In Churchill's Shadow: Confronting the Past in Modern Britain

by David Cannadine

David Cannadine is widely regarded as one of the most insightful historians of modern Britain--and certainly one of the most witty and entertaining. His most recent book, Ornamentalism , a provocative argument about the role of class in the British Empire, was hailed as "vigorous, stimulating,
and bursting with ideas."( The Spectator ) Now, with In Churchill's Shadow , Cannadine looks at the contradictions of Britain's twentieth-century hero and of its twentieth-century history.
Here is an intriguing look at ways in which perceptions of a glorious past have continued to haunt the British present, often crushing efforts to shake them off. The book centers on Churchill, a titanic figure whose influence spanned the century. Though he was the savior of modern Britain,
Churchill was a creature of the Victorian age. Though he proclaimed he had not become Prime Minister to "preside over the liquidation of the British Empire," in effect he was doomed to do just that. And though he has gone down in history for his defiant orations during the crisis of World War II,
Cannadine shows that for most of his career Churchill's love of rhetoric was his own worst enemy.
Cannadine turns an equally insightful gaze on the institutions and individuals that embodied the image of Britain in this Gilbert & Sullivan, Ian Fleming, Noel Coward, the National Trust, and the Palace of Westminster itself, the home and symbol of Britain's parliamentary government.
This superb volume offers a wry, sympathetic, yet penetrating look at how national identity evolved in the era of the waning of an empire.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature

Hardcover

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

Sir David Cannadine FBA FRSL FSA FRHistS is a British author and historian, who specialises in modern history and the history of business and philanthropy.

Reviews

[Patrick Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

A diverse and somewhat uneven set of essays. In some ways, the strongest are the cultural essays at the end of the book, including ones on the National Trust, Gilbert and Sullivan, Noel Coward, and James Bond.

[Jemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my father's books, which I never read before because frankly I know enough about Churchill for a lifetime.

However, it turns out it's not just about Churchill, it's about various people who are related culturally. So we get portraits of people like Joseph Chamberlain, Gilbert and Sullivan and Ian Fleming. None of these would I probably read a biography of, but these portraits are very interesting. I feel that my understanding of the culture of Churchill's era more fully.

Could do with some women though.

[Adam Gossman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title misleading and sources could be better.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the acquisition of books has become, mostly, an on-line rather then a hands on experience, disappointments and mistakes are inevitable and often colour our view of the book when we feel that it has been misrepresented, even if some of the fault is our own. That is very much my position with regards to 'In Churchill's Shadow' by David Cannadine. I was expecting a book about the ongoing impact (baleful in my opinion) of Churchill his myth, reputation, etc. on Britain since the second World War. But it is in fact a collection of essays, often based on reviews, lectures, talks, etc. about various aspects of Britain, roughly, but not exclusively since the War. So of course all post war events are in Churchill's shadow but that does not mean he is directly or indirectly responsible for or an influence on them. Nor do many of these essays attempt to make any such connection.

I admit that if I had been more careful in reading descriptions of the book and searched out more reviews I would not have been under the mistaken impression I suffered from. But as I like David Cannadine's writing and have enjoyed his excellent and insightful books 'Ornamentalism: How the British saw their Empire' and the 'Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy' I allowed my excitement at the thought of Cannadine tackling Churchill's ongoing influence on Britain to obscure what the book really was.

Having said all that the various essays are mostly very good - the ones on Noel Coward and also on the Chamberlain family and the rapid growth and decline of municipal power bases and identity particularly remain in my mind. So this is a book that will be worth reading but I can't help thinking like many such collection of academic odds and ends it has been repackaged and labelled to be something more then it is.