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.
This is the second volume in a four-volume biography of Winston Churchill’s ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough. After the defeat of the Conservative government in the 1929 general election, Winston Churchill distanced himself from the official Conservative leadership over a myriad of issues, including Indian Home Rule and protective tariffs. During this time, Churchill entered a period of political exile—a time he referred to as "the wilderness years."While it may have been a low point in his political career, it was a high point for his writing. It was during this time that Churchill began his work on Marlborough: His Life and Times, widely considered to be one of Churchill’s most ambitious and masterful literary works. Although sometimes maligned and not as well known in contemporary times as his more famous descendant—Churchill himself—Marlborough was known in his day as a gifted military commander who never lost a battle. This second volume brings his military successes, political intrigues, and personal passions to life.
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.
In 1931, Britain's Conservative Party proposed the India Bill--a piece of proposed legislation that made significant changes to the way India governed itself under British rule. Winston Churchill, with a distinguished history of military service and war correspondence in India behind him, took a position on this bill independent of the party line--and fought for it with characteristic conviction and oratory brilliance.
This book contains seven speeches and three important addresses on the subject, printed originally to generate popular support for Churchill's opinion. It should be noted that Churchill's opposition to Indian home rule is one of his more controversial political positions. Despite the strength of his oration, his attempt failed--and the India Bill was approved by Parliament in 1935. Documenting a rare loss for Churchill, these speeches provide an important insight into his mind and strategy as a political leader.
