A specially curated selection of Churchills key correspondence, designed to take you behind the scenes of great events, and inviting you to walk in Churchills footsteps. Here are some of the best of Churchill's letters, many of a more personal nature, written to a wide range of people, including his schoolmaster, his American grandmother and former President Eisenhower.
Letters for the Ages concentrates on the more intimate words of Winston Churchill, seeking to show the private man behind the public figure and shine fresh light on Churchill's character and personality by capturing the drama, immediacy, storms, depressions, passions and challenges of his extraordinary career. These letters take us into his world and allow us to follow the changes in his motivations and beliefs as he navigates his 90 years. There are intimate letters to his parents, his teacher at Harrow, his wife Clementine, Prime Minister Asquith, Anthony Eden, President Roosevelt, Eamon De Valera and Charles De Gaulle.
The letters are presented in chronological order, with a preface to each explaining the context, and they are accompanied throughout by facsimiles of said letters and photographs, offering the reader a sense of Churchill in his most private moments.
Recenzijas
...a valuable contribution to ever-popular Churchill history... [ provides] an unvarnished view of Churchill through personal correspondence between the man and family, friends, and contemporaries. * Booklist * An edifying peek at what Winny wrote behind the scenesA treasure trove of Churchills correspondence. * Washington Independent Review of Books * A must have for the serious Churchill aficionado and anyone interested in gaining a fuller understanding of the great man. * The Churchillian * An introduction to the private and personal Churchill that often gets lost in the larger works of history and biography. * New York Journal of Books * [ contains some of the] best letters from Churchill to family, friends and fellow politicians. * Seattle Book Review *
Papildus informācija
A specially curated selection of Churchills key correspondence, designed to take you behind the scenes of great events, and inviting you to walk in Churchills footsteps.
Acknowledgements
Editorial Conventions
Preface by Lord (Michael) Dobbs
INTRODUCTION: THE CHURCHILL LETTERS by Allen Packwood
CHAPTER ONE: THE EARLY YEARS (188394)
I hope you will come and see me soon
1: from Winston to his mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, 17 June 1883
My dear Oom
2: from Winston to Mrs Everest, October 1884
You must be happy without me
3: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 21 January 1885
I know that you are very busy indeed
4: from Winston to his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, 5 April 1885
I feel as if I could cry at every thing
5: from Winston to Mrs Everest, 1886
I can think of nothing else but the Jubilee
6: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 11 June 1887
7: from the same, 12 June 1887
It is that thoughtlessness of yours which is your greatest enemy
8: from Lady Randolph to her son, Winston, 12 June 1890
9: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 19 June 1890
Capital girl good old hero splendid villain
10: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 19 September 1890
I will venture to further ventilate my grievances
11: from Winston writing as De Profundis to the editor of The Harrovian,
November 1891
A mere social wastrel
12: from Lady Randolph to Winston, 7 August 1893
13: from Lord Randolph to Winston, 9 August 1893
14: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 17 September 1893
Papa wrote me a long letter about the watch and seems to be very cross
15: from Lord Randolph to Winston, 21 April 1894
16: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 24 April 1894
I had never realised how ill Papa had been
17: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 2 November 1894
CHAPTER TWO: THOUGHTS AND ADVENTURES (189599)
It is a fine game to play the game of politics
1: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 16 August 1895
What an extraordinary people the Americans are
2: from Winston to his brother, Jack Churchill, 15 November 1895
Burn this Jack without showing to anyone
3: from Winston to the Reverend James Welldon, Headteacher at Harrow, 16
December 1896 (draft)
To beat my sword into a paper cutter
4: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 23 December 1896
You cannot but feel ashamed of yourself
5: from Lady Randolph to Winston, 26 February 1897
I am a Liberal in all but name
6: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 6 April 1897
I have faith in my star
7: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 5 September 1897
8: from the same, 19 September 1897
It is not so much a question of brains as of character & originality
9: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 26 January 1898
10: from the same, 15 July 1898
We both know what is good and we both like to have it
11: from Winston to Lady Randolph, 28 January 1898
All this in 120 seconds
12: from Winston to Colonel Sir Ian Hamilton, 16 September 1898
I do not consider that your Government was justified in holding me
13: from Winston to Louis de Souza, 11 December 1899
CHAPTER THREE: PUTTING DOWN ROOTS (19001914)
My place is here
1: from Winston to Pamela Plowden, 28 January 1900 (James Drake Collection)
I do not feel I would be breaking up our home
2: from Lady Randolph to Winston, 26 May 1900
I hate the Tory party their men, their words, & their methods
3: from Winston to Hugh Cecil, 24 October 1903 (draft)
A frank & clear-eyed friendship
4: from Winston to Clementine Hozier, 16 April 1908
5: from the same, 27 April 1908
I do not love & will never love any woman in the world but you
6: from Winston to his wife Clementine, 10 November 1909
We are getting into v[ ery] g[ rea]t peril over Female Suffrage
7: from Winston to Alexander Murray, 18 December 1911
The strict observance of the great traditions of the sea towards women &
children reflects nothing but honour upon our civilization
8: from Winston to Clementine, 18 April 1912
I will not fly any more
9: from Winston to Clementine, 6 June 1914
CHAPTER FOUR: THE WORLD CRISIS (191418)
Everything trends towards catastrophe and collapse
1: from Winston to Clementine, 28 July 1914
2: from the same, 31 July 1914
The caterpillar system would enable trenches to be crossed quite easily
3: from Winston to Herbert Asquith, 5 January 1915
D-mn the Dardanelles! Theyll be our grave!
4: from Admiral Fisher to Winston, 5 April 1915
5: from Winston to Admiral Fisher, 8 April 1915
The Dardanelles has run on like a Greek tragedy
6: from Winston to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, 1 June 1915
I am a spirit confident of my rights
7: from Winston to Clementine, 17 July 1915
I have found happiness & content such as I have not known for many months
8: from Winston to Clementine, 23 November 1915
9: from the same, 25 November 1915
The cruel politics of today
10: from Winston to Clementine, 10 January 1916
11: from the same, 13 January 1916
The War is a terrible searcher of character
12: from Clementine to Winston, 16 March 1916
13: from the same, 24 March 1916
The party of the future might be formed
14: from Winston to Frederick (F. E.) Smith, 6 April 1916
15: from the same, 8 April 1916
Death seems as commonplace & as little alarming as the undertaker
16: from Winston to Clementine, 23 February 1918
CHAPTER FIVE: THE EMERGING STATESMAN (192139)
These last weeks have been cruel
1: from Winston to Lord Northcliffe, 1 July 1921
I cannot stir a yard to defend myself
2: from Winston to J. C. Robertson, President of the Dundee Liberal
Association, 27 October 1922
No more champagne is to be bought
3: from Winston to Clementine, late summer 1926
A general strike is a challenge to the State, to the Constitution and to the
nation
4: from Winston to Sir James Hawkey, 16 November 1926
Most of our lives are over now
5: from Winston to Hugo Baring, 8 February 1931
Germany is now the greatest armed power in Europe
6: from Winston to Clementine, 13 April 1935
Luckily I have plenty of things to do to keep me from chewing the cud too
much
7: from Winston to Clementine, 30 December 1935
'How melancholy that we have this helpless Baldwin and his valets in absolute
possession of all power!'
8: from Winston to Clementine, 1517 January 1936
A dozen bottles of sunshine
9: from Winston to Lord Horne of Slamannan, 27 January 1936
This Spanish business cuts across my thoughts
10: from Winston to Anthony Eden, 7 August 1936
The combination of public and private stresses is the hardest of all to
endure
11: from Winston to Stanley Baldwin, 5 December 1936
I thought y[ ou]r remark singularly unkind, offensive, & untrue
12: from Winston to his son, Randolph Churchill, 14 February 1938
I am in no way responsible for what has happened
13: from Winston to Henry Page Croft, October or November 1938 (draft)
Cant we get at it?
14: from Winston to Neville Chamberlain, 30 August 1939 (draft)
15: from Winston to Sir Samuel Hoare, 8 October 1939
16: from Winston, to Lord Halifax, 1 November 1939
CHAPTER SIX: THE FINEST HOUR (194045)
I am under no illusions about what lies ahead
1: from Winston to Neville Chamberlain, 10 May 1940
This honour was deserved by your successful execution of a most difficult
task
2: from Winston to Vice-Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, 17 June 1940
There is a danger of your being generally disliked
3: from Clementine to Winston, 27 June 1940
Never surrendering or scuttling her Fleet
4: from Winston to President Roosevelt, 31 August 1940
Its a grand life, if we dont weaken
5: from Winston to Neville Chamberlain, 20 October 1940
Sail on, O Ship of State
6: from President Roosevelt to Winston: 20 January 1941
Now or never. A nation once again
7: from Winston to Éamon de Valera, 8 December 1941
Burn this letter when you have read it
8: from Winston to President Roosevelt, 25 February 1942
I do not want the lion at the moment
9: from Winston to the Duke of Devonshire, 13 February 1943
A man who has to play an effective part in taking, with the highest
responsibility, grave and terrible decisions of war may need the refreshment
of adventure
10: from King George VI to Winston, 2 June 1944
11: from Winston to King George VI, 3 June 1944
Ever since 1907, I have in good times and bad times, been a sincere friend
of France
12: from Winston to General Charles de Gaulle, 16 June 1944
Thus two-thirds of our forces are being mis-employed for American
convenience, and the other third is under American Command
13: from Winston to Clementine, 17 August 1944
No more let us falter! From Malta to Yalta! Let nobody alter!
14: telegram from Winston to President Roosevelt, 1 January 1945
You may be sure I shall always endeavour to profit by your counsels
15: from Clement Attlee to Winston, 19 January 1945
16: from Winston to Attlee, 20 January 1945 (draft)
17: from Winston to Attlee, 22 January 1945
CHAPTER SEVEN: AFTERMATH AND LEGACY (194564)
Here is the rock of safety
1: from Winston to Ernest Bevin, 13 November 1945
It will be a great shock to the British nation to find themselves, all of a
sudden, stripped of their Empire
2: from Winston to Clement Attlee, 1 May 1946 (draft)
I revived the ancient and glorious conception of a United Europe
3: from Winston to Léon Blum, 7 April 1948
Intervention by a great state in the internal affairs of a small one is
always questionable
4: from Winston to President Truman, 29 June 1949
5: from President Truman to Winston, 2 July 1949
For whoever wins there will be nothing but bitterness and strife
6: from Winston to Clementine, 19 January 1950
I am writing to ask if you could consider giving me your kind services so
that I may have some puppies by you
7: from Rufus of Chartwell to Jennifer of Post Green, March 1955
To resign is not to retire
8: from Winston to President Eisenhower, April 1955 (draft)
It will be an act of folly, on which our whole civilisation may founder
9: from Winston to President Eisenhower, 22 November 1956 (draft)
Even a joke my in poor taste can be enjoyed
10: from Francis Crick to Winston, 12 October 1961
I shall persevere
11: from Winston to Clementine, 18 June 1963
I owe you what every Englishman, woman & child does liberty itself
12: from Mary Soames to her father, Winston, 8 June 1964
About the Editors
Index
Sir Winston S. Churchill (1874-1965) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on two occasions, from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Celebrated as one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, he was also a gifted orator, statesman and historian. The author of more than 40 books, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 and in 1963 was made an honorary citizen of the United States.
Allen Packwood is a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge and the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre. He has co-curated exhibitions at the Library of Congress and the Morgan Library and has written extensively on the life of Winston Churchill.
James Drake is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Founder at Of Lost Time, an innovative literary unit which uncovers the hidden stories of the past through the power of personal correspondence. When James is not trawling through historical letters, he is seeking to improve the health and welfare of people impacted by head injuries through his Drake Foundation, and supporting the next generation of exceptional musicians through his Drake Calleja Trust.
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