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Churchill: A Photographic Portrait
Provides a perceptive portrait of the personal and public lives of the great British prime minister, combining selected quotes and rare archival material with fascinating photographs of one of history's most celebrated leaders.
367 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
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About the author
Martin Gilbert
249 books417 followersThe official biographer of Winston Churchill and a leading historian on the Twentieth Century, Sir Martin Gilbert was a scholar and an historian who, though his 88 books, has shown there is such a thing as “true history”
Born in London in 1936, Martin Gilbert was educated at Highgate School, and Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with First Class Honours. He was a Research Scholar at St Anthony's College, and became a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford in 1962, and an Honorary Fellow in 1994. After working as a researcher for Randolph Churchill, Gilbert was chosen to take over the writing of the Churchill biography upon Randolph's death in 1968, writing six of the eight volumes of biography and editing twelve volumes of documents. In addition, Gilbert has written pioneering and classic works on the First and Second World Wars, the Twentieth Century, the Holocaust, and Jewish history.
Gilbert drove every aspect of his books, from finding archives to corresponding with eyewitnesses and participants that gave his work veracity and meaning, to finding and choosing illustrations, drawing maps that mention each place in the text, and compiling the indexes. He travelled widely lecturing and researching, advised political figures and filmmakers, and gave a voice and a name “to those who fought and those who fell.”
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Born in London in 1936, Martin Gilbert was educated at Highgate School, and Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with First Class Honours. He was a Research Scholar at St Anthony's College, and became a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford in 1962, and an Honorary Fellow in 1994. After working as a researcher for Randolph Churchill, Gilbert was chosen to take over the writing of the Churchill biography upon Randolph's death in 1968, writing six of the eight volumes of biography and editing twelve volumes of documents. In addition, Gilbert has written pioneering and classic works on the First and Second World Wars, the Twentieth Century, the Holocaust, and Jewish history.
Gilbert drove every aspect of his books, from finding archives to corresponding with eyewitnesses and participants that gave his work veracity and meaning, to finding and choosing illustrations, drawing maps that mention each place in the text, and compiling the indexes. He travelled widely lecturing and researching, advised political figures and filmmakers, and gave a voice and a name “to those who fought and those who fell.”
https://twitter.com/sirmartin36
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 3, 2019
Martin Gilbert collected an archive of over 5,000 photographs and cartoons of Churchill over several years and he has put together a selection of 364 that vividly portray the variety and span of Winston Churchill's life. It is an absolutely spell-binding collection as well as being representative of many of the major events of the late 19th and 20th century to Churchill's death in 1965.
The remarkable thing about Churchill that comes out in the book is the longevity of his career from fighting in the Sudan Campaign of 1898 through to overseeing the last years of the Second World War and becoming Prime Minister for one final time in 1951. And in between all the action he was writing books, painting, pursuing various campaigns in politics and progressing his political career as well as bringing up a family.
His army career came from grounding at Sandhurst where he was 20th in a list of 130 candidates in the final examinations and this qualified him as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Fourth Hussars at Aldershot. He resigned his career in the Army after only four years and he went into politics by being adopted as Conservative candidate for Oldham in June 1899. He wrote to a friend explaining that the canvassing had been 'a strange experience ... speech after speech, meeting after meeting, three or even four in one night' but at the end of it all he was defeated by the Liberal candidate.
Then the war with the Boers broke out and in October 1899 he was in Cape Town as the war correspondent for the 'Morning Post'. The war was 'a fierce and bloody struggle' and he spent many hours at the front, writing to his mother in times of great stress, 'I shall believe I am to be preserved for future things.' Despite this comment, he found himself a prisoner in Pretoria before he made his escape. A reward of £25 was offered 'to anyone who brings the escaped prisoner of war Churchill dead or alive to this office'. He eventually managed to reach General Buller's forces at Durban and Buller wrote to Lady Londonderry saying, ' Winston Churchill turned up here yesterday escaped from Pretoria. He really is a fine fellow and I must say I admire him greatly.'
His writing career began with accounts of his strife in South Africa with his books 'The River War' and 'London to Ladysmith via Pretoria', the latter earning him £2,000. From then on he was to write books throughout his career and his much later 'History of the Second World War' was to win him the Nobel Prize for Literature.
He was eventually elected as Member of Parliament for Oldham and became Under-Secretary for the Colonies, a role that saw him travel extensively in the east. Then a married man with children, he still found time to fulfil all his duties and to be seen at many of the important social events on the calendar, even being attacked by a militant suffragette at Bristol railway station on 14 November 1909!
He was the butt of many a cartoonist's jokes, particularly when he became First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of World War I. But in November 1915 he was excluded from the War Cabinet and resigned from the Government and rejoined the Army. He took active part in the War and when it was over he decided to revive his Parliamentary career. After a couple of defeats he eventually became the Member for Epping and two days after Stanley Baldwin replaced Ramsay MacDonald as Prime Minster, he appointed Churchill Chancellor of the Exchequer.
And so his career went on, as did his family life at his beloved Chartwell. He saw the danger of Hitler coming and actively spoke out giving plenty of warnings of what was to come, particularly when he once more became First Lord of the Admiralty and joined the War Cabinet. His war exploits are well covered, and well known, and his inspirational speeches as Prime Minister did much to encourage the British forces. He always knew Britain would win and kept telling everyone so.
After the war his career went into decline and he was removed as Prime Minister but another General Election was held just over 12 months after the previous one and he was returned to the role of Prime Minister, when, it should be said in these troublesome Brexit times, he was a strong supporter of European unity! He finally decided to resign as Prime Minister, a job he held from 1951 to 1955, and he gave a dinner for the Queen at 10 Downing Street to mark his departure. Her Majesty wrote glowingly to him about his career, adding, 'During more recent years you have had to face the Cold War and with it threats and dangers which are more awe-inspiring than any which you have had to contend with before, in war or peace. By your foresight and by your shaping of our destiny you have, if it were possible to do so, enhanced the admiration in which you are held, not only here but throughout much of the world, and you know that you will take with you into retirement a deep fund of affectionate goodwill.'
Thereafter he led a quiet life in retirement, spending much of his time painting, often in the south of France and when he died in January 1965, the nation unanimously mourned his loss.
The final image in the book is one of his funeral cortege sailing down the Thames to his final resting place at Bladon churchyard and I well remember it for we, the Treasury football team, were caught in the traffic as we made our way by coach down the Embankment to our ground at Sanderstead in Surrey. We urged the coach driver to get a move on for we had a three o'clock kick-off, little realising the reason for our hold up! Sorry, Sir Winston!
It is a first-rate book and captures this great man in all his majesty, warts and all.
The remarkable thing about Churchill that comes out in the book is the longevity of his career from fighting in the Sudan Campaign of 1898 through to overseeing the last years of the Second World War and becoming Prime Minister for one final time in 1951. And in between all the action he was writing books, painting, pursuing various campaigns in politics and progressing his political career as well as bringing up a family.
His army career came from grounding at Sandhurst where he was 20th in a list of 130 candidates in the final examinations and this qualified him as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Fourth Hussars at Aldershot. He resigned his career in the Army after only four years and he went into politics by being adopted as Conservative candidate for Oldham in June 1899. He wrote to a friend explaining that the canvassing had been 'a strange experience ... speech after speech, meeting after meeting, three or even four in one night' but at the end of it all he was defeated by the Liberal candidate.
Then the war with the Boers broke out and in October 1899 he was in Cape Town as the war correspondent for the 'Morning Post'. The war was 'a fierce and bloody struggle' and he spent many hours at the front, writing to his mother in times of great stress, 'I shall believe I am to be preserved for future things.' Despite this comment, he found himself a prisoner in Pretoria before he made his escape. A reward of £25 was offered 'to anyone who brings the escaped prisoner of war Churchill dead or alive to this office'. He eventually managed to reach General Buller's forces at Durban and Buller wrote to Lady Londonderry saying, ' Winston Churchill turned up here yesterday escaped from Pretoria. He really is a fine fellow and I must say I admire him greatly.'
His writing career began with accounts of his strife in South Africa with his books 'The River War' and 'London to Ladysmith via Pretoria', the latter earning him £2,000. From then on he was to write books throughout his career and his much later 'History of the Second World War' was to win him the Nobel Prize for Literature.
He was eventually elected as Member of Parliament for Oldham and became Under-Secretary for the Colonies, a role that saw him travel extensively in the east. Then a married man with children, he still found time to fulfil all his duties and to be seen at many of the important social events on the calendar, even being attacked by a militant suffragette at Bristol railway station on 14 November 1909!
He was the butt of many a cartoonist's jokes, particularly when he became First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of World War I. But in November 1915 he was excluded from the War Cabinet and resigned from the Government and rejoined the Army. He took active part in the War and when it was over he decided to revive his Parliamentary career. After a couple of defeats he eventually became the Member for Epping and two days after Stanley Baldwin replaced Ramsay MacDonald as Prime Minster, he appointed Churchill Chancellor of the Exchequer.
And so his career went on, as did his family life at his beloved Chartwell. He saw the danger of Hitler coming and actively spoke out giving plenty of warnings of what was to come, particularly when he once more became First Lord of the Admiralty and joined the War Cabinet. His war exploits are well covered, and well known, and his inspirational speeches as Prime Minister did much to encourage the British forces. He always knew Britain would win and kept telling everyone so.
After the war his career went into decline and he was removed as Prime Minister but another General Election was held just over 12 months after the previous one and he was returned to the role of Prime Minister, when, it should be said in these troublesome Brexit times, he was a strong supporter of European unity! He finally decided to resign as Prime Minister, a job he held from 1951 to 1955, and he gave a dinner for the Queen at 10 Downing Street to mark his departure. Her Majesty wrote glowingly to him about his career, adding, 'During more recent years you have had to face the Cold War and with it threats and dangers which are more awe-inspiring than any which you have had to contend with before, in war or peace. By your foresight and by your shaping of our destiny you have, if it were possible to do so, enhanced the admiration in which you are held, not only here but throughout much of the world, and you know that you will take with you into retirement a deep fund of affectionate goodwill.'
Thereafter he led a quiet life in retirement, spending much of his time painting, often in the south of France and when he died in January 1965, the nation unanimously mourned his loss.
The final image in the book is one of his funeral cortege sailing down the Thames to his final resting place at Bladon churchyard and I well remember it for we, the Treasury football team, were caught in the traffic as we made our way by coach down the Embankment to our ground at Sanderstead in Surrey. We urged the coach driver to get a move on for we had a three o'clock kick-off, little realising the reason for our hold up! Sorry, Sir Winston!
It is a first-rate book and captures this great man in all his majesty, warts and all.
April 2, 2010
Being a great admirer of Winston Churchill made this a fun read. He was a giant and remains a giant to this day. His absolute refusal to give up or yield anything to Hitler -- as he waited on this country to finally come to its senses and enter the war . . . is remarkable. If you like WWII history and admire this man, it is a good read and addition to your library.
June 10, 2012
What a wonderful way to pick up tidbits about one of the ost influential men of the 20th century. I did not know he wanted Jews to have a home in Palestine in the 1920s, that he helped develop a machine that would cut through barb wire, a precurssor to the modern tank, and that he coined the phrase "iron curtain". An amazing man all round.
Want to read
May 13, 2014My copy 1974
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews