Category: FAQs

Reilly
The best-known Reilly, Sam Neill starred in the television series “Ace of Spies,” 1983. But some of its assertions are challenged by historians. (A&E Network, Wikimedia Commons)
Anti-Bolshevik Collaborators? Reilly, Ford, Savinkov, Churchill

Anti-Bolshevik Collaborators? Reilly, Ford, Savinkov, Churchill

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Reilly considered Churchill the only useful British politician in the anti-Bolshevik cause. Shortly before his death he told a friend: “Only one man is really important, and that is the irrepressible Marlborough [WSC]. I have always remained on good terms with him…. His ear would always be open to something sound.”

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Library
The Chartwell library today. On the far wall is a model of the Gold Beach Mulberry Harbor, conceived by Churchill to float up and down with the tide, facilitating the landing of tanks and heavy equipment for the 1944 invasion of France. (National Trust, Chartwell. For more interior photos see https://bit.ly/3Mpemp1)
What Happened to the Library at Chartwell?

What Happened to the Library at Chartwell?

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In 1992 Michael Wybrow and I spent a day in the Chartwell library. Security was less of a concern then, and the administrator, Jeane Broome, kindly let us examine books closely. We were able to survey all the shelves and even to open (very carefully!) the odd volume. We did not attempt an inventory, but did learn the fate of many volumes.

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Zionist
Jerusalem, 29 March 1921. Colonial Secretary Churchill (r) escorted by British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel. (National Photo Collection of Israel, Wikimedia Commons)
When Did Churchill Become a Zionist?

When Did Churchill Become a Zionist?

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"A Jewish State in Palestine is an event in world history to be viewed in the perspective, not of a generation or a century, but in the perspective of a thousand, two thousand or even three thousand years. [But] British postwar policies “led to the winding up of our affairs in Palestine in such a way as to earn almost in equal degree the hatred of the Arabs and the Jews.” 

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speeches
Levenger’s edition of “The Making of the Finest Hour” includes a CD recording, but it is not the contemporary speech. (Levenger Publications)
The Problem with Recorded Churchill Speeches

The Problem with Recorded Churchill Speeches

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Many who heard his original speeches said the subsequent broadcasts (and postwar recordings) lack the fire of the originals. Churchill did not particularly enjoy broadcasting, Harold Nicolson believed. Of his classic 18 June 1940 "Finest Hour" oration, Nicolson said: "He just sulked and read his House of Commons speech over again."

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watch
Wearing a wristwatch, WW2. Guesses on the location welcome. From the military’s attire, my guess is North Africa, 1944 or 1942.
On Time: Winston Churchill’s Pocket Watch and Wristwatch

On Time: Winston Churchill’s Pocket Watch and Wristwatch

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"'Prof, my father said to Lindemann, 'tell us in words of one syllable and in no longer than five minutes, what is the Quantum Theory.' My father then placed his large gold watch, known as 'The Turnip,' on the table. When you consider that Prof must have spent many years working on this subject, it was quite a tall order. However without any hesitation, like quicksilver, he explained the principle and held us all spell-bound. When he had finished we all spontaneously burst into applause." —Sarah Churchill

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socialist
“Awful Scene of Gloom and Dejection,” in “Punch,” 24 November 1909. The House of Lords had finally referred the Liberals’ welfare budget to the nation. L-R: War Secretary Richard Haldane, Home Secretary Churchill (“Don’t let my feet touch the ground!”), Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George, Prime Minister H.H. Asquith, India Secretary John Morley. They didn’t laugh long: the January election demolished their majority and forced Asquith into a coalition with the Irish Unionists. (Excerpt from a cartoon by Edward Tennyson Reed, public domain)
Was Churchill a Closet Socialist?

Was Churchill a Closet Socialist?

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Churchill was no socialist if by socialist we mean someone who favors government control of all means of production. He instead promoted what he called a  "Minimum Standard" to address the legitimate needs of the citizen without compromising constitutional liberties. That is a fine line to walk, but his aim was to forestall socialism, and thus to avoid its evils: the stifling of initiative, the concentration of power out of the hands of the people.

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alcohol
“Drunken Weltanschauung: Churchill tries to find luck in drink, but the bottle distorts the view.” (Der Stürmer, Nuremberg, 26 February 1942)
“Drunk and Ugly”: The Perennial Quotation-Chase

“Drunk and Ugly”: The Perennial Quotation-Chase

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"Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what’s more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly." Lady Soames, who said her father was always gallant to women, doubted the exchange, but bodyguard Ronald Golding was present and heard it. Golding explained that WSC was not drunk, just tired and wobbly, which caused him to fire the W.C. Fields riposte.

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Martin
Jock Colville’s farewell to join the RAF, Downing Street garden, September 1941. Front row L-R: Colville, Churchill, John Martin, Tony Bevir. Back row L-R: Leslie Rowan, John Peck, Miss Watson, Commander “Tommy” Thompson, Charles Barker. (Detail from the dust jacket of Michael Jackson, “A Scottish Life,” 1999.)
Martin on Churchill: No One Left Without Feeling a Braver Man

Martin on Churchill: No One Left Without Feeling a Braver Man

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In May 1940 Stanley Bruce argued for a peace settlement with Hitler. Churchill struck out this paragraph, and wrote in the margin: “No.” Next, Bruce wrote that “the further shedding of blood and the continuance of hideous suffering is unnecessary.” Churchill wrote: “Rot."

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criticism
Plenty of criticism went around among these…. Churchill with his Chiefs of Staff, Anfa Villa, Casablanca, 14 January 1943. L-R: Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, WSC, General Sir Alan Brooke and Lord Louis Mountbatten. (Imperial War Museum, public domain)
Winston Churchill’s Rule of Criticism after the Fact

Winston Churchill’s Rule of Criticism after the Fact

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Churchill claimed he never criticized a policy later that he had not publicly criticized when it was first raised. True, he was often on both sides of issues, and could pick his criticisms accordingly. But he in time he usually arrived at the right conclusions.

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RML Books

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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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