“Among his many qualities over fifty years of political prominence was CHURCHILL’S CONSISTENCY. He might not agree with every position, biographer Martin Gilbert wrote: ‘But there would be nothing to cause me to think: How shocking, how appalling.’” —RML
Novelist and Statesman: The Two Winston Churchills
The two Churchills became aware of each other in 1900 when books by the English author began to appear alongside those of the already-well-established American. Indeed, so prominent was the American novelist at the time that English Winston wrote him a polite letter promising to use his middle name "Spencer" to distinguish himself from the far better-known American. The novelist replied that if he had a middle name he would have been pleased to return the compliment.
Mr. Emrys Hughes: “Owing to the popularity the Government has gained by the reduction of their salaries, is not the Prime Minister prepared to apply the principle to the big item of more than £500,000 spent on the Civil List?” Mr. Churchill replied “Dim o gwbl," meaning "At any time." Which was a nice Welsh way of saying "I'm really not going to tell you anything."
In 1927, Winston Churchill wrote to his wife Clementine, “I am becoming a film fan.” He had projection equipment installed at Chequers, the country home of British prime ministers, in 1943, and at his family home Chartwell in 1946. “Churchill and the Movies” is the fourth and final event of the Center for Constructive Alternatives in the 2018-19 academic year. We will view and discuss two films widely regarded as Churchill’s favorites, and two Churchill biographic movies in their historical context.
Hillsdale College has announced acquisition of an important part of the Ronald Cohen collection of the writings of Sir Winston Churchill. It numbers almost 2000 individual items. They comprise six categories: forewords, prefaces, and introductions by Churchill; periodical articles; works and periodicals containing Churchill speeches; letters, memoranda, statements and letters to the editor. Some 15% of these writings have not seen print since their original, limited editions, and therefore comprise a “submerged canon,” because they open a fresh field of Churchill scholarship.
Hillsdale College also has a temporary, exclusive purchase option for the balance of the collection, books written by Winston Churchill.…
Hillsdale College has acquired the world’s most comprehensive collection of Churchill recordings. Many are very rare because they reach back over a century.
The collection was generously donated by collector and bibliographer Ronald I. Cohen of Ottawa, Ontario. Among the 300 recordings are 100 speeches and 24 readings from Churchill’s war memoirs.
Hillsdale College has a long-standing commitment to leadership studies through The Churchill Project. We encourage scholarship in, and completion of, the remaining volumes of The Churchill Documents, a series in Churchill’s official biography. The final volume 23 arrives in 2019, and so completes a 31-volume epic Randolph Churchill began in 1962.…
…is the only Churchill quotations book with each entry referenced with a date and source. There’s even an appendix on incorrect quotations (called “Red Herrings”), stating why they are not Churchill’s. By Himself is also the only Churchill quote book that has undergone repeated reviews to produce a text as close to Churchill’s original words as possible. Fortunately, it’s been continuously in print for over ten years, making constant revision possible.
Just before the first publication in 2008, we found that a transcriber had made many errors in copying out quotations.…
Tonypandy, Wales is in the news again with fuzzy purveyors of history. On 13 February the Guardian headlined, “Winston Churchill was a villain, says John McDonnell.” (Mr. Donnell is Labour’s shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons.)
“Villain — Tonypandy”
Mr. McDonnell’s swipe at Churchill was brief. Asked if he saw Churchill as a hero or villain, he replied: “Villain—Tonypandy.” The Guardian completed the drive-by assassination, not only by headlining the remark, but with an inaccurate rehash of the Tonypandy riots in 1910.
Sir Winston’s grandson, Sir Nicholas Soames, focused on McDonnell, calling him a “Poundland Lenin.”…
On 11-13 May 1948, Winston Churchill was in Norway to accept an honorary degree from Oslo University. He gave five speeches—University, City Hall, Storting (Norwegian Parliament) and two dinners. All five can be found in Churchill’s speech volume Europe Unite, or Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches 1897-1963. They offer six gems of Churchillian wisdom. I plan to add them to the upcoming new edition of Churchill by Himself, my book of quotations.
Oslo Variations
A reader reminds us of these obscure orations by sending one: Churchill’s dinner speech on May 12th. His source is Churchill’s Visit to Norway (Oslo: Cappelens, 1949).…
Manchester in the 1980s brought more people to Churchill than anyone then. Accomplished scholars, who took great issue with his conclusions, were often careful to credit him with that. Gilbert's work "rises with the tempo of accumulating disasters and Churchill’s presence, too, rises above the panic, like a great granite cliff."
Your book Churchill By Himself is a treasure to which I frequently refer. I am a retired professor who recently lost his wife. I am preparing a memorial to her and found Churchill’s words as quoted in Andrew Roberts’ recent biography to be perfect. The sense of his words is that his wife Clementine was was a frequent, strong and fair critic of his writings, always helpful. I know that is not much to go on but I would appreciate corroborating information. —M.S., via email
A: “Here firm, though all be drifting”
I will have to ponder your question, because his remarks about Lady Churchill are mainly tributes to her as wife, friend and advisor, not literary critic–although of course she was that too.…
