Winston Churchill: A beginner's guide
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Books by Winston Churchill
My Early Life (Eland, 2000) £9.99
Detailed, concise account of Churchill's early life from childhood until
the end of his stint as a war correspondent during the Boer War. Included
are accounts of his time in Cuba, northern India, the Sudan and South
Africa.
The Second World War (Pimlico, 2002) £16
Originally published in 1948-53 in six volumes, this edition is Churchill's
own abridgement of his history of World War II, first published in 1959.
'This is not history; this is my case,' he said – and what a case it is.
A History of the English-speaking Peoples (Cassell, 2001) £6.99
A one-volume abridgement of Churchill's famous four-volume history, first
published in 1956-8. This was his last great work, an intensely personal
view of history. In fact, Clement Attlee humorously retitled it: 'Things
in history that interested me.' Ranging from Boadicea (Boudicca) to Queen
Victoria, it traces the development and advancement of the English-speaking
peoples, in an attempt to tell us who we are and how we came to be.
Books about Winston Churchill
Winston S Churchill by Randolph Churchill and Martin Gilbert (Heinemann).
Out of print; may be available from libraries and second-hand bookshops.
The official eight-volume biography. It was begun by Churchill's son Randolph
and, after his death, completed by Martin Gilbert.
In Search of Churchill: A historian's journey by Martin Gilbert
(HarperCollins, 1995) £9.99
Gilbert began work on Churchill's biography, initially as Randolph Churchill's
assistant, in 1962 on his 26th birthday. By 1992, he had himself written
six of the total eight volumes and edited 10 documentary volumes of a
projected 15. This is the story of Gilbert's 30-year quest for his subject.
He reveals the extent of his historical labour, and shares some of the
great moments in his pursuit. It is also the story of those who have helped
Gilbert along his way, as they had earlier helped Churchill on his. Secretaries,
assistants, diarists, correspondents, soldiers, politicians, civil servants,
the eminent and the humble – all had tales to tell.
Churchill: A life by Martin Gilbert (Pimlico, 2000) £16
Yet another biography by Churchill's official biographer, which highlights
his qualities in peace and in war, not least as an orator. Using Churchill's
personal letters and the recollections of his contemporaries – both friend
and foe – the author goes behind the scenes of some of the stormiest and
most fascinating political events of the 20th century.
Churchill: A photographic portrait by Martin Gilbert (Pimlico,
1999) £15
The more than 360 photographs and cartoons in this volume bear witness
to the length of Churchill's public life and give tantalising glimpses
of the private man. Many of them reflect the figure well known to the
British public. But the man with the trademark pout and fat cigar was
also once a young Sandhurst cadet in fancy dress, a mounted war correspondent
during the Boer War, a writer and painter, and an elderly man overcome
with emotion at the reaction to one of his speeches. Captions accompanying
each image place them in context, and many include quotations from Churchill's
own writings and speeches.
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Vol. I, Vision of Glory:
1874-1932 (Michael Joseph, 1983). Out of print. May be available from
libraries or second-hand bookshops.
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Vol. II, Alone: 1932-1940
(Delta, 1989). US edition only; may be available from online bookshops.
Also known in the UK as The Caged Lion.
William Manchester's masterly life of Winston Churchill, intended to include
a third volume, contests the favoured view that Churchill's finest hour
was as Britain's wartime leader. Instead, the author believes that his
greatest period was as a statesman from 1932 to 1940. Then, disowned by
the social and political establishments as a warmonger, he stood his ground,
both in the Commons and outside of it, maintaining his principles until
ultimately he succeeded in drawing the country behind him. He is seen
as a man with limitations who could be unkind and callous, indiscreet
and reckless to the point of foolhardiness, but was also courageous, impulsive
and an unconventional leader.
Churchill by Roy Jenkins (Pan, 2002) £9.99
Jenkins has given us an old-fashioned biography, lauding his subject's
achievements, sympathising with his quirks and stepping lightly over his
well-known mistakes. He sticks closely to the published record, but brings
his authority and inside knowledge of British politics to this study,
slipping in his own memories of Churchill and his comparable experience
at the Cabinet table. It is all here, from the Boer Wars to the nuclear
bomb, from the hustings in Oldham to the diplomacy of Yalta, with due
coverage of the big moments – at the Board of Trade and at the Admiralty
in Asquith's peacetime and wartime cabinets, taking on the appeasers in
the 1930s and Hitler in the 1940s.
Churchill: A study in greatness by Geoffrey Best (Penguin, 2002)
£8.99
Winston Churchill's inspiring leadership in World War II once put him
above criticism, but in recent years, his record has come under attack.
This book attempts to make sense of this extraordinary man and his controversial
and heroic career. As the title suggests, Best finally decides that Churchill
was a Good Thing.
Churchill: The end of glory – a political biography by John
Charmley (Teach Yourself, 1993). Out of print; may be available from libraries
or second-hand bookshops.
Based on 15 years' research, this biography tells how Churchill's political
career developed and why he could serve in both Liberal and Conservative
governments. It reassesses his role in the Dardanelles fiasco and describes
his long climb back to power and influence, as well as the human price
that his ambition exacted from those around him. Charmley demonstrates
how and why the man created by the previous six decades had the vision
he had in 1940 – and what the limits of it were.
Churchill: An unruly life by Norman Rose (Pocket Books, 1998)
£8.99. Also known as Churchill: The unruly giant.
A detailed portrait culled from the viewpoints of Winston Churchill's
friends and enemies, who also provide testimony about his roles in 20th-century
British government.
Winston Churchill: A brief life by Piers Brendon (Pimlico, 2001)
£12.50
This biography captures the full range of Churchill's career, whose achievement
extended beyond his role in World War II. Anecdotes help illuminate this
account of the politician's courage and egotism, rudeness and humour,
brutality and compassion.
Churchill by Ian Wood (Palgrave, 2000) £13.50
This work is not a biography of Churchill, but addresses many of the issues
raised throughout his career as politician and, for a crucial period,
national leader. It considers his role as a strategist and minister in
World War I, his opposition to appeasement in the 1930s, his role in domestic
politics and his attitudes to Europe, the United States, the Soviet Union
and the Irish question. Out of this overview emerges a politician who
is flawed in many ways, yet is also a larger-than-life figure with a generosity
of spirit and leadership qualities that made him indispensable to Britain
in the greatest crisis of its history.
Man of the Century: Winston Churchill and his legend since 1945
by John Ramsden (HarperCollins, 2002) £25
A biographical study of Winston Churchill's post-war fame and reputation,
what he was thought to stand for and how that reputation was constructed.
It examines how Churchill's personality, attitudes and vision of himself
have affected Britons' political perception of themselves as a nation,
and argues that his romantic, imperial notion of Britain has contributed
directly to many of the political debates of recent years – particularly
Britain's attitudes towards Europe.
Churchill and Roosevelt at War: The war they fought and the peace
they hoped to make by Keith Sainsbury (Palgrave, 1995) £19.99
The wartime relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt was a partnership
between two men totally different in personality, who clashed on important
issues of strategy as well as most of the crucial issues of European and
world policy. For this reason, Allied strategy lurched from a largely
British-sponsored master plan in the early days of the alliance to an
American-sponsored strategic plan later in the war. For this reason, too,
Britain and the US were frequently at odds over policy towards Russia,
France and China. This book traces the course of the partnership and the
reasons why it began as a cordial friendship and ended as a rather sour
association between two tired and ailing leaders.
Churchill and the Soviet Union by David Carlton (Manchester University
Press, 2000) £12.99
In the four decades following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Churchill
oscillated in a seemingly bewildering fashion between enmity and apparent
friendship with the Soviets. Initially he achieved a high profile as a
tireless advocate of Allied intervention in Russia to eliminate the Bolshevik
regime. By the late 1930s, he was urging Britain to forge a grand alliance
with the Soviets against Nazi Germany. During the winter of 1939-40, he
appeared to be willing for Britain to come to the assistance of Finland
in its war against the Soviet Union. In June 1941, he eagerly embraced
the Soviet Union as a worthy ally against Nazi Germany. After the latter's
defeat, he rapidly moved to proposing a common Anglo-American front against
the Soviet Union and global Communism. How can we understand this Churchillian
enigma? Why was Churchill's relationship with the Soviet Union so inconsistent?
Churchill and Hitler: In victory and defeat by John Strawson (Constable,
1997). Out of print; may be available from libraries or second-hand bookshops.
In this dual biography that reflects his own deep connections with the
period, General John Strawson examines the motivations, plans, actions
and words of two great World War II leaders as they are shaped by personal,
social, and historical events into the men they became.
Hitler & Churchill: Secrets of leadership by Andrew Roberts
(Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003) £18.99
To what extent did the outcome of World War II turn on the two very different
personalities who led the two major combatant nations? This intriguing
question is the subject of Andrew Roberts' book. The first half concentrates
on the lives of the two men up to 1939, showing how both had strong senses
of destiny and mission, compelling powers of oratory and carefully contrived
political personas. The second half illuminates their major differences
during the war. According to Roberts, Churchill's people-management skills
and ability to listen to advice inevitably won out over Hitler's control-freakery
and over-reliance on sycophants.
Winston Churchill as I Knew Him by Violet Bonham-Carter (Weidenfeld
& Nicolson, 1995). Out of print; may be available from libraries or
second-hand bookshops.
Originally published in 1965, this revealing personal memoir of the young
Winston Churchill is by the daughter of Liberal prime minister H H Asquith.
Lady Violet Bonham Carter got to know Churchill soon after his marriage
in 1906 and became his confidant in matters political for the rest of
his life, although she remained a staunch Liberal and was made a life
peer in 1970.
From Winston with Love and Kisses: The young Churchill by Celia
Sandys (Sinclair Stevenson, 1994). Out of print; may be available from
libraries or second-hand bookshops.
This story of Winston Churchill's boyhood brings together his early writings,
his mature recollections of childhood and the commentary of his grand-daughter
Celia Sandys. It presents a portrait of an impish, lonely and sickly boy
who, through his own tenacious attitude to life, fulfilled his youthful
dreams and fantasies. Sandys tells of a boy who survived against all the
odds, to become one of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century.
Churchill Wanted Dead or Alive by Celia Sandys (HarperCollins,
2000) £7.99
This is the story of Winston Churchill's exploits during the Boer War,
the springboard from which, overnight, he leapt to fame on the national
stage – within three months of his return at the age of 25, he became
an MP. Using both British and Boer sources, many previously untapped,
Sandys covers a hitherto neglected part of Churchill's life in which he
circumnavigated military regulations to combine the roles of soldier and
war correspondent.
