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The Roar of the Lion: The Untold Story of Churchill's World War II Speeches
''My aunt, listening to the Prime Minister's speech, remarked of "our greatest orator", "He's no speaker, is he?"' -diary of teacher M.A. Pratt, 11 Nov. 1942.
The popular story of Churchill's war-time rhetoric is a simple the British people were energized and inspired by his speeches, which were almost universally admired and played an important role in the ultimate victory over Nazi Germany. Richard Toye now re-examines this accepted national story - and gives it a radical new spin.
Using survey evidence and the diaries of ordinary people, he shows how reactions to Churchill's speeches at the time were often very different from what we have always been led to expect. His first speeches as Prime Minister in the dark days of 1940 were by no means universally acclaimed - indeed, many people thought that he was drunk during his famous 'finest hour' broadcast - and there is little evidence that they made a decisive difference to the British people's will to fight on.
In actual fact, as Toye shows, mass enthusiasm sat side-by-side with considerable criticism and dissent from ordinary people. Yes, there were speeches that stimulated, invigorated, and excited many. But there were also speeches which caused depression and disappointment in many others, and which sometimes led to workplace or family arguments. Yet this more complex reality has been consistently obscured from the historical record by the overwhelming power of a treasured national myth.
The first systematic, archive based examination of Churchill's World War II rhetoric as a whole, The Roar of the Lion considers his oratory not merely as a series of 'great speeches', but as calculated political interventions which had diplomatic repercussions far beyond the effect on the morale of listeners in Britain. Considering his failures as well as his successes, the book moves beyond the purely celebratory tone of much of the existing literature. It offers new insight into how the speeches were written and delivered - and shows how Churchill's words were received at home, amongst allies and neutrals, and within enemy and occupied countries.
This is the essential book on Churchill's war-time speeches. It presents us with a dramatically new take on the politics of the 1940s - one that will change the way we think about Churchill's oratory forever.
The popular story of Churchill's war-time rhetoric is a simple the British people were energized and inspired by his speeches, which were almost universally admired and played an important role in the ultimate victory over Nazi Germany. Richard Toye now re-examines this accepted national story - and gives it a radical new spin.
Using survey evidence and the diaries of ordinary people, he shows how reactions to Churchill's speeches at the time were often very different from what we have always been led to expect. His first speeches as Prime Minister in the dark days of 1940 were by no means universally acclaimed - indeed, many people thought that he was drunk during his famous 'finest hour' broadcast - and there is little evidence that they made a decisive difference to the British people's will to fight on.
In actual fact, as Toye shows, mass enthusiasm sat side-by-side with considerable criticism and dissent from ordinary people. Yes, there were speeches that stimulated, invigorated, and excited many. But there were also speeches which caused depression and disappointment in many others, and which sometimes led to workplace or family arguments. Yet this more complex reality has been consistently obscured from the historical record by the overwhelming power of a treasured national myth.
The first systematic, archive based examination of Churchill's World War II rhetoric as a whole, The Roar of the Lion considers his oratory not merely as a series of 'great speeches', but as calculated political interventions which had diplomatic repercussions far beyond the effect on the morale of listeners in Britain. Considering his failures as well as his successes, the book moves beyond the purely celebratory tone of much of the existing literature. It offers new insight into how the speeches were written and delivered - and shows how Churchill's words were received at home, amongst allies and neutrals, and within enemy and occupied countries.
This is the essential book on Churchill's war-time speeches. It presents us with a dramatically new take on the politics of the 1940s - one that will change the way we think about Churchill's oratory forever.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 20, 2019
In The Roar of the Lion: The Untold Story of Churchill’s World War II Speeches, Richard Toye battles a straw man. The man, of course, is the mythical image of Churchill who, through his powerful rhetoric marshalled the western allies in the existential fight against fascism: “Churchill is now mythologized as the sole individual with the oratorical capacity to rally the nation in its supreme crisis.” (p. 44) The only question is whether this straw was created by previous scholars & popularizers, or by Toye.
While Toye marshals plenty of evidence that Churchill was never without critics, I seemed to have escaped being imprinted with the mythology. Perhaps Toye is reacting to chatter in east end pubs; however, anyone remotely familiar with any Churchill biographies in the last forty or so years will certainly know that there were always critics aplenty. The text is pretty much ODTAA. He references each speech in chronologic order and then details Mass-Observation (MO) and Home Intelligence Division stats to show that common people were at times critical of the PM. Toye also details criticism originating from politicians, perhaps forgetting that in the dog-eat-dog world of politics, criticism is what politicians do. If you find a politician who is not spouting criticism, check for a pulse.
While I disagree with Toye’s strategic objective in this book, tactically it is brilliant. One does not need to buy into the straw man battle to benefit from the deep scholarship evident in this volume. I don’t expect The Roar of the Lion to appeal greatly to readers with a general interest in history. It’s very much part of the Churchill revisionist industry and will mainly interest scholars in that industry.
Toye notes that Churchill had three audiences for his speeches: the British public, the foreign allies, and the enemy. I would add another: posterity. A useful companion to Toye’s book is In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War by David Reynolds in which Reynolds convincingly shows that Churchill composed memos and reports during the war that really had no other purpose than to be cited post-war when he wrote his history of the global conflict. ("For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all Parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history" [House of Commons, 23 Jan 1948]) Churchill especially covered his butt on D-Day just in case it turned into another Gallipoli or Trondheim. But I digress….
Finally, a word or two about the physical publication is due. OUP seems intent upon conserving paper. The typeface is relatively normal, but the printing begins deep in the gutter and runs nearly to the edge of the page. Don’t think you’re going to scratch any notes in the margins. OUP also subscribes to the one-space-after-periods school and at times seemingly less that that. It makes for a book that is rather uncomfortable to hold and less than a pleasure to read. The book contains some sixty pages of footnotes but no bibliography, a significant omission.
While Toye marshals plenty of evidence that Churchill was never without critics, I seemed to have escaped being imprinted with the mythology. Perhaps Toye is reacting to chatter in east end pubs; however, anyone remotely familiar with any Churchill biographies in the last forty or so years will certainly know that there were always critics aplenty. The text is pretty much ODTAA. He references each speech in chronologic order and then details Mass-Observation (MO) and Home Intelligence Division stats to show that common people were at times critical of the PM. Toye also details criticism originating from politicians, perhaps forgetting that in the dog-eat-dog world of politics, criticism is what politicians do. If you find a politician who is not spouting criticism, check for a pulse.
While I disagree with Toye’s strategic objective in this book, tactically it is brilliant. One does not need to buy into the straw man battle to benefit from the deep scholarship evident in this volume. I don’t expect The Roar of the Lion to appeal greatly to readers with a general interest in history. It’s very much part of the Churchill revisionist industry and will mainly interest scholars in that industry.
Toye notes that Churchill had three audiences for his speeches: the British public, the foreign allies, and the enemy. I would add another: posterity. A useful companion to Toye’s book is In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War by David Reynolds in which Reynolds convincingly shows that Churchill composed memos and reports during the war that really had no other purpose than to be cited post-war when he wrote his history of the global conflict. ("For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all Parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history" [House of Commons, 23 Jan 1948]) Churchill especially covered his butt on D-Day just in case it turned into another Gallipoli or Trondheim. But I digress….
Finally, a word or two about the physical publication is due. OUP seems intent upon conserving paper. The typeface is relatively normal, but the printing begins deep in the gutter and runs nearly to the edge of the page. Don’t think you’re going to scratch any notes in the margins. OUP also subscribes to the one-space-after-periods school and at times seemingly less that that. It makes for a book that is rather uncomfortable to hold and less than a pleasure to read. The book contains some sixty pages of footnotes but no bibliography, a significant omission.
December 19, 2018
I was initially very interested in the subject of this book but have to admit I struggled to get through it. It may be that my brain has been damaged by reading too many Internet blogs, but I have trouble when paragraphs are large, sometimes almost a page in length in the book. Also, I found it hard to find a focus in the chapters; one speech and its analysis seems to merge into the next. Perhaps subtitles dividing up the speeches, or more background material as a introduction to each speech would help. On the positive side, Richard Toye has done a very good job in throwing a new light on Churchill's speeches and their acceptance by MPs and the public, and that is of great interest. This book is refreshing in that it shows Churchill as a normal person and politician, with both strengths and weaknesses.
April 5, 2021
Very interesting
Interesting read to find out more about how Churchill was not universally popular during WW2, and how the myth that has grown up around him is not strictly accurate.
Interesting read to find out more about how Churchill was not universally popular during WW2, and how the myth that has grown up around him is not strictly accurate.
February 8, 2017
Interesting, well researched study of Churchill's wartime premiership focused on his famous speeches. Going beyond their fame, and legend, author explores how they were crafted, how they were used as political tool and instrument od statesmanship. He also looks into evidences about how they were percieved a recieved in their time. In this he also explores how and why some people accepted Churchill as a war-time "national leader", but were decided quite a time before 1945 election not to vote fot him in peace-time.
August 19, 2013
Interesting to read how Churchill's speeches were written to influence allies, potential allies and enemies as well as the domestic population. Nothing has changed as the war of words over Syria continues.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews