FH115 Final.qxd - Winston Churchill

WOODS CORNER
IN PRINT AND UPCOMING
After a brief lull, the cascade of new
books about Winston Churchill
has begun afresh. Here are titles we are
acquiring for the Churchill Center
Book Club. Our prices will be substantially
below prices mentioned here, and
lower than Amazon.com, of course!
• Cohen, Eliot: Supreme Command
(Free Press, 272 pp., $25), will be reviewed
in our autumn number. See also
Cohen’s brilliant “Churchill and His
Generals” in our Proceedings 1992-1993.
• Dobbs, Michael: Winston’s War: A
Novel (HarperCollins, 352 pp., £17,
November). Fans of the book and television
series “House of Cards,” with
fiendish Francis Urquhart, MP, will be
pleased to know that its author, ICS
(UK) member Michael Dobbs, is now
serving us a Churchill novel. Thus far,
Dobbs’s novels have been purely fictional,
if all too close to certain marks.
Now he focuses his detailed knowledge
of Parliamentary politics on real history.
The story begins in September 1938,
with Churchill nearly a decade out of
power, derided over India, ignored over
Hitler, and scorned for supporting Edward
VIII during the Abdication crisis.
Neville Chamberlain has returned from
Munich bearing Peace in Our Time.
Then Churchill receives a visitor at
Chartwell named Guy Burgess: the first
in a series of surprise developments that
propel Churchill into Number Ten and
change history. Churchill, who became
a hero, and Burgess, who became a traitor
by spying for the Soviets, are juxtaposed
in a fascinating novel.
• Larres, Klaus: Churchill’s Cold War:
The Politics of Personal Diplomacy (Yale
University Press), forthcoming.
• Lukacs, John: Churchill: Visionary.
Statesman. Historian (Yale University
Press, 200pp., $21.95). An appreciation
of Churchill as a statesman and seer of
the future, plus Lukacs’s account of attending
Churchill’s funeral in 1965.
• Ramsden, John: Man of the Century:
Winston Churchill Post-1945 (Harper-
Collins, 416 pp., £20, forthcoming in
October). A revelatory portrait examining
the development of Churchill’s
unique reputation and posthumous impact
on Anglo-American relations and
British history. Drawn on fresh material
and research in three continents, this
biographical study shows how his personality,
attitudes and vision of himself
shaped our own political perception of
nationhood. Historian and CC academic
adviser Ramsden argues that
Churchill’s romantic, imperial notion
of Britain contributed directly to contemporary
political culture, particularly
its attitude to Europe. He also illuminates
the national identity of Australia,
Canada, New Zealand and the USA,
and an analysis of the entire Churchill
phenomenon.
• Royal Historical Society Transactions
(Sixth Series, Vol. XI, Cambridge University
Press, 449 pp., £25). FH 111
published twelve abstracts from the
RHS 2001 conference. Complete transcripts
of eleven papers occupy 236
pages of this volume. Available to members
for £20/$30 from RHS, University
College, London, Gower Street, London,
WC1E 6BT; also to be offered by
the CC Book Club.
• Ruotsila, Markku: Churchill ja Suomi
1900-1955 (Otava). Reviewed on page
36. Ruotsila also wrote “Churchill and
Wilson” in Finest Hour 92).
• Valiunas, Algis: Churchill’s Military
Histories (Rowman and Littlefield).
Recommended by several of our academic
advisers. Valiunas’s fine appreciation
of The World Crisis, written years
ago for The American Spectator, means
this is worth waiting for.
• von Krockow, Christian Graf:
Churchill: Man of the Century (London
House, £16.99). A new English edition
of the original, reviewed in FH 102.
• Wrigley, Chris: Winston Churchill: A
Biographical Companion (ABC Clio
Press, $55). Already in print.
• Zoller, Curt: Annotated Bibliography of
Works Concerning Winston Spencer
Churchill (M.E. Sharpe in association
with The Churchill Center, $75). The
most comprehensive guide ever published,
with comments about the contents,
and a strong list of Churchill-related
titles. Due momentarily.
Family Portraits
• Churchill, Winston S.: The Best of
Winston Churchill’s Speeches, compiled
by his grandson, due out in 2003.
• Soames, Mary: Clementine Churchill,
new, revised and expanded edition, will
be published late this year.
Best Sellers
In answer to inquiries, here are the alltime
top sellers among books offered by the
Churchill Center Book Club (and privately)
Asterisk (*) denotes titles published
in association with The Churchill Center.
Churchill/Weidhorn, India 1237
*Langworth, Connoisseur’s Guide 648
*Gilbert, War Papers, Vol I 473
*Gilbert, War Papers, Vol II 428
Gilbert, Ofcl. Biography Vol VII 319
Gilbert, Ofcl. Biography Vol VIII 246
*Gilbert, War Papers, Vol III 245
Talbott, Churchill on Courage 236
*ICS, Churchill Bibliographic Data 190
*Churchill, Malakand Field Force 185
Churchill, The Great Republic 160
*Churchill, My Early Life 143
Gilbert, In Search of Churchill 121
Gilbert, Ofcl. Biography Vol VI 118
*Churchill, Savrola 112
Hayward, Churchill on Leadership 106
Montague Browne, Long Sunset 101
Stewart, Burying Caesar 96
Churchill, The Aftermath 92
Rasor, Churchill Historiography 88
Gilbert, Churchill & Emery Reves 80
Jenkins, Churchill: A Biography 80
Wilson, Churchill and The Prof 71
Barrett, Churchill Bibliography 70 ,
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Finest Hour’s book column is named for the
late Churchill bibliographer Fred Woods.
FINEST HOUR 115 / 42