Churchill

A stirring war leader, an orator unequaled as the rallier of a nation under siege, a powerful writer - Winston Churchill was all these and more. By now he has become a figure of almost mythic proportions. To find the man within the legend is the task to which twenty-nine renowned British and American historians and political leaders dedicate themselves in this volume. It may be the last assessment possible of Churchill's life and career by those who, for the most part, came of age during the Churchill era. From his youth in the landed aristocracy through his early experiences of war to service in Parliament over seven storm-tossed decades, Churchill takes us far beyond the surface of events. Here is Winston Churchill, surprisingly, a founder of the modern welfare state, when he became a principal driving force behind the Liberal welfare reforms of 1908-11. In the 1920s, we find him astonished to be offered the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer (after accepting, he reflected that "I should have...answered, 'Will the bloody duck swim?'"). His concern with domestic affairs bracketed the years of the First World War which saw him, initially, as First Lord of the Admiralty. Churchill tasted failure in the disastrous defeat of the Dardanelles expedition in 1915. There followed two years "in the wilderness" during which he took a battalion command on the western front. "He hankered after brilliant coups, heroic adventure on a small but decisive scale" but he had learned a crucial lesson for his later years as war leader of Britain: "against an adversary as formidable as the Germans, there was no substitute for the massive organization and skillful application of force on the largest possible scale, backed up by...science and technology...." Appointed Colonial Secretary, Churchill had to deal with some regions that were to remain trouble spots to the century's end: Palestine and Southern Africa among them. A staunch defender of the Empire, he believed that Britis

Publishers Weekly

These illuminating essays by British and American historians provide detailed looks at Churchill in varied roles that include his appointed and elected offices, his war leadership and his tenure as political leader of the opposition. His long and turbulent career is assessed in components, some of them relatively minor (for instance, his appearances on radio and in film) but most of large scope, such as the lessons Churchill learned during WW I that were applicable during WW II. Among other topics explored: Norman Rose theorizes that ``few Englishmen have had a better record on behalf of Zionism''; John Keegan compares Churchill's skills as a strategist with those of Abraham Lincoln; Stephen E. Ambrose analyzes Churchill's wartime relationship with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower; Roy Jenkins writes on Churchill's second government (1951-1955), which, he remarks, ``was too much dominated by its chief's stubborn battle for survival to be a splendid affair.'' These 29 pieces bring Churchill into clearer focus. (Mar.)