The Churchill Documents Volume 20 Normandy And Beyond May December 1944

Forms part of the official biography of Winston Churchill, consisting of eight narrative volumes and twenty-three planned document volumes. Drawn from Churchill's personal papers and other archives, the document volumes contain materials referenced in the narrative, including top secret telegrams, private letters and diaries from family, friends, and opponents.

This in-depth account of the legendary leader’s ailments and their effects is a “tremendously important contribution to Churchillian studies” (Claremont Review of Books). Prominent physicians Allister Vale and John Scadding have written a meticulously researched and definitive account documenting all of Winston Churchill’s major illnesses, from an episode of childhood pneumonia in 1886 until his death in 1965. They have adopted a thorough approach in gaining access to numerous sources of medical information and have cited extensively from the clinical records of the distinguished physicians and surgeons invited to consult on Churchill during his many episodes of illness. These include not only objective clinical data, but also personal reflections by Churchill’s family, friends and political colleagues, resulting in a unique and fascinating study.

The intimate, untold story of Winston Churchill's enduring yet volatile bond with his only son, Randolph “Ireland draws unforgettable sketches of life in the Churchill circle, much like Erik Larson did in The Splendid and the Vile.”―Kirkus • “Fascinating… well-researched and well-written.”—Andrew Roberts • “Beautifully written… A triumph.”—Damien Lewis • “Fascinating, acute and touching.”—Simon Sebag Montefiore We think we know Winston Churchill: the bulldog grimace, the ever-present cigar, the wit and wisdom that led Great Britain through the Second World War. Yet away from the House of Commons and the Cabinet War Rooms, Churchill was a loving family man who doted on his children, none more so than Randolph, his only boy and Winston's anointed heir to the Churchill legacy. Randolph may have been born in his father's shadow, but his father, who had been neglected by his own parents, was determined to see him go far. For decades, throughout Winston's climb to greatness, father and son were inseparable—dining with Britain's elite, gossiping and swilling Champagne at high society parties, holidaying on the French Riviera, touring Prohibition-era America. Captivated by Winston's power, bravery, and charisma, Randolph worshipped his father, and Winston obsessed over his son's future. But their love was complex and combustible, complicated by money, class, and privilege, shaded with ambition, outsize expectations, resentments, and failures. Deeply researched and magnificently written, Churchill & Son is a revealing and surprising portrait of one of history's most celebrated figures.

Fateful Question, September 1943 to April 1944, is the third document volume to the seventh narrative volume, Winston S. Churchill: Road to Victory, 1941-1945. The document volumes for the remainder of 1944 through 1965 are forthcoming. This volume relates Churchill's story from the invasion of mainland Italy to the canal preparations for Operation Overlord. During these eight months, Churchill traveled nearly 14,000 miles, wrote more than 1,800 pieces of correspondence, and delivered over a dozen speeches. As the tide of the war turned in favor of the Allies, Churchill focused his attention and energy on matters such as the Italian campaign and its early stagnation, the three major Allied conferences at the end of 1943, the bombing campaign executed by the British and Americans against the German homeland, and the desperate need for landing craft to deploy in the impending cross-Channel invasion. Also during this period, Churchill's involvement in the Soviet-Polish controversy displayed his nascent concerns over the influence of communism in post-war Europe. Despite the continuing destruction of war and uncertainty about upcoming operations, it was at long last possible to consider what the peace would look like. As Larry P. Arnn writes in the preface, Churchill's "early hope in the war was that Britain would conduct itself with honor and achieve its 'Finest hour,' and if that were done, victory might be achieved. Now the victory looked sure.

In 1945, the Indian British XIV Army inflicted on the Imperial Japanese Army in Burma the worst defeat in its history. That campaign, the most brilliant and original operational maneuver conducted by any British general in the twentieth century, largely forgotten until now, is a full and fresh account utilizing a full range of materials, from personal accounts to archival holdings—including the bits the official historians left out, such as the attempt by a jealous British Guards officer to have Slim sacked at the conclusion of the campaign. After the retreat from Burma in 1942, Lieutenant General Sir William Slim, commander of the British XIV Army, played a crucial role in the remarkable military renaissance that transformed the Indian Army and then, with that reborn army, won two defensive battles in 1944, and in the 1945 campaign shredded his Japanese opponents. Behind this dramatic story was another: the war marked the effective end of the Raj. This great transformation was, of course, brought about by many factors but not the least of them was the “Indianization” of the Indian Army’s officer corps under the pressure of war. As Slim’s great victory signposted the change from the army Kipling knew to a modern army with a growing number of Indian officers, the praetorian guard of the Raj evaporated. “Every Indian officer worth his salt is a nationalist,” the Indian Army’s commander-in-chief, Claude Auchinleck, said as the XIV Army took Rangoon. The Burma campaign may not have contributed in a major fashion to the final defeat of Japan, but it was of first-rate importance in the transformation of South Asia, as well as underlining the continuing importance of inspired leadership in complex human endeavors.

Forms part of the official biography of Winston Churchill, consisting of eight narrative volumes and twenty-three planned document volumes. Drawn from Churchill's personal papers and other archives, the document volumes contain materials referenced in the narrative, including top secret telegrams, private letters and diaries from family, friends, and opponents.

Testing Times, volume 17 in the series of supplementary documention for the multivolume Churchill Biography, covers 1942 and the expansion of World War II. Testing Times collects a remarkably wide range of supporting documentation too voluminous to include in the biography volumes.

Forms part of the official biography of Winston Churchill, consisting of eight narrative volumes and twenty-three planned document volumes. Drawn from Churchill's personal papers and other archives, the document volumes contain materials referenced in the narrative, including top secret telegrams, private letters and diaries from family, friends, and opponents.