Month: October 2018

Roberts
Admiring but not uncritical, Roberts’ book is a masterpiece. To paraphrase Simon Schama, it is a Churchilliad, and Andrew Roberts is its Bard. (Cartoon by David Low on WSC’s 80th birthday.)
“No Cutlet Uncooked”: Andrew Roberts’s Superb Churchill Biography

“No Cutlet Uncooked”: Andrew Roberts’s Superb Churchill Biography

Andrew Roberts, Churchill: Walk­ing with Des­tiny. New York, Viking, 2018, 1152 pages, $40, Ama­zon $25.47, Kin­dle $17.99. Also pub­lished by the Hills­dale Col­lege Churchill Project. For Hills­dale reviews of Churchill works since 2014, click here. For a list of and notes on books about Churchill from 1905 cur­rent­ly through 1995, vis­it Hillsdale’s anno­tat­ed bibliography.

“No Cutlet Uncooked”

He lies at Bladon in Eng­lish earth, “which in his finest hour he held invi­o­late.” He would enjoy the con­tro­ver­sy he still stirs today, in media he nev­er dreamed of. And he would rev­el in the assaults of his detrac­tors, the ripostes of his defend­ers.…

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biography
Since this photo was taken seven more Document Volumes were added, bringing the final total to 23.
Hillsdale’s Superb Churchill Biography Nears the Finish

Hillsdale’s Superb Churchill Biography Nears the Finish

Biog­ra­phy update: The warm reac­tions received to this post prompt­ed me to add the car­toon at the end. Thanks for the kind words. I am so pleased and proud to be asso­ci­at­ed with my Hills­dale col­leagues in this grand enter­prise. RML

“Give us the Tools….

Every stu­dent of Win­ston Churchill knows of Hills­dale College’s Churchill Project and the “offi­cial biog­ra­phy.” (The term is mis­lead­ing, because noth­ing was ever cen­sored.) Read more on this effort on the Project website

Sir Mar­tin Gilbert com­plet­ed the eighth and final bio­graph­ic vol­ume in 1988. But the accom­pa­ny­ing vol­umes of doc­u­ments (aka “Com­pan­ion Vol­umes”) ceased in the 1990s.…

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Triumph
Just Published! “Triumph Cars”: Tribute to a famous British marque

Just Published! “Triumph Cars”: Tribute to a famous British marque

A True Triumph

We are bowled over by the sheer vol­ume of col­or, beau­ty and depth of pho­tographs in the lat­est and great­est edi­tion of Tri­umph Cars: The Com­plete Sto­ry. Large­ly this was the effort of my co-author Gra­ham Rob­son, but I nev­er expect­ed such a high qual­i­ty treat­ment by the pub­lish­ers. A big, square for­mat, 10×10 inch­es, it’s chock-a-block with lav­ish illus­tra­tions from the first spindly Tri­umph 10/20 of 1923 to the last, badge-engi­neered Tri­umph Acclaim of 1984. There are even appen­dices on Tri­umph-derived cars like the Bond Equipe, Amphicar, Peer­less and Swal­low Doret­ti.…

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snipe
Gertrude Bell and friends at Giza, 12 March 1921. Camel riders, L-R: Clementine and Winston Churchill, Bell, Lawrence, bodyguard Walter Thompson. The snipe that Bell later committed suicide because of Churchill is far-fetched. (Wikimedia Commons)
Churchill: Scattershot Snipe and the Answers to It

Churchill: Scattershot Snipe and the Answers to It

My broth­er Andrew Roberts, author of the new and vital Churchill: Walk­ing with Des­tiny, pass­es along a read­er snipe which nails rick­ety new planks on the creepy ship Churchill Snipes. Incred­i­ble as it may seem, the writer man­ages to cre­ate a few we’ve nev­er heard before. They will be added to my “Assault on Churchill: A Reader’s Guide.” As will anoth­er far­ra­go by a loopy astro­naut, about which you’ve prob­a­bly already heard.

Snipe synopsis

Snipe 1) “Why doesn’t Andrew Roberts spell out Churchill’s mis­takes? They were not all that innocent.”

Whole sem­i­nars could be devot­ed to whether Churchill’s mistakes—in fact exhaus­tive­ly cat­a­logued by Roberts—were inno­cent and well intend­ed, or mali­cious­ly cal­cu­lat­ed.…

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Drury
Senator Seabright Cooley (Charles Laughton) speaks in the Senate in “Advise and Consent.” Around him (l-r) are Will Geer (Minority Leader Strickland), Don Murray (Sen. Anderson), Walter Pidgeon (Majority Leader Munson), Malcolm Atterbury (Committee Chairman August), and Paul Ford (Majority Whip Danta). (Wikimedia)
“Advise and Consent” by Allen Drury: Mandatory Viewing by Senators?

“Advise and Consent” by Allen Drury: Mandatory Viewing by Senators?

“And now for something completely different”

Apro­pos, of course, no cur­rent events in par­tic­u­lar, I pass along a rec­om­men­da­tion. It’s from a friend and fel­low polit­i­cal junkie. “The entire Unit­ed States Sen­ate should be required to sit through an end­less looped show­ing of Advise and Con­sent.” The 1962 film is based on Allen Drury’s  Pulitzer-prize win­ning  1959 nov­el. In the unlike­ly event you do not remem­ber the film, click here.”

I agree utter­ly. I must watch it again. It is not a light­heart­ed flick….

The Plot (excerpt from Wikipedia)

The Pres­i­dent of the Unit­ed States nom­i­nates Robert A. Leff­in­g­well as Sec­re­tary of State.…

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Lough
“Jennie,” the TV series, with the magnificent and immortal Lee Remick in the title role, Ronald Pickup as Lord Randolph, Warren Clarke as Winston. The series is online. Part I is at: bit.ly/2OXdx9L
His Mother’s Son: “My Darling Winston,” David Lough, Ed.

His Mother’s Son: “My Darling Winston,” David Lough, Ed.

David Lough, edi­tor, My Dar­ling Win­ston: The Let­ters Between Win­ston Churchill and His Moth­er. Lon­don: Pega­sus, 610 pages, $35, Ama­zon $33.25, Kin­dle $15.49. Reprint­ed from a review for the Hills­dale Col­lege Churchill Project. For Hills­dale reviews of Churchill works since 2014, click here. For a list and syn­opses of books about Churchill since 1905, vis­it Hillsdale’s anno­tat­ed bibliography.

See also my trib­ute to Lee Remick as “Jen­nie.” and Part 1 of the film. 

David Lough…

…added sig­nif­i­cant­ly to our knowl­edge with No More Cham­pagne (2015), his study of Churchill’s finances. Now he fills anoth­er gap in the saga with this com­pre­hen­sive col­lec­tion of Churchill’s exchanges with his moth­er Jen­nie, Lady Ran­dolph Churchill.…

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RML Books

Richard Langworth’s Most Popular Books & eBooks


Winston Churchill, Myth and Reality

Churchill by Himself

Churchill in His Own Words

Churchill and the Avoidable War

The Definitive Wit of Winston Churchill

The Patriot’s Churchill

Triumph Cars - The Complete Story
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