June 21, 2015

Finest Hour 104, Autumn 1999

Page 35


An avalanche of new books by and about Churchill has been thundering off the presses over the past six months. Our New Book Service offers member discounts (substantially below Amazon.com in most cases) on the following, but Finest Hour’s reviews are not all in. This is a recap to let you know what’s available. There are a lot more than this, but here’s a start…

• All books may be ordered from CC Book Club, PO Box 385, Contoocook NH 03229. Mastercard and Visa accepted. Shipping anywhere in the world (surface bookpost outside North America) costs $6 for the first book, $1 for each additional. E-mail: [email protected] or telephone (603) 746-4433.

REVIEWED ON PAGES 33-34: 1008. The Great Republic, by Sir Winston Churchill, 460pp., illus. Published at $26. Member price $19.

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1025. A Scottish Life: Sir John Martin, Churchill and the Empire, by Michael Jackson, 280pp. illus. Published at $40. Member price $32.

ALSO AVAILABLE


1023. Five Days in London: May 1940, by John Lukacs, 236pp, will be reviewed for Finest Hour by Michael McMenamin. It concerns the five days Lukacs believes settled the outcome of World War II. Although the author often assumes he knows what Churchill was thinking, his book excels in providing an inside account of War Cabinet debate about what to do after France’s fall—and debate there was! Halifax, though he dropped appeasement before Chamberlain, soon became defeatist, arguing that Britain should approach Mussolini to arbitrate. Once even Churchill seemed to lean toward a deal. Lukacs takes the discussion deeper and further than Sheila Lawlor’s excellent Churchill and the Politics of War (1994)—proving that the differences between Halifax and Chamberlain were much greater than the differences between Chamberlain and Churchill. Published at $20. Member price $14.

1024. Burying Caesar: Churchill, Chamberlain and the Battle for the Tory Party, by Graham Stewart, 534pp. illus., asks: What were the political machinations that kept Chamberlain in office during the late 1930s and Churchill out? Published at $45. Member price $34.

1027. Winston Churchill, by Robert Blake, 110pp., trade paperback, reviewed FH 103. In just 20,000 words, Lord Blake produces all the undisputed facts while puncturing hoary myths and airing both sides of the more debateable questions. (On Churchill and FDR: “Their relationship, under a veneer of candid friendship, was uneasy and their strategic objects divergent.”) Worth a place on your library shelf, this good little book makes a nice gift for a young person who wants a rapid-fire Churchill education. Published at $10.95. Member price $8.

1028. Architects of Victory: Six Heroes of the Cold War, by Joe Shattan, 374 pp., will be reviewed for Finest Hour by Craig Horn. Along with Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, Konrad Adenauer, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Pope John Paul, the author includes Churchill among those who helped win the greatest confrontation of the century. Churchill “seized the initiative” at Fulton and thereafter in laying down the constructs for Western response to world Marxism. Published at $25. Member price $22.

1029. Churchill, Munitions and Mechanical Warfare, by Eugene Bereiger, 188pp, will be reviewed for Finest Hour by Chris Bell. This is the first book to concentrate on Churchill’s role as Minister of Munitions (July 1917-January 1919), examining the development of his strategic thought and administrative actions in the last years of the war. At the Munitions Ministry, Winston Churchill’s greatest contribution was his comprehensive approach to the supply and strategy of mechanical warfare, trench mortars, tanks, and airplanes. His penchant for details allowed him to offer technical and tactical appreciations that challenged traditional military thought. Published at $40. Member price $37.

JUST PUBLISHED:

1038. Pol Roger, by Cynthia Parzych & John Turner, 168pp. illus. As masterful as their Champagne, this elegant book printed on coated stock is laden with color and b&w photos, recounting the story of the Pol-Roger family and their famous wine, with much on Churchill of course. For connoisseurs, ICS UK member Bill Gunn, Pol Roger’s UK distributor, provides an index of the great vintages dating back to 1893. Highly recommended. Published at $42. Member price $34.

1030. Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech, Fifty Years Later, James W. Muller, ed., 250pp. Published in association with The Churchill Center, this important work collects the papers of scholars attending the Center and Churchill Memorial colloquium on the 50th Anniversary of the speech that went down as the opening salvo of the Cold War. Excellent papers view political, strategic and diplomatic aspects of the speech. Margaret Thatcher provides the epilogue—her Fulton speech on the 50th anniversary of Churchill’s. Published at $27.50. Member price $23.

SOME COPIES STILL LEFT…

1021. Resolution, Defiance, Magnanimity, Good Will, Crosby Kemper, ed., 244pp, reviewed in Finest Hour 91. A superlative scholarly collection with a foreword by Crosby Kemper that is alone worth the price. Gilbert, Colville, Soames and other respected experts look at Churchill the man; Churchill on history, the Tory Party, India, detente, rhetoric; and how he might see the world today. Published at $25. Member price $21

1099. Winston and Clementine: The Personal Letters of the Churchills, by Mary Soames, 702pp., illus., was reviewed in Finest Hour 102. A masterful compilation of Winston and Clementine’s personal letters to each other with interwoven commentary by their daughter. A brilliant and important contribution to history which is a must for every Churchill library. Published at $35. Member price $26.

1022. Under Two Flags: The Life of Louis Spears, Egremont, 370pp. illus. Spears wrote superlatively of both wars; his friendship with WSC began during Germany’s attacks in 1914 and carried through WW2 when he was C’s liaison to France and wrote “Assignment to Catastrophe.” Reviewed in FH 102. Published at $50. Member price $38.

1064. The Young Churchill, by Celia Sandys. First US Edition. NY: Dutton 1995, 224pp illus., was reviewed in Finest Hour 85. The most colorful and interesting book on Churchill’s youth, with many fascinating new color and black and white illustrations, written by his granddaughter. Published at $27.50. Member price $19.

1078. His Father’s Son: The Life of Randolph Churchill, by Winston S. Churchill, 514pp. illus., was reviewed in Finest Hour 92. By far the latest and best biography of Randolph, constructed largely from his own archives. An authoritative, balanced and well written story of a bittersweet career, with insight into Churchill via his numerous letters to his son. Published at $40. Member price $29.

1045. A Harmony of Interests: Explorations in the Mind of Sir Winston Churchill, by Manfred Weidhorn, 192pp., reviewed in FH 80. The dean of scholars on the literary Churchill considers WSC as polemicist, conservative, warhorse, dreamer, semi-American and Great Man. Published at $32.50. Member price $26.

1050. Churchill on the Home Front, by Paul Addison, 494pp. trade paperback, illus., reviewed in Finest Hour 78. The standard work on Churchill’s domestic policies, elections & politics, covers everything through his last term as PM. Published at $25- Member price $17.

1080. Wartime Missions of Harry Hopkins, by Matthew Wills, 92pp. illus., reviewed in Finest Hour 93. An outstanding look at the go-between who fashioned the Roosevelt-Churchill partnership during WW2, and attempted to mollify Stalin while he was at it. Published at $17.95. Member price $15.

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