Category: FAQs

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

"'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?

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

"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

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

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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law giver
Italo Balbo, Benito Mussolini, Cesare Maria de Vecchi and Michele Bianchi reviewing 40,000 Fascisti in Naples, 24 October 1922. (Illustrazione Italiana, 1922, public domain)
“Greatest Law Giver”: The Truth behind Churchill’s Mussolini Bouquets

“Greatest Law Giver”: The Truth behind Churchill’s Mussolini Bouquets

It has been observed that politicians often say nice things about foreign leaders when they owe them lots of money. As Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1927, Churchill negotiated Italy’s payment of her war debt to Britain, which Mussolini was still honoring in 1933. But this is too flippant, and there is more to the question. 

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Press
Meeting the press with President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Mackenzie King, Second Quebec Conference, Sepember 1944. (National Archives, public domain)
Winston Churchill and the Art of the Press Conference

Winston Churchill and the Art of the Press Conference

Question on press conferences

I am  com­plet­ing an Eng­lish assign­ment which looks at the speech­es of Win­ston Churchill and would like to read press con­fer­ences or inter­views Churchill gave dur­ing the Sec­ond World War. So far, I have been able to find only speech­es. Please could you advise me whether any such inter­views are in exis­tence? —E.L.

Washington, 1941

Churchill rarely gave interviews—only two that I know of as a young man, and those reluc­tant­ly. Speech­es (live) were his pref­er­ence. How­ev­er, on his 1941 vis­it to Wash­ing­ton, Franklin Roo­sevelt ush­ered him into his first press con­fer­ence.…

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flaws
Lustige Blätter, Ber;om, May 1940, published as WSC became Prime Minister. The Cancel Culture would really like these old Nazi cartoons.
Fatal Flaws: Winston Churchill wasn’t Perfect. Surprise!

Fatal Flaws: Winston Churchill wasn’t Perfect. Surprise!

The urge to proclaim one's virtue by inventing straw men is insidious, and creeps into many unexpected places. Churchill's true flaws are open to learned critique. But there's a difference between presenting "a broad range of views" and inventing myths. And when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

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today
The State Funeral on the flickering TV screens of 30 January 1965: the day I “woke” to Winston Churchill. Public sentiment today is scarcely changed. Photo by Jack de Nijs / Anefo, Dutch National Archives, public domain
Churchill’s Legacy Today: Undented in the Digital Age

Churchill’s Legacy Today: Undented in the Digital Age

“This truth is incon­tro­vert­ible. Pan­ic may resent it, igno­rance may deride it, mal­ice may dis­tort it, but there it is.” —Win­ston S. Churchill, House of Com­mons, 17 May 1916

Q: His legacy today?

Peter Bak­er of The New York Times recent­ly reviewed a new book which deliv­ers some sharp arrows toward Win­ston Churchill and his lega­cy. Bak­er writes that the text labels Churchill  “not just a racist but a hyp­ocrite, a dis­sem­bler, a nar­cis­sist, an oppor­tunist, an impe­ri­al­ist, a drunk, a strate­gic bun­gler, a tax dodger, a neglect­ful father, a cred­it-hog­ging author, a ter­ri­ble judge of char­ac­ter and, most of all, a mas­ter­ful myth-mak­er.”…

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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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