Churchill
"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
One of Britain's greatest advocates; Churchill was born into an aristocratic family in 1874 and quickly started to path the way to his future career. At the age of just 14 he joined the Harrow Rifle Corps and from there joined the Royal British Military College. After graduating he started his career in the British Army. Whilst his initial serving time was only brief it was not something he would stay away from for long, connections being maintained in his working as a war correspondent for a daily newspaper.
It was this that first saw Churchill hit the headlines, kidnapped whilst reporting on the Boer war his dramatic escape showed the first signs of his strength of character, determination and resolve. In 1900 he joined as member of Parliament for the Conservative party but soon left since he didn't feel they were doing enough towards social justice, and switched to the liberal party. He was appointed President of the Board of Trade and introduced several reforms such as the Peoples Budget and the introduction of minimum wage. Even throughout this period he still maintained his military connections and played a large part in helping to modernize the Royal Navy. He also strongly backed the Royal Air Force, acting as one of its biggest promoters. Later resigning his post as president he was appointed minister of munitions during the final year of the first World War and then Minister of War and Air and Colonial Secretary, starting to progress in manner of importance to the military.
However for a brief spell this became a sideline, as he rejoined the Conservative Party and became Chancellor of the Exchequer. Unfortunately it was short-lived since the Conservative party was knocked out of government in 1929. It was in this lapse before the Second World War that he started to focus on his writing and completed 'History of English Speaking Peoples' - a four volume set on the history of Britain.
Then crunch time came in the form of World War Two. Neville Chamberlain was Prime Minister at the time but after a serious of bad decisions and repeatedly ignoring Churchill’s advice as chairman on the Military Coordinating Committee and First Lord of the Admiralty; people gradually lost confidence in him and his policy of appeasement towards the Nazi's. Instead Churchill was made both Prime Minister and Minister of Defence. Rather than sitting back he instantly took to the offensive, forming a coalition of cabinet leaders from all parties and keeping up the Nazi resistance. His key act was in securing an alliance with the United States which enabled him to secure essential U.S aid through the lend lease act and order war goods on credit. Him and President Roosevelt worked hard together to create a war strategy and stop the Nazi onslaught.
Throughout this time he was still a prolific writer, publishing more than 40 books and thousands of newspaper and magazine articles, even a couple of film scripts. He was recognised for his hard work in 1953 where he received The Noble Prize in Literature, with several of his major works being cited but specifically The History of The Second World War, a six volume history from the end of the First World War to July 1945. It was in fact from writing that he generated his main source of income.
Meanwhile, although he was defeated in the next election he still continued to have an influence in World Affairs, giving his famous 'Iron Curtain' speech warning of Soviet domination in Western Europe and recommending Britain maintain its independence. In 1951 Churchill returned to government as Minister of Defence and again Prime Minister where he introduced various reforms and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
Here at St Marys Books we have the Winston Churchill biography by Martin Gilbert complete in 8 volumes with 2 companion volumes, arguably the best overview of his life by his official biographer, and The History of English Speaking Peoples as mentioned previously. We also have many individual volumes available including The Second World War. Read about the gentleman who made such an impact on British politics that he is sure to never be forgotten.
