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.
Winston Churchill's reputation still looms large in the canon of twentieth-century history-as a war leader, orator, and pillar of strength for Britain in the years of struggle against Hitler. Churchill's inspiring wartime speeches gave the British hope and comfort during years of bombings, violence, sacrifice, and terror.This compilation, composed of speeches made from 1938 to the end of 1940, contains some of his best. Highlights include "This was Their Finest Hour;" "Never in the Field of Human Conflict Was So Much Owed, By So Many, to So Few;" and "I Have Nothing to Offer but Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat." Even many decades after the end of the war, Churchill's words still have the power to stir the blood-and inspire the heart.
After guiding his country with a sure and confident hand through the darkest times of World War II, Winston Churchill was defeated in the General Election of 1945—once again becoming Prime Minister in 1951. This collection features Churchill’s speeches, addresses, and other public communications in his period between terms, in which Churchill’s speaking engagements took him far and wide—including to Brussels, Strasbourg, Boston, Copenhagen, and New York.
Major events during this period of history include the beginning of the Korean War, the devaluation of the British Pound Sterling, the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the United States’ rearmament program. Through these turbulent times, Churchill preached unity among European nations and English-speaking peoples worldwide.
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.
