Sir Winston S. Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values."
Over a 64-year span, Churchill published over 40 books, many multi-volume definitive accounts of historical events to which he was a witness and participant. All are beautifully written and as accessible and relevant today as when first published.
During his fifty-year political career, Churchill served twice as Prime Minister in addition to other prominent positions—including President of the Board of Trade, First Lord of the Admiralty, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Home Secretary. In the 1930s, Churchill was one of the first to recognize the danger of the rising Nazi power in Germany and to campaign for rearmament in Britain. His leadership and inspired broadcasts and speeches during World War II helped strengthen British resistance to Adolf Hitler—and played an important part in the Allies’ eventual triumph.
One of the most inspiring wartime leaders of modern history, Churchill was also an orator, a historian, a journalist, and an artist. All of these aspects of Churchill are fully represented in this collection of his works.
In this third volume of a six-volume series, Winston Churchill draws upon thousands of personal memoranda, war correspondence, and internal government memos to describe the full entry of the US into World War II--adding considerable strength to British military operations and morale. While America had contributed to the British war effort before, primarily through the "Lend-Lease" program providing material support to Britain and later to Russia, it was Churchill who finally persuaded an isolationist US Congress to fully join the cause. This account not only documents historical events with thrilling immediacy--it also gives intimate insight into Churchill's state of mind as a military leader. With the US on Britain's side, Churchill's certainty of success stayed with him throughout the war--and made him the indomitable leader history remembers.
Winston Churchill’s political career did not end with the conclusion of World War II. While his career would never reach the heights it did during the war, he held on to political influence for some time. And from 1945 to 1951, he was Leader of the Opposition—the minority party in the English government.
While some saw this new position as an unfortunate demotion for a once great political leader, in truth, he embraced it with his characteristic panache—clearly shown in this collection of fifty-two of his speeches and broadcasts delivered during this time, when Churchill worked to preserve Britain’s influence in the world even as its Imperial history was coming to a close. While not as powerful as he once was, Churchill’s oratory still rings—and his wit still shines.
As a young, ambitious soldier, Winston Churchill managed to get himself posted to the 21st Lancers in 1899 as a war correspondent for the Morning Post--and joined them in fighting the rebel Boer settlers in South Africa. In this conflict, rebel forces in the Transvaal and Orange Free State had proclaimed their own statehood,calling it the Boer Republic.
This book is actually two separate works in one. Perhaps the most riveting personal account is found in London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, where Churchill is captured in Pretoria not long after he arrives to join the British forces--and is frustrated not by the conditions in the prison, but by the fact that he was missing the action. Churchill tells the story of how he escaped and made a daring overland crossing, traveling only at night to avoid detection. More a recounting of his own personal adventures and observations than a comprehensive history of the conflict, this book is nonetheless fascinating for both its historical and personal perspective.
