“Laboring forty years in the vineyard of his words, I am struck most by CHURCHILL’S JUDGEMENT. And as William Manchester wrote, ‘while his early reactions were often emotional, and even unworthy of him, they were usually succeeded by reason and generosity.’” —RML
A friend sends James K. Galbraith‘s thoughtful article, “From the Destruction of Greece to Democracy in Europe” (Boston Globe, 22 August):
Last year’s third bailout of Greece, imposed by Europe and the International Monetary Fund, does to Greece what Versailles did to Germany. It strips assets to satisfy debts….a quagmire of graft to support an illusion that Greece could “compete” as part of the euro. Already in 2010 the IMF knew it was breaking its own rules by pretending that Greece could recover quickly, sustain a huge primary surplus, and repay its debts….…
The 2016 Hillsdale College cruise of southwest Alaska aboard Crystal Serenity (27 July-3 August) provided an impressive visit to a spectacular state. Accompanying the fine dining and entertainment was a crew which could not have done more. Crystal Cruises seems to own all the highest ratings in the business, and it’s easy to see why. There’s no separate bar bill, and they’ll deliver up to two bottles a day to your stateroom. No one could drink this much! Tips are included, nobody duns you for handouts, and you’re not presented with a list of “estimated gratuities” on your last day aboard.…
Having written about cars and Winston Churchill for fifty years, I finally produced a piece on them both. From exotica like Daimler, Napier and Rolls-Royce to more prosaic makes like Austin, Humber and Wolseley, the story was three decades in coming. I am satisfied that it is now complete.
Part 2, continued from Part 1: Excerpt only. For footnotes, all illustrations and a roster of Churchill’s cars, see The Automobile, (UK), August 2016. A pdf of the article is available upon request: click here.
Wolseley to Austin
In the early 1930s Churchill switched from Wolseley to Austin cars: small fours and big sixes.…
“You fool!” the policeman shouted. Then he “swore most richly for some seconds.” Churchill’s head hung. “He did have the civic sense to say he was sorry,” Thompson continued. “...the matchless voice of the man identified him at once to the constable.” ‘Sorry, Mr. Churchill,’ the policeman apologised. "Then the majesty of the constable’s office and the disgusting guilt of the violator brought forth, in gentle sarcasm, a caution that withered Churchill and kept him silent clear to the Channel. ‘Do try to stay in the road, sir.’”
In 1992, I told Celwyn of my Latvian forebears and wish to visit the Baltic. He said he knew the area well, volunteered to join me, and made arrangements for a tour. Generously he showed me places I never expected to see. I remember our strolling Bralu Kapi, Latvia’s Arlington, where heroes lie. There I heard Celwyn musing, from his own experience, about what they must have gone through. A veteran had told us of digging ditches in the flat country, against oncoming Russian tanks, in 1945 as the Red Army rolled west. They were Shermans sent through Lend-Lease, their white stars recently repainted red.…
The Churchill Society of British Columbia presents “An Evening with Churchill,” Tuesday 26 July 2016.
Location: Bar Three, The Vancouver Club, 915 Hastings Street West, Vancouver, B.C.
Time: Wine & cheese starts at 5:00 pm, Program from 5:50 – 7:00 pm.
Cost: $25 each for a member of the Society. $35 each for a non-member. $40 for a member accompanied by a spouse, partner or family member. (Includes one ticket per attendee for a glass of wine or beer, or two soft drinks. Additional drinks can be purchased from the bar.)
Dress: Business attire.
Please inform Administrator April Accola of your attendance by email or register online at our website.…
Brexit aftermath, June 2016: In voting to leave the European Union, Britain has opted to become another Norway. One of the most prosperous and contented countries in the world, Norway does fine with its own laws, currency, and trade agreements, including a good one with the EU. It is hardly a bad model.
Short-term troubles
The gnashing of teeth over the upset Brexit victory resounds around the world. For awhile, chaos will attend financial markets, and the pound will take a dip (boosting British exports).
The Scots voted against Brexit, though not in the numbers predicted.…
Ivan Maisky: “The greatest sin of modern statesman is vacillation and ambiguity of thought and action.”
Gabriel Gorodetsky, ed., The Maisky Diaries: Red Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 634 pages, $28.80, Kindle $19.99, audiobook $36.32.
A striking work of scholarship (actually an abridgement of a three-volume complete work coming in 2016), this book will inspire fresh scholarship on Churchill, Russia and World War II. Ivan Maisky was a penetrating observer of 1932-43 Britain, and Gabriel Gorodetsky connects every long gap in his diaries with informed accounts of what was happening.…
Johns Hopkins University Press releases this month the seventh and final volume of The Papers of George Catlett Marshall: “The Man of the Age,” October 1, 1949 – October 16, 1959. It was masterfully edited by Mark Stoler and Daniel Holt under the auspices of the Marshall Center. It joins its predecessors presenting the papers of one of the greatest generals and statesmen of his age (1880-1959). I quickly assigned it for review by the Hillsdale College Churchill Project, for its many references to Churchill in George Marshall’s final phase. This and the previous volume are indispensable for anyone wishing to understand the complicated international scene immediately after World War II.…
Something Mr. Trump said reminded me of a piece Winston Churchill wrote in 1947: The Dream. But he might not entirely relish the reminder. (And this is not, believe me, any attempt to compare Trump to Churchill.)
The Dream is a stylish short story about Churchill’s imaginary conversation with the ghost of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, who died in 1895. In a touching, rather sad conversation, the 73-year-old Winston relates to the 45-year-old Randolph all that has happened since 1895, without disclosing the roles he himself had played.
They discuss elections. Lord Randolph asks, “What is the franchise?”
