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Brendan Bracken
The Churchill Project - Hillsdale College > Brendan Bracken
Josh Ireland Offers a Vibrant Account of Father and Son
05
Jul
2021
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
Josh Ireland begins with potted inaccuracies, but the quickly picks up with a deft, thoughtful account of a short, bittersweet saga.
“Angel of Deliverance”: Churchill’s Tributes to Joan of Arc
02
Nov
2020
1
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
Despite his encomiums to Joan, Churchill rated Napoleon higher, with Georges Clemenceau a close third—and, a bit farther down, de Gaulle.
Man of the Century: “Walking with Destiny,” by Andrew Roberts
31
May
2019
By LARRY P. ARNN
In the best biography since 1991, Roberts's witty, fluent, flowing prose captures the adventure, energy, and incessant movement that Churchill produced.
Great Contemporaries: Brendan Bracken
01
Dec
2017
4
By RON CYNEWULF ROBBINS & RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
There was no more enigmatic figure in Churchill’s life than Brendan Bracken, who cloaked his birth and upbringing with mystery while hinting broadly that he was the great man’s illegitimate son. It is well-authenticated that close friendship, not errant fatherhood, encompassed their relationship. But Churchill, with characteristic impishness, apparently never gave the direct lie to Bracken’s implied claim. This annoyed Churchill’s wife and peeved his son, Randolph, who spoke satirically of “my brother, the bastard.” To quell the noisome rumor Churchill quipped: “I have looked the matter up, but the dates don’t coincide.”
Poor, Dear Randolph: An Appreciation of Churchill’s Son
15
Nov
2017
By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
He combined two qualities: generous loyalty to those he loved, and an acid tongue and pen for those he didn’t. Most of the latter, I tend to think, richly deserved what they got. Randolph Churchill’s public persona was based on the latter quality. In the mid-1950s, surgery revealed that a tumor on his lung was benign. His friend Evelyn Waugh burst into the bar at White’s Club: “They’ve cut out the only part of Randolph that isn’t malignant!”
The Other Club: Founded by Churchill and F.E. Smith
12
Sep
2016
By FRED GLUECKSTEIN
In 1911, a time of great political division, Churchill and F.E. Smith founded The Other Club, a collegial dining group for members of both parties. It's still going strong.