May 14, 2013

FINEST HOUR 140, AUTUMN 2008

ABSTRACT
ALWAYS LED BY THE OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY (FIRST AMERICAN EDITIONS AT LEFT), HERE ARE FINEST HOUR’S TOP PICKS AMONG BOOKS ABOUT CHURCHILL PUBLISHED SINCE THE FOUNDING OF THE WINSTON CHURCHILL STUDY UNIT IN 1968.

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n 1991, Finest Hour 70 listed our thirty favorite books about Churchill, five in each of six categories. In 2005, Finest Hour 128 offered Professor Paul Addison’s top ten choices. The exciting explosion of books over recent years makes it impossible to be so rigid nowadays—so for our fortieth anniversary, we have simply listed fifty great books, alphabetically by author (except that the Official Biography is at the top).

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Our list is not intended to be exclusive, and more nominations are welcome. We have cited at least one work from prolific Churchill authors such as Gilbert, Kimball, Sandys, Soames and Weidhorn, though their other titles are worth considering. The only “mandates” were to include any book which made Professor Addison’s list (which one disputes at one’s peril), and all winners of Churchill Centre awards: the Reves Award for excellence in writing or speaking about Churchill’s life and times; the Farrow Award for excellence in Churchill studies. (Winners can be viewed here.)

Three changes from 1991: (1) We no longer list any work more than forty years old. While many are still fine reads, many have been rendered incomplete or obsolete by new scholarship and sourcework. (2) Several books are included that were not listed in 1991 because they mainly contain Churchill’s own words. Yet their editors deserve credit, because they are indispensable. (3) There is no attempt to rank books in any sub-category or in order of merit. Our priorities may differ from yours, and given the diversity of this rich assortment, judging one book against another is futile.

“A” numbers are from the standard work that should be on every Churchillian’s shelf: Curt Zoller’s Annotated Bibliography of Works About Sir Winston Churchill (Sharpe, 2004). This massive book of 410 pages sells for up to $189 on the internet, but members can order it for $65 postpaid—complete with Curt Zoller’s addendum to works published since 2004. Send your check to Zoller Book, Churchill Centre, 200 West Madison Street, Suite 1700, Chicago IL 60606 or telephone Mary Dwyer with your credit card numbers toll free: (888) WSC-1874.

For titles not readily obtainable through usual sources, readers may wish to check www.bookfinder.com, or contact one of the two leading Churchill book specialists: Barry Singer, Chartwell Booksellers (email [email protected]), Park Avenue Plaza, 55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10055, telephone (212) 308-0643.

Mark Weber, The Churchill Book Specialist, email [email protected]), PO Box 90689, Tucson AZ 85752-0689, telephone (520) 743-8405.

THE TOP FIFTY

Churchill, Randolph S. and Gilbert, Martin. Winston S. Churchill, 1966 and 25,278 pages to date, Zoller A301. With eight biographic and sixteen companion volumes so far, and seven companions projected, this is the longest biography ever published, and the Churchill title to have if you are permitted only one! While thorough on political events, it contains many personal documents, and to some the companion volumes are more interesting than the biographics. The authors are unabashedly positive in their selection of material, but all the facts are there, and this is the basic reference all other Churchill writers draw from.
We warmly recommend the new Hillsdale College Press reprints (page 11). Farrow Award 1996, Reves Award 1999.

Addison, Paul. Churchill on the Home Front 1900-1955, 1992, 494 pages, Zoller A539. A standard work on Churchill’s domestic policies, elections and politics, covering everything from entry into Parliament in 1901 to his last term as Prime Minister, which ended in 1955. The author is evenhanded, and has documented his work with a plethora of sources. Farrow Award 1997.

Addison, Paul. Churchill: The Unexpected Hero, 2004, 308 pages. Full of arresting insights, this outstanding expansion of the author’s Churchill entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is “a treat instead of a treatment.” John Ramsden accurately says it is “now by a long way the most recommendable short life of WSC. It seems quite amazingly fresh to me.”

Alkon, Paul. Winston Churchill’s Imagination, 2006, 268 pages. A collection of incisive essays on little-covered aspects: Churchill and the movies, his friendship with T.E. Lawrence, his painting with words, his interest in counterfactual history and science fiction. Here is close textual analysis of Churchill’s writings, and parallels with major literary works. Manfred Weidhorn writes: “The writer is focused, the style is crystal clear, the analysis is subtle, and the results are consistently enjoyable and enlightening.”

Ashley, Maurice. Churchill as Historian, 1968, 246 pages, Zoller A321. The main work until David Reynolds’ (page 26) which relates how Churchill wrote history, by his literary assistant on Marlborough. Endpapers are color reproductions of edited manuscript pages. A careful evaluation of Churchill’s conclusions on key issues in the light of the findings of professional historians. Reves Award 1989.

Best, Geoffrey. Churchill: A Study in Greatness, 2001, 370 pages, Zoller A646. Scarcely longer than Addison’s, easily the best brief defense of Churchill against revisionists and naysayers, but not at all hagiographic. Books On Line: “encouraging his readers to come to their own conclusions, Best subtly guides us towards his own mature and overwhelmingly pro-Churchill ones.” Reves Award 2002.

Birkenhead, The Earl of. Churchill 1874-1922, 1989, 552 pages, Zoller A499a. Based largely on the papers of Churchill’s friend F.E. Smith, Lord Birkenhead, it was written by his son, who died before taking the story beyond 1922. While the early chapters are largely boilerplate, the book begins to “sing” circa 1910, when Churchill met F.E. Smith and personal reminiscences begin. From here, this eloquent biographer soars to a dazzling crescendo, finishing with a coda on Chartwell in the Wilderness Years which is alone worth the price of the book. A later, privately published volume carried the story forward.

Buczacki, Stefan. Churchill & Chartwell: The Untold Story of Churchill’s Houses and Gardens, 2007, 324 pages. With readable prose and a plethora of illustrations, Buczacki discusses Churchill’s three-dozen domiciles (Chartwell is only half the book), offering new research from heretofore unknown archives, such as that of Chartwell’s architect, Philip Tilden. A thoroughly indispensable and overdue standard work, as important for the Churchill library as memoirs of close associates.

Charmley, John. Churchill: The End of Glory: A Political Biography, 1993, 742 pages, Zoller A551. Many (including Finest Hour) took issue with Charmley’s argument that Churchill should have backed off fighting Germany in 1940 in order to preserve Britain’s wealth, independence and empire. But we agree with Paul Addison: “an otherwise perceptive political life grounded in a coherent critique of Churchill’s flaws, and a far from ungenerous appreciation of his abilities.” Equally pointed is the author’s Churchill’s Grand Alliance, 1995.

Churchill, Winston S., ed. “Never Give In!” The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches, 2003, 288 pages. This is the best single-volume collection of speeches you can buy, including such gems as Churchill’s speech in Durban after escaping from the Boers in 1899, his Great War victory speech, addresses on Jewish and Arab relations, all the great WW2 perorations, his tribute to Lloyd George, Fulton, the Hague, Zurich, France—200 of the best.

Cohen, Ronald I. Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill, 2006, 3 vols., 2184 pages. Over twenty years in the making, this is the last word in bibliographic research, totally eclipsing and replacing the 1963 Woods bibliography and the source not only for details of every edition and variation of Churchill’s books, articles and contributions, but for details on how each work was put together, from publisher’s contracts to proofs. The research is prodigious, the scholarship impeccable.

Colville, John. The Fringes of Power: Downing Street Diaries 1940-1955, 1986, Zoller A469. One of the most important primary sources, this is the most significant of several memoirs by Churchill’s colleagues. Colville was WSC’s best-known private secretary (1939-44, 1951-55). Jock Colville came to Churchill sharing prevailing doubt over the “half-breed American”; as the diaries progress his doubts change rapidly to admiration. The biographic sketches in the back are pungent, and not quite what you’ll read in Who’s Who. Invaluable.

Coombs, David and Churchill, Minnie. Winston Churchill: His Life Through His Paintings, 2003, 256 pages. A vast expansion and update of Coombs’ 1967 catalogue of Churchill’s paintings, this book not only lists all the 550-plus Churchill paintings but reproduces nearly all of them, mostly in faultless color. Five thick chapters, a bibliography, and a catalogue track Churchill’s painting against the course of world events. A luxurious coffee table book as well as the essential reference to WSC’s art.

Dilks, David. Great Dominion: Winston Churchill and Canada 1900-1954, 2005. This award-winning work examines each of Churchill’s nine encounters with Canada, dredging from contemporary news accounts words by and about WSC that were hitherto unrecorded. A grand and handsome guidebook to Canada as seen through Churchill’s eyes, and how Canadians themselves saw WSC. Reves Award 2006.

Gilbert, Martin. Churchill: A Photographic Portrait, 1974, 354 photos, Zoller A383. Complementing Lady Soames’s Family Album (page 27) as one of the two best photo-documentaries, this is less of a family photo collection than a catholic compilation with emphasis on the political side by the official biographer, whose captions are expert and extensive. Highly recommended, it has been reprinted frequently over the years and is readily available in paperback as well as hardback. Zoller A383.

Gilbert, Martin. Churchill: A Life, 1991, 1066 pages, Zoller A528. Not an abridgment, as is often imagined, this is a ground-up biography designed to be read in much shorter time than the full-scale official biography. Gilbert includes much information which was not known when the original volumes were written, especially the early volumes. Chronological like the O.B., this is an indispensable trove of well-researched facts.

Gilbert, Martin. In Search of Churchill: A Historian’s Journey, 1994, 338 pages, Zoller A558. The answer to whingers over the years who accused Gilbert of being uncritical. Having examined more evidence than anyone in writing the official biography, Gilbert states that he came away even more impressed with Churchill’s intellect, generosity, statesmanship and humanity. Cited by Finest Hour as the best Churchill book of 1994, it is especially useful in showing how Gilbert found his primary source material and ferreted out information from often obscure witnesses to history.

Gilbert, Martin. Churchill and America, 2005, 504 pages. Churchill’s love of his mother’s land was evident from an early age and stayed with him for life, but he was not an uncritical lover. He deplored U.S. reluctance to engage in world affairs after World War I, and with Russia after WW2, and hoped for more than he got from the “special relationship.” Here is the whole story, good, bad and ugly, with the fastidious maps that are among his hallmarks. Reading like a fast-paced novel, this book is now the standard work on the subject.

Gilbert, Martin. Churchill and the Jews, 2007, 384 pages. The subject is traced individually and collectively, beginning with Churchill’s representing a heavily Jewish consistency and ending with his support for Israel, with vast detail on WSC’s involvement in the Jewish Homeland from the Balfour declaration to the 1937 Peel Commission and beyond. No one is better able to write such a history, which eclipses earlier works on the subject by Rabinowicz and Cohen. See also Makovsky, below.

Hall, Douglas. The Book of Churchilliana, 2002, 196 pages. While not a catalogue like Scott or Gibbon in the stamp world, this is the best book published on what we might call “bric-a-brac,” from jugs to busts, dolls to figurines, tea towels to tobacco pipes. Including such “Churchilliana” as Westminster Abbey, the RAF Memorial Flight and the USS Winston S. Churchill makes for an eclectic assortment, but so much information is here in one place that you won’t find any source as comprehensive.

Hayward, Steven. Churchill on Leadership: Executive Success in the Face of Adversity, 1998, 248 pages, Zoller A601. A study in “applied Churchill” for leaders, business-people or those who must speak for a living. Hayward presents Churchill as a model of leadership, using his life to illustrate the maxims and character that he relied upon. Many readers have cited Hayward’s book as the best of the Churchillian self-help studies.

Jenkins, Roy. Churchill: A Biography, 2001, 998 pages. Paul Addison: “Jenkins brings to the subject a veteran politician’s feel for office and power, a worldly appreciation of Churchill’s love of the good life, and an encyclopaedic appetite for detail. John Plumpton (FH 114): “Magnum opus with gems de haut en bas.” Andrew Roberts summarized this book by writing: “…it will be a brave, if not to say foolhardy, author who attempts to write another life of Churchill for at least a decade.”

Kimball, Warren F., ed. Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence, 3 Vols., 1983, 2192 pages, Zoller A463. This seminal three-volume achievement collects all the Roosevelt-Churchill correspondence, carefully arranging and footnoting every communication between them. Kimball adds scholarly connecting tissue to reveal the background, and his own opinions. A major sourcework, not least for Kimball’s own subsequent books such as The Juggler and Forged in War, which we also recommend.

Langworth, Richard M. A Connoisseur’s Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill, 1998, 372 pages, Zoller A616. A guide to Churchill’s works for bibliophiles, scholars, collectors and librarians which combines features of a buyer’s guide, book review and catalogue of editions, issues, states and variants—English, American, Canadian, Australian and foreign. Includes aesthetic judgments, comments of contemporary reviewers and the author; about 200 photos. Reves Award 2000.

Larres, Klaus. Churchill’s Cold War: The Politics of Personal Diplomacy, 2002, 592 pages. While one hundred pages of this book cover Churchill’s pre-World War II career, most of the work is dedicated to his actions during and after it: a tour de force that dispels the “widespread perception of Churchill as a simplistic cold warrior,” as the author says. Depicts a depth of personal diplomacy that was both imaginative and visionary, whether or not it succeeded or failed, and WSC experienced ample cases of both.

Makovsky, Michael. Churchill’s Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft, 2007, 368 pages. Makovsky’s excellent study on the statecraft of Churchill over Jewish matters is a highly readable accompanying work to Gilbert’s Churchill and the Jews. Both books provide up to date archival research and perspectives on Zionism that were not available, or not offered by, earlier writers.

Manchester, William and Reid, Paul. The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, 1983-88, 2 vols., vol. 3 to come by 2010, 1730 pages to date, Zoller A453. The longest biography short of the O.B. Lyrical, romantic, overwhelmingly pro-Churchill and not without factual errors, it nevertheless captures his life and times better than any other full-scale biography. While patronizing and gratuitous in parts, it has probably brought more lay readers to Churchill than any other single Churchill title. Reves Award 1995.

McMenamin, Michael and Zoller, Curt. Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Young Winston and his American Mentor, 2007, 274 pages. One of the most important recent books about Churchill packs his full correspondence with the man who made him who he was. A book of the year candidate for its insights into Churchill’s genius. If you want to know what made Churchill the extraordinary personality he became, you have to contemplate the events of 1895—the most important of which was meeting Cockran.

Meacham, Jon. Franklin and Winston, 2003, 412 pages. This book’s virtue is not that it expresses so much that is new, but that it skillfully distills everything that matters about the Roosevelt-Churchill relationship from every key source, while forming its own conclusions. Beautifully written, it gathers the testimony of virtually every witness present at the time—a true achievement. While you may not agree with every conclusion, you will find it hard to put down. Reves Award 2004.

Midgely, Peter, ed. The Heroic Memory: Memorial Addresses to the Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill Society, Edmonton, Alberta, 1965-1969, 2004, 438 pages. No collection of books by WSC’s associates is complete without these sterling speeches by such luminaries as Lord Mountbatten, Mark Clark, Colin Coote, Jock Colville, Lord and Lady Soames, Fitzroy Maclean, and more—the first twenty-five years of speeches to the first Churchill Society and the only one founded in WSC’s lifetime.

Montague Browne, Anthony. Long Sunset: Memoirs of Winston Churchill’s Last Private Secretary, 1995, 376 pages, Zoller A576. An intimate memoir of “life on the inside,” eloquently written by Sir Anthony; forthright and at times blunt, for the author has very conservative views. Eminently readable and exciting, the book also covers the author’s career in the RAF, Foreign Office, and as a courtier to the Queen.

Moran, Lord (Charles), Churchill at War 1940-45, 2002, 352 pp., Zoller A301. While the original work was published in 1966, this new edition qualifies it for our list (along with the 1968 response to it: see Wheeler-Bennett, page 27). Alistair Cooke wrote (FH 118) of “the unique pleasure of the book is the doctor’s eye for Churchill’s human foibles and ear for the tang of his speech.”

Muller, James W., ed., Churchill as Peacemaker, 1997, 344 page, Zoller A624. An elegant testimonial to Churchill’s peace efforts from South Africa to India, Yalta to Bermuda, ably refutes the canard that he was only a man of war. Nine leading historians shed light on each phase, highlighting many little-known episodes. Editor won Farrow Award, 1995

Nel, Elizabeth. Winston Churchill’s Secretary: Recollections of the Great Man by a Woman Who Worked for Him, 2007, 178 pages, Zoller A196. This charming memoir was first published in 1958, but its recent revival makes it essential for any list of top Churchill works. With WSC from 1941 to 1945, the author accompanied him to numerous critical summit meetings. Primary source testimony to why his staff remained devoted.

Ramsden, John. Man of the Century: Winston Churchill and His Legend since 1945, 2002, 652 pages. A tour d’horizon of how Churchill fashioned his own legend and how that image has played out and transformed over time, full of information, with faultless prose and endless detail. Ramsden also considers how major historians dealt with the image, and how so many institutions were founded in his name, from grammar schools to The Churchill Centre. If you want to know the hows and whys of WSC’s image, read this book. Farrow Award 2003.

Reynolds, David. In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War, 2004, 646 pages. The first in-depth study of how Churchill wrote his memoirs to create “a useable past that would secure his fortune, vindicate his judgment and assist his ongoing political career….a masterly feat of sustained scholarly analysis,” as Paul Addison describes it. Indispensable to understanding WSC the writer. Reves Award 2003.

Reynoldson, Fiona. Winston Churchill, 2002, 64 pages. The shortest book in our list, but it’s the best “juvenile” ever published. Covers every aspect of Churchill in twenty chapters with excellent illustrations, timeline, list of key people, glossary, index, and an all-important page on how British government works. Brief but accurate sidebars pace the story, explaining clearly why WSC did what he did, how he felt about it, and why it matters. Still in print, this needs to be disseminated widely. Reves Award 2003.

Rhodes James, Sir Robert. Churchill: A Study in Failure, 1900-1939, 1972, 372 pages, Zoller A348. An important work on Churchill’s lost causes through 1939, this book develops the controversial argument that Churchill would be a historical footnote had he died before 1939. The author is grinding no personal axes and his analytical work is among the most balanced critiques. Despite the advent of new research and archives, it is still widely quoted.

Rhodes James, Sir Robert, ed. Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches 1897-1963, 1974, 8 vols., 8918 pages. While not entirely complete, 98 percent of Churchill’s oratory must be gathered here, by a young Rhodes James who let on that he was paid all of £5000 for this titanic job. Alas now rare and expensive, this is the masterwork from which all quotations must be drawn, based as it is on Hansard (Parliamentary Debates), with expert introductions by the editor.

Russell, Douglas. Winston Churchill Soldier: The Military Life of a Gentleman at War, 2005, 388 pages. Although much of the story has been published variously before, Russell has brought Churchill’s military career together in one compact, highly praised package which qualifies it as essential for the serious Churchill library. The expertly footnoted narrative is never boring, and the depth of the author’s knowledge is manifest throughout.

Sandys, Celia. Churchill, 2003, 160 pages. A brief life by WSC’s granddaughter, profusely illustrated and well researched. Widely admired for its applications to education, used as a tool by the Churchill Centre to reach young people: an ideal “Churchill 101,” and an introduction to the author’s other books, notably including Churchill Wanted Dead or Alive and Chasing Churchill, the latter now a television documentary.

Seldon, Anthony. Churchill’s Indian Summer: The Conservative Government, 1951-1955, 1981, 662 pages, Zoller 442. Virtually all biographies run quickly through Churchill’s second premiership, from 1951 through 1955. Here is the only work thus far which concentrates in detail on that Conservative Government, distinguished by numerous first-person interviews.

Severance, John. Sir Winston Churchill: Soldier, Statesman, Artist, 1986, 144 pages, Zoller A593. An illustrated biography for young people, this outstanding little volume restores an appreciation for Churchill not being taught in many schools, while puncturing many widely held beliefs about him. The photos are accurately captioned and not many are “old chestnuts.” Lady Soames called it one of the best juveniles yet published.

Soames, Mary. A Churchill Family Album, 1982, 429 photos, Zoller A447. Lovingly compiled, largely from family photos, some never seen before. With detailed captions expertly identifying and commenting on each picture, this is the most important photo documentary and among the five or six essential works on Winston Churchill. Farrow Award 2007.

Soames, Mary. Winston Churchill: His Life as a Painter, 1990, 224 pages, Zoller A523. Paul Addison: “Churchill never claimed to be a great artist but he delighted in the landscapes he saw on his travels, domestic scenes from his home at Chartwell, and portraits of his family and friends. The story is delightfully told by his daughter, a revelation of the private self who kept the statesman human.” Wonderful large-format color reproductions bedizen this great work. Farrow Award 2007.

Soames, Mary. Speaking for Themselves: The Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill, 1999, 702 pages, Zoller A620. A masterful compilation of correspondence spanning fifty-eight years. Paul Addison wrote: “Mary Soames is a fine editor. Her unrivaled knowledge of the subject is complemented by literary and historical skills which are gracefully worn but highly professional….In bringing together both sides of the correspondence, and eliminating everything else, she has revealed as never before the inside story of a marriage that was also a great political partnership.” Farrow Award 2007.

Stafford, David. Churchill and Secret Service, 1997, 386 pages, Zoller A608. Churchill’s lifelong fascination with intelligence is brought together by this most comprehensive account stretching from the Indian frontiers of 1897 to the Mussadeq coup in Iran in 1953, Paul Addison writes: “While shattering many canards implicating Churchill, such as the Lusitania and Pearl Harbor, Stafford shows that WSC played a crucial part in the development of the intelligence services and was no mean hand with a cloak and dagger.” Farrow Award 2000.

Wallin, Jeffrey. By Ships Alone: Churchill and the Dardanelles, Politics and Strategy of a Decision, 1981, 216 pages, Zoller A444. The leading account of the attempt to force the Dardanelles “by ships alone,” which ended in a naval retreat and the subsequent failure of an attempt on the Gallipoli peninsula by seaborne assault. Wallin maintains that the concept was strategically sound, would have worked; that ruination came because Churchill lacked the plenary authority to control events.

Weidhorn, Manfred. Sword and Pen: A Survey of the Writings of Winston Churchill, 1974, 278 pages, Zoller A394. Arguably the finest analytical work on Churchill’s writings: scholarly and thoughtful, it shows how Churchill’s temperament, background and experience influenced his pen. Around for over thirty years, it is still among the best sources on the Churchill canon. Farrow Award 1998.

Wheeler-Bennett, John, ed., Action This Day: Working with Churchill, 1968, 272 pages, Zoller A331. This book was written at behest of Clementine Churchill by six close colleagues of her husband to refute the notion from Lord Moran’s Struggle for Survival (1966) that Churchill’s performance was seriously affected by his health. Our forty-year cut-off eliminates Moran’s original; flaws and all, it remains important reading.

Zoller, Curt. Annotated Bibliography of Works About Sir Winston S. Churchill, 2004, 410 pages, Zoller A684. The most comprehensive bibliography on works about Churchill includes lists and opinions on nearly 700 specific Churchill titles. Also lists works substantially about Churchill, articles, lectures, reviews, dissertations and theses. Farrow Award 2004. Absolutely indispensable for the serious Churchill library.

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