around & about - Winston Churchill

1992, 494 pages, Zoller A539. A standard work on
Churchill’s domestic policies, elections and politics, covering
everything from entry into Parliament in 1901 to his
last term as Prime Minister, which ended in 1955. The
author is evenhanded, and has documented his work with a
plethora of sources. Farrow Award 1997.
Addison, Paul. Churchill: The
Unexpected Hero, 2004, 308 pages. Full
of arresting insights, this outstanding
expansion of the author’s Churchill entry
in the Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography is “a treat instead of a treatment.”
John Ramsden accurately says it is
“now by a long way the most recommendable
short life of WSC. It seems
quite amazingly fresh to me.”
Alkon, Paul. Winston Churchill’s Imagination, 2006, 268
pages. A collection of incisive essays on little-covered
aspects: Churchill and the movies, his friendship with T.E.
Lawrence, his painting with words, his interest in counterfactual
history and science fiction. Here is close textual
analysis of Churchill’s writings, and parallels with major literary
works. Manfred Weidhorn writes: “The writer is
focused, the style is crystal clear, the analysis is subtle, and
the results are consistently enjoyable and enlightening.”
Ashley, Maurice. Churchill as Historian, 1968, 246 pages,
Zoller A321. The main work until David Reynolds’ (page
26) which relates how Churchill wrote history, by his literary
assistant on Marlborough. Endpapers are color
reproductions of edited manuscript pages. A careful evaluation
of Churchill’s conclusions on key issues in the light of
the findings of professional historians. Reves Award 1989.
Best, Geoffrey. Churchill: A Study in
Greatness, 2001, 370 pages, Zoller A646.
Scarcely longer than Addison’s, easily the
best brief defense of Churchill against
revisionists and naysayers, but not at all
hagiographic. Books On Line: “encouraging
his readers to come to their own
conclusions, Best subtly guides us towards
his own mature and overwhelmingly pro-
Churchill ones.” Reves Award 2002.
Birkenhead, The Earl of. Churchill 1874-1922, 1989, 552
pages, Zoller A499a. Based largely on the papers of
Churchill’s friend F.E. Smith, Lord Birkenhead, it was
written by his son, who died before taking the story
beyond 1922. While the early chapters are largely boilerplate,
the book begins to “sing” circa 1910, when Churchill
met F.E. Smith and personal reminiscences begin. From
here, this eloquent biographer soars to a dazzling crescendo,
finishing with a coda on Chartwell in the Wilderness Years
which is alone worth the price of the book. A later, pri-
FINEST HoUR 140 / 23
vately published volume carried the story forward.
Buczacki, Stefan. Churchill & Chartwell: The Untold Story
of Churchill’s Houses and Gardens, 2007, 324 pages. With
readable prose and a plethora of illustrations, Buczacki discusses
Churchill’s three-dozen domiciles (Chartwell is only
half the book), offering new research from heretofore
unknown archives, such as that of Chartwell’s architect,
Philip Tilden. A thoroughly indispensable and overdue
standard work, as important for the Churchill library as
memoirs of close associates.
Charmley, John. Churchill: The End of
Glory: A Political Biography, 1993, 742
pages, Zoller A551. Many (including
Finest Hour) took issue with Charmley’s
argument that Churchill should have
backed off fighting Germany in 1940 in
order to preserve Britain’s wealth, independence
and empire. But we agree with
Paul Addison: “an otherwise perceptive
political life grounded in a coherent critique
of Churchill’s flaws, and a far from ungenerous
appreciation of his abilities.” Equally pointed is the author’s
Churchill’s Grand Alliance, 1995.
Churchill, Winston S., ed. “Never Give In!” The Best of
Winston Churchill’s Speeches, 2003, 288 pages. This is the
best single-volume collection of speeches you can buy,
including such gems as Churchill’s speech in Durban after
escaping from the Boers in 1899, his Great War victory
speech, addresses on Jewish and Arab relations, all the great
WW2 perorations, his tribute to Lloyd George, Fulton, the
Hague, Zurich, France—200 of the best.
Cohen, Ronald I. Bibliography of the Writings of Sir
Winston Churchill, 2006, 3 vols., 2184 pages. Over
twenty years in the making, this is the last word in bibliographic
research, totally eclipsing and replacing the 1963
Woods bibliography and the source not only for details of
every edition and variation of Churchill’s books, articles
and contributions, but for details on how each work was
put together, from publisher’s contracts to proofs. The
research is prodigious, the scholarship impeccable.
Colville, John. The Fringes of Power:
Downing Street Diaries 1940-1955,
1986, Zoller A469. One of the most
important primary sources, this is the
most significant of several memoirs by
Churchill’s colleagues. Colville was
WSC’s best-known private secretary
(1939-44, 1951-55). Jock Colville came
to Churchill sharing prevailing doubt
over the “half-breed American”; as the
diaries progress his doubts change
rapidly to admiration. The biographic sketches in the back
are pungent, and not quite what you’ll read in Who’s Who.