Month: January 2023

ChatGPT on Churchill Quotes: Yes, We Have No Bananas

ChatGPT on Churchill Quotes: Yes, We Have No Bananas

They may have slipped on this banana, but ChatGBT has only been at this for a few years. "Give them another five years and they'll probably have picked up every word Churchill wrote." So, before we lazily laugh at the tech boffins' failure accurately to pinpoint the Great Man's every word, we might stop to consider: this is just getting started. Or as Churchill was wont to say on occasion: "Let not the slothful chortle."

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Q&A: Churchill Libeled by Lord Alfred Douglas

Q&A: Churchill Libeled by Lord Alfred Douglas

Lord Alfred Douglas, friend of Oscar Wilde, was involved in several scandals, one of the more unfortunate being his accusation that Churcill manipulated press announcements about the Battle of Jutland in order to favor Jewish investors on the New York Stock Market.

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Churchill, Ripka, Appeasement and the Czech Debacle

Churchill, Ripka, Appeasement and the Czech Debacle

When Ripka said the Czechs would defend themselves, Churchill waxed emotional: “Tomáš.Masaryk was right,” he cried. “Death is better than slavery.” If war did come, he continued, mopping his eyes, this time they must wage it against the Boche so thoroughly that he wouldn’t recover for generations.... After a while he spoke of “Herr Beans,” as he pronounced the name of Czechoslovakia’s president, Edvard Beneš, Ripka continued: "Churchill called him one of the greatest men of our epoch, and praised the resolution of the Czechs to fight for freedom with such vehemence that he began to cry all over again."

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Why was Churchill Named Winston?

Why was Churchill Named Winston?

The pat answer is the first Sir Winston, but this is unlikely. Why would Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill name their son for a 17th century ancestor, and a fairly dubious one at that? No, it was someone more recent: his grandfather, John Winston, 7th Duke of Marlborough.

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How “Goeben” Changed History, by Dal Newfield

How “Goeben” Changed History, by Dal Newfield

An obscure "What-If" of history: Had Goeben not passed the Dardanelles, it was very possible Turkey would have remained neutral in WW1. Absent Turkey, the Allies lost their only supply route to Russia. This loss was so serious that in 1915 Churchill felt it imperative to assault the Dardanelles. The resulting debacle was the principal reason Churchill was ousted from the Admiralty. Because of Goeben, the Russian armies starved for food and materiel. The Czar fell and the Bolsheviks took over.

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Michael Dobbs Churchill Novels

Michael Dobbs Churchill Novels

Dobbs Churchill novels are of a special genre. Little stories, intertwined with the main plot, tell a story endlessly repeated in Britain, whose citizens knew better than anyone the sheer horror of the Second World War. This is fiction with a sense of place and and character. It does not strain historical credulity. Dobbs gives us an honest picture of Churchill without slapping him with perceived foibles. (Churchill's real foibles are plain enough.)

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Richard Langworth’s Most Popular Books & eBooks

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