January 1, 1970

Review of The Man Within by Dr Warren Dockter.

Winston Churchill is one of the most recognisable men in history. From his unmistakeable scowl to his bow tie and nineteenth-century waistcoat – complete with pocket watch and gold chain – his image is cemented in the imagination of the English-speaking world. When considering iconic images such as Yousuf Karsh’s 1941 portrait where he bravely stole Churchill’s cigar to produce the leader’s famously defiant scowl, or Philippe Halsman’s image of Churchill sitting with his dog, Rufus II, at Chartwell in 1951, it is clear that Churchill performing for the camera.’ Yet the creation of his iconic image was no mistake. Although in part Churchill enjoyed being photographed because he liked the limelight, he also understood the importance of showing the right image to the public.

Even during his early years Churchill realised the importance of curating one’s public image. He wrote on public image in ‘Cartoons and Cartoonist’ in his volume of essays Thoughts and Adventures (1932) in which he argued ‘one of the necessary features of a public man’s equipment is some distinctive mark’ which everyone will recognise, and presented his father’s distinctive moustache as an important example. In this context, it’s clear to see why Churchill always had a cigar, why his fingers were frequently flashing the ‘V’, and why, despite being well into the twentieth century, he insisted on dressing in latest fashions of the 1890s. As in the political cartoons that Churchill referenced in his essay, tricks of image control were no less true in photographs. This was true both in how public photographs were shaped, but also in how they were used. In 1955, Churchill objected to a Swiss company, Cigarren-Friedrich and Co, who were using his image to sell cigars for precisely this reason; he believed that it was misleading the public as they would assume those were the cigars he smoked, when in fact he preferred ‘certain Havana’ cigars.

However, it is the private photographs of Churchill and his family that reveal far more about the man and the life he led. Capturing quiet moments of contemplation, family gatherings and life events, these images show a more intimate view of the leader. A recent American publication by Alison Carlson entitled, The Man Within: Winston Churchill, An Intimate Portrait, reveals a contrasting side to Churchill instead of the curated version we are used to.

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Carlson includes extremely rare photographs of Churchill in personal moments which have been either neglected or forgotten. One such image is of Churchill on a boar hunt in Foucarmont, France, swigging from his hip flask. This photograph is particularly notable because, despite encouraging a myth that he had an inextinguishable appetite and insurmountable tolerance for alcohol, Churchill was extremely rigorous about not being photographed drinking. Another extremely rare glimpse into Churchill’s private world is shown in a photograph of his wedding to Clementine Hozier in September 1908. Photographs of this event are so rare that in 2008 there were no known photographs of the wedding at all, leading the BBC to publish an article exclaiming that ‘A hunt is under way for Sir Winston Churchill’s wedding pictures’. Since then a photo has emerged of the couple in the car they were driven away in, yet it is Carlson’s photo, which she found at the Mary Evans Picture Library near Blackheath, that shows the happy pair emerging from St, Margret’s, Westminster. It is stunning and little-known images such as these that bring the Churchill in Carlson’s book to life, and offer a new perspective on the celebrated and complex man.

Signed copies of the book will be available at that most Churchillian of London bookshops Heywood Hill, as well as Davidoff Cigars, and the Churchill Hotel, London.