Category: Winston S. Churchill

Bristol
After receiving an honorary degree and addressing “Anglo-American Unity,” Harvard, 6 October 1943. At left are Harvard President James B. Conant and WSC’s ubiquitous bodyguard, Detective Inspector Walter Thompson. (Capt. Horton, War Office, public domain)
“The Most Important Thing about Education” —Churchill at Bristol

“The Most Important Thing about Education” —Churchill at Bristol

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"Education does not begin with the university, and it certainly ought not to end there. I have seen a lot of people who got cleverer until about 21 or 22 years of age, then seemed to shut down altogether.... Take full advantage of these years...but do not spend too much time in buckling on your armour in the tent. The battle is going on in every walk and sphere of life." —WSC, Bristol, 1929

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champagne
Dinner marking WSC’s 69th birthday, with Roosevelt and Stalin, Teheran, 30 November 1943. (Crown Copyright expired, public domain)
“Churchill Drank 42,000 Bottles of Champagne”?

“Churchill Drank 42,000 Bottles of Champagne”?

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WSC: "Prof! Pray calculate the total quantity of champagne, wine and spirits I have consumed thus far in my life and tell us how much of this room it would fill." Professor Lindemann (pretending a slide rule calculation): "I'm sorry, Winston, it would only reach our ankles." WSC: "How much to do—how little time remains."

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European Court
“A high and a solemn responsibility rests upon us here this afternoon in this Congress of a Europe striving to be reborn.” In one of his classic speeches, Churchill addressed the Congress of Europe at The Hague, 9 May 1948. (© Dutch National Archives, Creative Commons)
Q&A: Human Rights Tried by European Court

Q&A: Human Rights Tried by European Court

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"The European Assembly is now on the point of being achieved.... We have now to take the second step forward and try to establish, as the practical result of our meeting here, the setting up of a European Court of Human Rights." —WSC, Brussels, 1949

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George Washington
Mount Vernon, 1 January 1942: President Roosevelt accompanied Winston Churchill for a wreath-laying at the tomb of George Washington. (MountVernon.org)
Reflections on the Birthday of George Washington

Reflections on the Birthday of George Washington

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"George Washington holds one of the proudest titles that history can bestow. He was the Father of his Nation. Almost alone his staunchness in the War of Independence held the American colonies to their united purpose. His services after victory had been won were no less great. His firmness and example while first President restrained the violence of faction and postponed a national schism for 60 years." —WSC

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Buchanan
Detail from the cover.
Pat Buchanan and the Art of the Selective Quote

Pat Buchanan and the Art of the Selective Quote

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No animus toward Pat. I admired him and even voted for him in a NH Primary. I helped him with a couple of items during his research (while lampooning his beliefs in friendly banter). “I like a man who grins when he fights,” as Churchill said. But a problem with his book is the rampant use of selective quotes. Partial quotations edited to distort reality, or to fit a predetermined conclusion are out of bounds.

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Dresden
Dresden after the air attacks of February 1945. (Bundesarachiv)
Nashville (6): The Myth of Dresden and “Revenge Firebombing”

Nashville (6): The Myth of Dresden and “Revenge Firebombing”

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The Martin Gilbert Learning Centre offers a free Zoom presentation by Lady Gilbert herself, on the 1945 bombing of Dresden. The date is Monday 13 February 2023 at 2pm Eastern, 11 am Pacific, 7pm Greenwich Mean Time. Email Deputy Director Dr. Bethany Gaunt to be put on the Zoom invitation list. Lady Gilbert will include Sir Martin's story about how a Soviet general corroborated the truth about who ordered the bombing—in Moscow!

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bananas
“Bananas are on the tender.” How English gentlemen toured East Africa in 1907. Churchill is on the right. (Photo by A. Wilson, public domain)
ChatGPT on Churchill Quotes: Yes, We Have No Bananas

ChatGPT on Churchill Quotes: Yes, We Have No Bananas

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They may have slipped on a 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: They are just getting started. As Churchill was wont to say on occasion: "Let not the slothful chortle."

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Douglas
HMS Southampton at Jutland, 30 May 1916, by William Lionel Wylie (1851-1931). German salvos (shown too close together) are falling short of the cruiser (also not accurately portrayed). The sketch was a highly effective portrait of an inconclusive battle. (Imperial War Museum, public domain)
Q&A: Churchill Libeled by Lord Alfred Douglas

Q&A: Churchill Libeled by Lord Alfred Douglas

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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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Ripka
The dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, 1938-39. (1) Germany absorbs Sudetenland, October 1938. (2) Poland annexes Zaolzie, October 1938. (3/4) Hungary annexes Southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia, November 1938. (5) Germany invades remaining territory, establishes Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, March 1939. (6) A pro-Hitler government declares the Slovak Republic, March 1939. (Map by Jaro p., Creative Commons)
Churchill, Ripka, Appeasement and the Czech Debacle

Churchill, Ripka, Appeasement and the Czech Debacle

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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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named
Lord Randolph Churchill married Jennie Jerome on 15 April 1874 at the British Embassy, Paris. (Photo by Georges Penabert, public domain)
Why was Churchill Named Winston?

Why was Churchill Named Winston?

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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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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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