Year: 2021

biblical
Speaking of the United Nations, in his “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946, Churchill said: “We must make sure that its work is fruitful, that it is a reality and not a sham, that it is a force for action, and not merely a frothing of words, that it is a true temple of peace in which the shields of many nations can some day be hung up, and not merely a cockpit in a Tower of Babel.” (The Tower depicted by Alexander Mikhalchyk, Creative Commons)
The Biblical Churchill (1): His Largest Single Source of Quotations

The Biblical Churchill (1): His Largest Single Source of Quotations

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N.B.”The Bib­li­cal Churchill” was the orig­i­nal Appen­dix IV in my book Churchill By Him­self. It was delet­ed in the lat­er edi­tion, Churchill in His Own Words, to make room for an index of phrases.

Churchill’s Biblical storehouse

“In my Father’s house are many man­sions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to pre­pare a place for you.” —St. John 14:2 [1]

We have often said of our own British Empire: “In my Father’s house there are many man­sions.” So in this far greater world struc­ture, which we shall sure­ly raise out of the ruins of des­o­lat­ing war, there will be room for all gen­er­ous, free asso­ci­a­tions of a spe­cial char­ac­ter, so long as they are not dis­loy­al to the world cause nor seek to bar the for­ward march of mankind.…

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Mein Kampf
A wedding ceremony in Germany in 1936. “Chancellor Hitler has decided that a copy of his book Mein Kampf will be given to every couple on their wedding day.” (Bibliothèque nationale de France, public domain)
When Did Churchill Read “Mein Kampf”?

When Did Churchill Read “Mein Kampf”?

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Q: Mein Kampf

When did Churchill  first read Mein Kampf, and did he have any ear­ly reac­tion to it?” Of Mein Kampf in his war mem­oirs, he wroe:

…there was no book which deserved more care­ful study from the rulers, polit­i­cal and mil­i­tary, of the Allied Pow­ers. All was there—the pro­gramme of Ger­man res­ur­rec­tion, the tech­nique of par­ty pro­pa­gan­da; the plan for com­bat­ing Marx­ism; the con­cept of a Nation­al-Social­ist State; the right­ful posi­tion of Ger­many at the sum­mit of the world. Here was the new Koran of faith and war: turgid, ver­bose, shape­less, but preg­nant with its message.[1]…

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camps
Boer prisoners awaiting transportation to prison camps. Boers wore mufti, whether soldiers or not. (Imperial War Museum, public domain)
Selective Quotes: Churchill on South Africa Prison Camps

Selective Quotes: Churchill on South Africa Prison Camps

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“Churchill on South Africa Prison Camps”: excerpt­ed from my essay for the Hills­dale Col­lege Churchill Project. For the unabridged orig­i­nal, togeth­er with end­notes, and WSC’s com­plete let­ter to The Times, click here.

1. Same old, same old…

An Indi­an col­league writes:

I’ve noticed that the same accu­sa­tions about Churchill repeat­ed fre­quent­ly. Many writ­ers seem to recy­cle them on trust. Take for exam­ple a new anti-Churchill arti­cle which I think needs a thor­ough debunk­ing. In fair­ness to the author, it is not all bad; she con­cedes for instance that Churchill want­ed to use tear gas in Iraq, not poi­son gas.…

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Andrew Roberts
Tea at Chartwell, 29 August 1927. Clockwise from Churchill’s left: Thérèse Sickert, Diana Mitford (later Mosley), WSC’s private secretary Eddie Marsh, scientific advisor Prof. Frederick Lindemann, Randolph Churchill, Diana Churchill, Clementine Churchill, WSC’s artist friend Walter Sickert. This photograph inspired WSC’s painting “Tea at Chartwell,” circa 1928. The photo is in the visitors book at Chartwell. (Wikimedia Commons)
Churchill: Andrew Roberts for the Defense (Daily Telegraph)

Churchill: Andrew Roberts for the Defense (Daily Telegraph)

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Thanks, Andrew Roberts

The Lon­don Dai­ly Tele­graph is spon­sor­ing a series of pod­casts fea­tur­ing con­ver­sa­tions with his­to­ri­ans about attacks on nation­al heroes. On Sep­tem­ber 1st, Steve Edg­in­ton engaged with Churchill biog­ra­ph­er Andrew Roberts on the Woke Movement’s num­ber one bogey­man: Win­ston Spencer Churchill….

Woke attacks on Win­ston Churchill are libel & lies | Churchill defended
Watch this video on YouTube

“To many,” writes the Tele­graph,

Win­ston Churchill is the man who saved not only Britain but the world from Nazi tyran­ny. But to some, Churchill rep­re­sents the evils of the British Empire: racism, col­o­niza­tion and vio­lence.…

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generals
Western Desert, 23 August 1942: Middle East commander General Alexander, WSC and 8th Army commander Lt-General Montgomery. (Photo by Sgt. Martin, Imperial War Museum, public domain)
On Good News from Generals: Churchill’s Experience and Methods

On Good News from Generals: Churchill’s Experience and Methods

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Say what?

A New York Times cor­re­spon­dent writes:

I’ve been read­ing The Best and the Bright­est by David Hal­ber­stam, about how we got into Viet­nam. When you’re decid­ing whether to inter­vene mil­i­tar­i­ly, he says, you can count on the gen­er­als to tell you every­thing that can go awry and stress the neg­a­tive part of the pic­ture. But once they’re invest­ed, once it’s their job to cre­ate a good out­come through mil­i­tary means, it’s going to be all hap­py talk. They’re not going to report that they’re fail­ing. They’re going to give you the sun­nier side of what’s hap­pen­ing, in this case, in Afghanistan.…

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Polish
Churchill inspecting troops of the 1st Rifle Brigade, 1st Polish Corps, with General Władysław Sikorski at Tentsmuir, Scotland, 23 October 1940. General Gustaw Paszkiewicz, CO of the Brigade, is behind General Sikorski. (Imperial War Museum, public domain)
The Polish and the Holocaust: What Churchill Knew

The Polish and the Holocaust: What Churchill Knew

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Polish firing squad of one

Mr. Paul Bonow­icz staged a one-man protest against Churchill in South Ruis­lip, Mid­dle­sex. He denounced “the lies in British books about Win­ston Churchill. I am Pol­ish and we know he betrayed Pol­ish peo­ple.” He added: Churchill “knew about the Holo­caust. He knew Jew­ish peo­ple were dying, but he didn’t help. After the war there was a deal between Churchill and Stal­in, and the price was Poland. Part of my coun­try went to the Sovi­ets. It was Churchill who decid­ed which part, not the Poles.” —Uxbridge Gazette.

Churchill did know about the Holo­caust, and alone among allied lead­ers, he tried to do some­thing about it.…

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consistency
Churchill and Chamberlain on 14 March 1935. (Wikimedia Commons)
Churchill’s Consistency: Politics Before Country (Part 2)

Churchill’s Consistency: Politics Before Country (Part 2)

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Consistency in Politics…

…was a theme of Churchill’s, and he often wrote about it. He made many mis­takes, but through­out his career he was sel­dom guilty of lack­ing con­sis­ten­cy. Con­tin­ued from Part 1…

“Much better if he had never lived”

Churchill main­tained friend­ly rela­tions with Bald­win until Bald­win died in 1947. Nevertheless—which was rare for him—he nev­er for­gave and nev­er for­got. In June 1947 he made an aston­ish­ing state­ment: “I wish Stan­ley Bald­win no ill, but it would have been much bet­ter if he had nev­er lived.” Offi­cial biog­ra­ph­er Mar­tin Gilbert wrote that this was not Churchill’s usu­al con­sis­ten­cy, but exact­ly the opposite:

In my long search for Churchill few let­ters have struck a clear­er note than this one.…

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Robson
AAGR, himself.
Graham Robson: “He Was Always, Triumphantly, in Touch”

Graham Robson: “He Was Always, Triumphantly, in Touch”

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Graham Robson shared and typified Alistair Cooke's philosophy—and mine. "We shall go on to the end," as Churchill said. And sure enough: Last April Graham wrote me about another book! It was his last message: I am commissioned to prepare a monumental four-part Encyclopedia of Classic Cars 1945-2000." In 2025 he would have been 89. Alas that task must now fall to someone else. But it was so very typical of Graham. He was forever pressing on, oblivious to time and age—on and on, as alive and vital as ever. As a BBC colleague said of Alistair Cooke: "He was always, triumphantly, in touch."

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consistency
Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill, in happier times, late 1920s. (Wikimedia Commons)
Churchill’s Consistency: “Politics Before Country” (Part 1)

Churchill’s Consistency: “Politics Before Country” (Part 1)

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“Churchill’s Con­sis­ten­cy,” first pub­lished in 2011, is updat­ed with mate­r­i­al from my book, Churchill and the Avoid­able War. It exon­er­ates, par­tial­ly, the state­ments and actions of Mr. Bald­win in the debate of rear­ma­ment in the 1930s.

“Politics before country”

A U.S. Con­gress­man, observ­ing America’s spend­ing prob­lem, pro­posed an elab­o­rate plan to fix it. In the process he didn’t wilt under the assault direct­ed toward any­one who defies the sta­tus quo by propos­ing prac­ti­cal change. Intend­ing to defend his ideas in a speech, his pri­vate office asked me to ver­i­fy what Churchill said on con­sis­ten­cy among politi­cians.…

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Burke
“A Literary Party at Sir Joshua Reynolds'” by D. George Thompson (1822-1892). L-R: James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Pasqual Paoli, Charles Burney, Thomas Warton and Oliver Goldsmith. Collin Brooks said Churchill would have been welcomed in the company of Burke and Johnson, although the dining society they had founded (“The Club”) blackballed him in 1911. Churchill and fellow reject F.E. Smith then formed “The Other Club,” which still meets at the Savoy. “The Club” also continues, meeting at Brooks’s. (Wikimedia Commons)
Churchill and Burke: “Spontaneous Humour, Unparaded Erudition”

Churchill and Burke: “Spontaneous Humour, Unparaded Erudition”

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1. Roberts on Burke

Reprised below are my small con­tri­bu­tions on Churchill and the great Irish states­man and thinker Edmund Burke (1729-1797). It was eclipsed in 2019 in a bril­liant speech by Andrew Roberts which the Hills­dale Col­lege Churchill Project offers here. Dr. Roberts spoke after receiv­ing The New Cri­te­ri­on 7th Edmund Burke Award for Ser­vice to Cul­ture and Soci­ety. He also dis­cuss­es Churchill on Burke in a video inter­view with James Panero.

2. Churchill on Burke

A read­er writes:

I’d like to con­grat­u­late you on Churchill by Him­self, but I could not find any Churchill com­ments on Edmund Burke in the index.…

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Winston Churchill, Myth and Reality

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