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.
Volume 2 of this two-volume biography of Lord Randolph Churchill details the middle and twilight years of Lord Randolph’s meteoric career, during which he served as Leader of the House of Commons and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Sir Winston Churchill would become known for his sweeping biographies of historical figures, including his ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough. His first biography, however, was that of his own father. An ambitious work written with the partial agenda of raising the stain of scandal from his father’s reputation, it is nonetheless even-handed and honest about his fathers tactical mistakes.
It’s a fascinating work not only for the historical perspective it provides on the life of an accomplished politician, but also for the insight into Churchill’s opinion of and relationship with his father.
Volume 3 of Winston Churchill's four-volume sweeping historical account begins with Marlborough's victorious 1704 campaign at Blenheim in support of William of Orange-and ends with Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Here, Churchill tells the story of how Britain rose to world leadership during the Age of Revolution in the eighteenth century.Churchill brings his considerable literary talents to bear in recounting events such as the plunging of the South Seas company stock, the Spanish and Austrian Successions, the Treaty of Utrecht, the Seven Years War, and the American and French revolutions with vivid narrative skill. This volume provides a fascinating overview of an extremely volatile period-a must-read for students of British and world history.
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.
