britons: “Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour.”
Moments in Time: The Churchills in Criccieth, Wales, September 1913
09
May
2023
By DAVE TURRELL
It is sobering to speculate on the fate of those pictured, the young men especially, and the young women who would watch them go. If it felt like the height of Empire, it was soon to usher in the end of Empire. Within a few months the Byzantine components of interlocking treaties would slam inexorably into place. Churchill and Lloyd George had enormous roles yet to play. But an age was ending, and their days of football in the field would not return.
How Serious was the Relationship of Churchill with Violet Asquith?
25
Apr
2023
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
The biography “Young Titan” speculated that Violet Asquith, shocked by Churchill’s marriage to Clementine Hozier in September 1908, flung herself in despair from a Scottish cliff. The evidence that has come out since does not support the thesis, made prominent by Violet’s lifetime friendship with and writings about the Churchill she knew.
“Rough Men Stand Ready”: Neither Churchill nor Orwell
06
Apr
2023
2
By THE CHURCHILL PROJECT
While neither Churchill nor Orwell uttered the famous words, they certainly held the same attitude toward the defense of liberty. "A humanitarian is always a hypocrite," Orwell wrote. "It would be difficult to hit off the one-eyed pacifism of the English in fewer words than in the phrase, 'making mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep.'"
Churchill and Margaret Thatcher: Two Meetings of Two Minds
28
Mar
2023
2
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
It is curious that neither her biographer Charles Moore nor Churchill’s bodyguard Edmund Murray—who each knew of one Churchill-Thatcher meeting—knew of the other. The story of their two encounters shows us that Margaret Thatcher’s respect for Churchill was lifelong. And Churchill’s words in 1950 on the regulatory state could have been her own words, 30 years later. When it came to liberty, neither were for turning.
Facing the Dictator: Stalin, 1946; Hitler, 1938
02
Feb
2023
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
The 1946 Churchill-Stalin exchange was remarkably similar to Churchill’s with Hitler eight years earlier: “I am surprised that the head of a great State should set himself to attack British members of Parliament who hold no official position and who are not even the leaders of parties.” Martin Gilbert’s official biography informs our knowledge Churchill’s consistency.
Winston Churchill and the Etymology of “Iron Curtain”
19
Jan
2023
1
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
The evidence suggests that Churchill had a most prosaic source for phrase that quickly became his, © Fulton, 1946. But his many references to “iron curtain” make for an interesting line of enquiry. It shows (to our surprise) that Churchill used the term at least six times before he arrived to stun the world in Missouri.