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 1903, Winston Churchill was at the cusp of a brilliant political career--a newly elected Parliament member with a brash, aggressive style of oration and passionate political convictions. During this time, John Brodrick, the Secretary of State for War, proposed an expansion of Britain's peacetime military--a plan which Churchill strongly opposed.
Churchill attacked Brodrick's plan in six fiery speeches on the subject--speeches that generated strong support and left Brodrick politically isolated. Mr. Brodrick's Army is a compilation of all six of these speeches. With fewer than 20 first editions currently in existence, it is the rarest of Churchill's works--remarkable not only for its historical significance, but for its early display of the oratorical brilliance for which Churchill would become known.
This collection of speeches cover the period from 1951 to 1952, when Churchill once again stepped into the role of Prime Minister after his defeat in the General Election of 1945. During his first premiership, Churchill had been a renowned wartime leader. In his second, Churchill’s clear priority was the preservation of peace.
These speeches demonstrate a commitment to this path. Churchill tried heroically to negotiate a settlement with Russia during this time, but he was ultimately unable to prevent the conditions that would later give rise to the Cold War. He also held deep regrets over Britain’s failure to prevent violence and death in India during the transition of power and Britain’s withdrawal in the region. These speeches demonstrate perhaps a more introspective Churchill, but one as fiery, brilliant, and human as he was during his wartime years.
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.
