My Darling Winston

My Darling Winston is an edited collection of the personal letters between Winston Churchill and his mother, Jenny Jerome, between 1881—when Churchill was just six—and 1921, the year of Jenny’s death. Many of these intimate letters— between two gifted writers—are published here for the first time, and the exchange of letters between mother and son has never before been published as a correspondence. A significant addition to the Churchill canon, My Darling Winston traces Churchill’s emotional, intellectual, and political development as confided to his primary mentor, his mother. As well as providing a basic narrative of Jenny’s and Winston Churchill’s lives over a forty-year period, My Darling Winston tells the story of a changing mother-son relationship, characterised at the outset by Churchill’s emotional and practical dependence on his mother, but which is dramatically reversed as her life begins to disintegrate tragically towards its end.

The first ever collection of the letters between Churchill and his mother. '[An] entertaining and illuminating collection... As a whole it is a deeply moving account' Literary Review. 'This collection of letters is fascinating' New Statesman. '[A] fascinating correspondence' Daily Telegraph. 'This sparkling volume will be devoured by all who revere Churchill' Daily Mail. Winston Churchill adored his mother Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill. Between 1881, when Churchill was six, and 1921, the year of Jennie's death, mother and son were prolific letter-writers. In Darling Winston, David Lough has compiled the first-ever edited selection of their voluminous and entertaining forty-year correspondence. Churchill's life across this period follows a trajectory of adventure and political ambition – army service in India, escape from a Boer POW camp, swift ascent from Conservative MP for Oldham to Liberal First Lord of the Admiralty, resignation in the wake of the debacle of Gallipoli, and eventual return to the cabinet in 1917. His mother's life, by contrast, follows a downward spiral: her second marriage founders and she becomes a lonely figure, moving forlornly around the country homes of her wealthy friends. As Winston joins Asquith's cabinet and meets his wife-to-be, Clementine, Jennie is getting divorced and making faltering attempts to embark on a literary career. Darling Winston reflects Churchill's emotional, intellectual and political development as confided to Jennie as his mentor; but it also charts a mother-son relationship characterized at the outset by Winston's dependence on Jennie, which is dramatically reversed as her life crumbles towards its end. Brimming with gossip, name-dropping and chutzpah, and populated by a cast of the great and the good of late Victorian and Edwardian England, Darling Winston enriches our understanding of the political apprenticeship of Britain's most celebrated statesmen, and offers poignant insights into his relationship with the woman whose worldly advice and loving encouragement first set him on the path to power.

A captivating dual biography of two famous women whose sons would change the course of the 20th century—by award-winning historian Charlotte Gray. Born into upper-class America in the same year, 1854, Sara Delano (later to become the mother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and Jennie Jerome (later to become the mother of Winston Churchill) refused to settle into predictable, sheltered lives as little-known wives to prominent men. Instead, both women concentrated much of their energies on enabling their sons to reach the epicenter of political power on two continents. In the mid-19th century, the British Empire was at its height, France’s Second Empire flourished, and the industrial vigor of the United States of America was catapulting the republic towards the Gilded Age. Sara and Jennie, raised with privilege but subject to the constraints of women’s roles at the time, learned how to take control of their destinies—Sara in the prosperous Hudson Valley, and Jennie in the glittering world of Imperial London. Yet their personalities and choices were dramatically different. A vivacious extrovert, Jennie married Lord Randolph Churchill, a rising politician and scion of a noble British family. Her deft social and political maneuverings helped not only her mercurial husband but, once she was widowed, her ambitious son, Winston. By contrast, deeply conventional Sara Delano married a man as old as her father. But once widowed, she made Franklin, her only child, the focus of her existence. Thanks in large part to her financial support and to her guidance, Franklin acquired the skills he needed to become a successful politician. Set against one hundred years of history, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons is a study in loyalty and resilience. Gray argues that Jennie and Sara are too often presented as lesser figures in the backdrop of history rather than as two remarkable individuals who were key in shaping the characters of the sons who adored them and in preparing them for leadership on the world stage. Impeccably researched and filled with intriguing social insights, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons breathes new life into Sara and Jennie, offering a fascinating and fulsome portrait of how leaders are not just born but made.

My Darling Clementine: The story of Lady Churchill, first published in 1963, is a detailed look at the life of Clementine Churchill (née Hozier, 1885-1977) and her long (58 year) marriage to statesman Winston Churchill (1874-1965). Based on many years of interviews and research, the book paints an intimate portrait of the couple as the world went through the turbulent years of the 20th century. Clementine Churchill’s influence on her husband was immeasurable, and as Winston stated, “... I could never have succeeded without her.” Included are 16 pages of photographs. The book provides a uniquely moving and enthralling insight into the world of this inspiring woman.

The untold story of Winston Churchill's precarious finances – and the most original and surprising book about Churchill to emerge for many years. The popular image of Churchill – grandson of a duke, drinking champagne and smoking a cigar – conjures up a man of wealth and substance. The reality is that Britain's most celebrated 20th-century statesman lived for most of his life on a financial cliff-edge. Only fragments of information about his finances, or their impact on his public life, have previously emerged. With the help of unprecedented access to Churchill's private records, David Lough creates the first fully researched narrative of Churchill's private finances and business affairs. As he reveals the scale of Churchill's financial risk-taking, combined with an ability to talk or write himself out of the tightest of corners, the links between the private man and public figure become clear.

The final volume of the acclaimed official biography: “A meticulously detailed and annotated account of Churchill’s declining years . . . A contemporary classic” (Foreign Affairs). The eighth and final volume of Winston S. Churchill’s official biography begins with the defeat of Germany in 1945 and chronicles the period up to his death nearly twenty years later. It sees him first at the pinnacle of his power, leader of a victorious Britain. In July 1945 at Potsdam, Churchill, Stalin, and Truman aimed to shape postwar Europe. But upon returning home, was thrown out of office in the general election. Though out of office, Churchill worked to restore the fortunes of Britain’s Conservative Party while warning the world of Communist ambitions, urging the reconciliation of France and Germany, pioneering the concept of a united Europe, and seeking to maintain the close link between Britain and the United States. In October 1951, Churchill became prime minister for the second time. The Great Powers were navigating a precarious peace at the dawn of the nuclear age. With the election of Eisenhower and the death of Stalin, he worked for a new summit conference to improve East-West relations; but in April of 1955, ill health and pressure from colleagues forced him to resign. In retirement Churchill completed his acclaimed four-volume History of the English-Speaking Peoples and watched as world conflicts continued, still convinced they could be resolved by statesmanship. “Never despair” remained his watchword, and his faith, until the end. “A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War “The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times

More than 800 intimate letters between Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine, are presented in this collection that provides a glimpse into the couple's ardent and playful lifelong love and offers a sweeping yet accessible view of British politics in the 20th century. Edited by the youngest, and last surviving, child of the Churchills. An "L.A. Times" Best Book of the Year. Photos.

From the personal and political upheavals of the Great War, through the Churchills’ ‘wilderness years’ in the 1930s, to Clementine’s desperate efforts to preserve her husband’s health during the struggle against Hitler, this is the inspiring but often ignored story of one of the most important women in modern history. Without Churchill’s inspiring leadership Britain could not have survived its darkest hour and repelled the Nazi menace. Without his wife Clementine, however, he might never have become Prime Minister. By his own admission, the Second World War would have been ‘impossible without her’. Clementine was Winston’s emotional rock and his most trusted confidante; not only was she involved in some of the most crucial decisions of war, but she exerted an influence over her husband and the Government that would appear scandalous to modern eyes. Yet her ability to charm Britain’s allies and her humanitarian efforts on the Home Front earned her deep respect, both behind closed doors in Whitehall and among the population at large. That Clementine should become Britain’s ‘First Lady’ was by no means pre-ordained. Born into impecunious aristocracy, her childhood was far from gilded. Her mother was a serial adulteress and gambler, who spent many years uprooting her children to escape the clutches of their erstwhile father, and by the time Clementine entered polite society she had become the target of cruel snobbery and rumours about her parentage. In Winston, however, she discovered a partner as emotionally insecure as herself, and in his career she found her mission. Her dedication to his cause may have had tragic consequences for their children, but theirs was a marriage that changed the course of history. Now, acclaimed biographer Sonia Purnell explores the peculiar dynamics of this fascinating union.