January 1, 1970

The contract he negotiated with the Morning Post, for his assignment in 1899 to report on the Boer War, paid him £250 a month (about £10,000 today!), with all expenses covered. This made him the highest-paid war correspondent of the day.

Why did they pay him so well? He was a great writer. He had ‘a way with words’. His reports from the war zones ranked with some of the best adventure stories of the time, full of descriptive detail, action and drama. He turned these dispatches into two more books: London to Ladysmith via Pretoria (1900) – which includes the story of his dramatic ‘Boys-Own’-style escape from the Boers – and Ian Hamilton’s March (1900).

After his famous escape, Churchill then joined the South African Light Horse, an irregular cavalry unit, remaining a soldier/correspondent in South Africa for several more months, sending tales of his adventures back home to an eagerly awaiting audience.