January 1, 1970

Winston Churchill Reporting: Adventures of a Young War Correspondent

Written by Simon Read

From the jungles of Cuba and the mountains of the north-west frontier to the banks of the Nile and the plains of South Africa, young Winston Churchill – enthralled by combat, cigars and whisky – showed extraordinary courage and tenacity under fire. Long before his finest hour as Britain’s wartime leader, Winston Churchill emerged on the world stage as a brazen foreign correspondent, covering wars of empire in Cuba, India, the Sudan, and South Africa. In those far-flung corners of the world, reporting from the front lines between 1895 and 1900, Churchill mastered his celebrated command of language and developed strong opinions about war. He thought little of his own personal safety, so convinced was he of his destiny, jumping at any chance to be where bullets flew and cannons roared. “I have faith in my star—that is that I am intended to do something in the world,” he wrote to his mother at the age of twenty-three before heading into battle. Based on his private letters and war reportage, Winston Churchill Reporting intertwines young Winston’s daring exploits in combat, adventures in far-flung corners of the word, and his rise as a major literary talent—experiences that shaped the world leader he was destined to become.

Read an excerpt of Simon Read’s fast-paced account of the young Churchill by clicking on the boxes to the right.