September 11, 2015

Finest Hour 165, Autumn 2014

Page 33

During the 1996 Churchill Tour of england, so superbly arranged by Barbara and richard langworth, we enjoyed a rapid-fire walking tour of Whitehall with Martin Gilbert. He had so many venues that we had almost to run to keep up! Unassuming as ever, he arrived carrying an tattered old wicker shopping bag. From this he produced notes for his history lesson, provocative and exciting, on what went on at each place. We began (above) at Horse Guards Parade, bordered by the Admiralty, where Asquith once said the lights would burn late into the night “as Winston brewed his plans.” It was hard not to smile as our teacher spoke, the kind-hearted, sweet, humble yet brilliant biographer of a titan, utterly nonchalant, with his shopping bag on his arm.  Thank you, Martin, for being a wonderful historian, and so great a friend.
—Jacqueline Dean Witter, Redwood City, Calif.