March 2018 - Richard M. Langworth

Tributes to Churchill: What They Said Back Then

31 March 2018 Comments 2 Comments

A colleague asks if there were any official tributes by the government of India following Churchill’s death in January 1965. He was curious to know if Indian attitudes half a century ago were as virulent as they are in some quarters today.

There were indeed tributes from India. Heidi Eggerton of the Churchill Archives Centre provided this coverage in The Times of 25 January 1965, page 8, under the heading:

“Leader with Magic Personality”

DELHI, 24 JANUARY 1965— The Indian tricolour flying on all public buildings in preparation for Republic Day on Tuesday, was lowered to half-mast today….…

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“Unswerving Moral Decency”: Churchill Remembered by Simon Schama

25 March 2018 Comments 3 Comments

At a time when Churchill is under violent and irrational attack, it is time for a tonic. One good antidote to it all is an eloquent essay by Simon Schama.

Years ago the Columbia historian reviewed, for The New Republic, Martin Gilbert‘s official biography Volume VI, Finest Hour 1939-1941. It was, incidentally a fine tribute to Sir Martin, whose epic biography Professor Schama christened “The Churchilliad.”

What we should consider right now, though, are Schama’s evergreen words about Churchill. Martin Gilbert’s volume VI reaches its apogee in May 1940—the very time commemorated by the movie Darkest Hour.…

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Assault on Winston Churchill, 2018: A Reader’s Guide

22 March 2018 Comments 2 Comments

Assault count: Since I am losing track, I thought it would be convenient to create an index to smears of Winston Churchill following the film Darkest Hour. Note the similarity of topics. Many writers feed off each other, repeating the same disproven arguments. Never do they check Churchill quotes or The Churchill Documents —which prove them irretrievably wrong. The order is most recent first. . Update for 2019 Assault of 29 March: The Ezine Scroll-in reported that Churchill’s policies caused the drought that caused the Bengal Famine. (Not enough to be Prime Minister, he must also be a farmer, since he needed to know Irrigation.)…

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“Too Easy to Be Good”: The Churchill Marriage and Lady Castlerosse

17 March 2018 Comments 2 Comments

My article, “The Churchill Marriage and Lady Castlerosse” was first published by The American Spectator on 13 March 2018.

“Here Firm, Though All Be Drifting” —WSC

It’s all over the Internet, so it must be true. Not only did Winston Churchill oppose women’s rights, gas tribesmen, starve Indians, firebomb Dresden, nurse anti-Semitism and wish to nuke Moscow. He even cheated on his wife—in a four-year affair with Doris Delevingne, Viscountess Castlerosse.

So declare the authors of “Sir John Colville, Churchillian Networks, and the ‘Castlerosse Affair’”—unreservedly repeated by British television, multiple media, even a university: (“Winston Churchill’s affair revealed by forgotten testimony.”)…

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Long View: “Churchill’s Secret Affair,” Gary Oldman and the Oscars

12 March 2018 Comments 2 Comments

Ms. Camilla Long (“TV Review, Sunday Times, March 11th)* has a way with words. Never mind that some of them are so ultra-camp that she could be accused of gratuitously inflicting them on the rest of us proles with malnourished intellects.

“Hoorays,” “lilo,” “naff,” “proto-Wallis” and “pantomime horse-named” may be daily vernacular in the rarified atmosphere of the Sunday Times Culture Section. But they’re likely to confuse anyone who prefers communication to obfuscation. However, the Long View of my colleague Andrew Roberts as a “striped-piglet historian” makes me forgive her everything. I will dine out on that one many times, not least with the Striped Piglet himself.…

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Wilderness Years — Robert Hardy at Hillsdale, where we were privileged to host him in 2015 and 2016. (Hillsdale College)

Robert Hardy’s Estate Auction: All Memories Great and Small

9 March 2018 Comments 1 Comment

Robert Hardy’s estate went under the hammer in Gloucestershire yesterday. It comprised an eclectic scrapbook of his grand life. There was even the brass plaque of Siegfried Farnon, the irascible Yorkshire vet. RH endeared himself as Siegfried for ninety episodes on “All Creatures Great and Small.” . Alerted late, I tried for one of his Churchill rings, but the bidding went far beyond estimates. A friend and colleague came away with Churchill’s bow tie. It was given to RH by Grace Hamblin during the filming of Churchill: The Wilderness Years, in 1981.…

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“Then out spake brave Horatius…” A Review of “Darkest Hour”

2 March 2018 Comments 3 Comments

After more than our share of historical clangers recently, Churchill admirers can welcome all this movie offers. Unlike any recent production, it genuinely honors the heroic memory. And that’s a special thing these days. Give Gary Oldman, the cast and producers a tip of the hat.

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