Clementine Churchill

Recently I wondered: How did Churchill introduce himself at first dinners with key people? What were the reactions of those at his table who had never met him before? Here are a few. They tell us much about the man.

“My Visit to Russia” portrayed a devastated land, along with many vignettes of people determined to survive.

Rachel Trethewey adds an important family dimension, reflecting the mutual devotion between Churchill and his three daughters.

If any one event ended imperial Britain, it was Suez, which also saw last significant intervention by Winston Churchill in world affairs.

Lady Violet: “He had no doubts about his star. He felt that he had been preserved through many perils in order to fulfil its purpose.”

Violet Asquith, 1906: “I found myself sitting next to this young man who seemed to me quite different from any other young man I had ever met…”

Today, we need not flinch from the image. Sutherland saw a man behind the legend, reached deep, and gave us the man. The legend needed no portrait.

Lawrence “was indeed a dweller upon the mountain tops…and where the view on clear days commands all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.” —WSC

The “golden years” are not always golden, but Winston Churchill’s long life offers perspective and encouragement to those of “a certain age.”

The Churchills, father and son, had close friendships with prominent, talented Jews. One was Nathaniel Mayer “Natty” Rothschild, First Baron Rothschild, head of the British branch of the famous banking family. He was the first Jewish member of the House of Lords. Another was Sir Ernest Joseph Cassel, also of Jewish origin, though he became a Catholic in 1880. A renowned merchant banker and financier, Sir Ernest was young Winston’s mentor, financial consultant and lifelong friend.

The series—a collection of twenty-eight original pieces—attempts to depict the many facets of Churchill’s complex character. The series covers Churchill’s early childhood all the way through his second term as prime minister in the 1950s. Diving into both the public and private side of Churchill’s life, the series balances Churchill’s professional years as a soldier and war correspondent, a writer, a rhetorician, and a statesman with his private interests as a painter, aviation enthusiast, horseman, father, and husband. Hooper offers a complete, yet often overlooked, picture of the national and international icon.

Stafford’s description of this critical year is masterful. In 1921 the former “bold, bad man” of British national life rose above his reputation as a war-mongering opportunist. 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 on any list of the top twenty specialized studies.