May 2020 - Page 2 of 2 - Richard M. Langworth

May — WSC in the Cabinet Room, 10 Downing Street, 1940. Photo by Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) for the Ministry of Information. (Crown copyright expired, Wikimedia Commons)

80 Years On: Winston Churchill Prime Minister, 10 May 1940

10 May 2020 Comments 0 Comments

The 10th of May…

In the splintering crash of this vast battle the quiet conversations we had had in Downing Street faded or fell back in one’s mind. However, I remember being told that Mr. Chamberlain had gone, or was going, to see the King, and this was naturally to be expected. Presently a message arrived summoning me to the Palace at six o’clock. It only takes two minutes to drive there from the Admiralty along the Mall. Although I suppose the evening newspapers must have been full of the terrific news from the Continent, nothing had been mentioned about the Cabinet crisis.…

Alistair Cooke: An Introduction and an Appreciation

6 May 2020 Comments 2 Comments

My previous note was about Alistair Cooke on Churchill in 1930s. I now reprise my introduction to his speech, and a personal epilogue. Sir Alistair’s speech, at the Mount Washington Hotel, Bretton Woods, 27 August 1988, is available by email. RML

Sir Alistair Cooke KBE

When, in what we must regard as a stroke of brilliance, we thought to invite Sir Alistair Cooke to talk about Winston Churchill, we wrote him with trepidation. We were told he had a reputation for being very hard to get. To our delight, he defied the odds. “This is the time of year when I turn down everything,” he wrote.…

Alistair Cooke: Why didn’t They Listen to Churchill?

2 May 2020 Comments 2 Comments

Alistair Cooke addressed this question over thirty years ago. I’ve quoted his words repeatedly over the years. A recent comment (reprised below), encouraged this revision from 2011. Mr. Cooke’s full speech is available by email. RML

Back in the 1930s, who all denounced and criticized Churchill for his beliefs in the radical Nazi Germany? Who specifically mocked him? Obviously Churchill was right about Hitler and his plans but who in the political, intellectual, or entertainment arenas vilified him? —A.H.

The answer to your question, I think, is “just about everybody,” from the Royal Family to ordinary citizens, most of the media, his own party, the Labour and Liberal parties, and certainly most intellectuals and entertainment personalities.…