August 2009 - Richard M. Langworth

Was Churchill an Alcoholic?

30 August 2009 Comments 2 Comments

The question frequently arises, was Churchill an alcoholic? Certainly his own accounts of his prowess (“I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me”), and his frequent depiction as a red-nosed drunk by enemies from Goebbels to modernday scoffers, lends one to believe that he drank heavily.

The truth, as Richard Geshke puts it in a communication on ChurchillChat, is that he was “a constant sipper: “I never heard any stories of a drunk Churchill.”

There is just one validated story: Danny Mander, one of WSC’s bodyguards at Teheran, recalls escorting a well-lubricated Churchill and Anthony Eden home after a lengthy series of toasts with the Russians.…

“Duly Inscribed” by Winston Churchill

30 August 2009 Comments 1 Comment

I have a first American edition of Churchill’s Boer war book, London toLadysmith via Pretoria (New York: Longmans Green, 1900, now part of The Boer War).On the inside cover, there is a label with a signature of Winston Churchill.Do you think that it is an original signature or is it a label that was printed in quantities? —L.C., Quebec, Canada

The first line reads, “duly Inscribed” and the signature looks like his (suitably aged ink), but I have never encountered “duly Inscribed” on another book signed by Churchill. However, since this is a card obviously pasted in, I suppose it’s possible.…