Blogger

“An essay into the field of Churchill reading material that might be of more interest and use than reviews, this is a column that YOU can contribute to easily.” Thus wrote the late Dalton Newfield, editor, in FINEST HOUR 31, from which these notes are reprinted.

Have you noticed that almost every book collection which ~ beyond Churchill himself has England Under Queen Anne/Blenheim, by Trevelyn -but almost none have the companion Ramillies and the Union With Scotland, equally Churchill-related? Delighted to find Famous American Belles of the Nineteenth Century, V.T. Peacock, Lippincort, 1901, with a chapter and picture of Jennie Jerome. It is very nicely bound…. Tom Thomas reports The Reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill, Mrs. George Cornwallis-West, was reprinted by Cedric Chivers, 1973… Centenary-year publications: Winston Churchill by Elizabeth Longford, a pictorial biography with foreword by Eden, after-word by Winston S. Churchill MP…. Winston Churchill, Henry Pelling, 724 pages including 79 pp of indices and notes, is still generally regarded as the best single-volume biography… Likewise, Churchill/A Photographic Portrait, Martin Gilbert, with 364 pages of photos and cartoons, remains the best overall photo-documentary…..Winston S. Churchill/His Complete Speeches 1897-1963, edited by Robert Rhodes James, 8 volumes (Chelsea House/Bowker) was said to be “absolutely complete” but wasn’t - key passages were edited including some of the most famous.

Delightful discovery: War Impressions by the artist Mortimer Menpes, 1901, contains 99 watercolors of Boer War scenes and portraits of British leaders and personalities, two pictures of WSC, plus several pages of text, and one of Sunny Marlborough … The Great Boer War, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1900, has three WSC mentions including a description of the Armoured Train Incident. Doyle was an Army doctor and Menpes’ book has a number of pages on him as a dedicated medico … Another unusual acquisition: True Remembrances, Philip Tilden, 1954. Tilden was Churchill’s architect when Chartwell was rebuilt. No Churchill when it comes to writing (he wanders), but there are Chartwell insights that deserve shelf-space … Tom Thomas reports Battles of the Boer War, W.B. Pemberton, 1964, was republished 1974 as a Pan Books “British Battle Series” paperback. Mention of WSC, of course … Also, TT recommends two books of Fisherisms by Admiral Lord Fisher himself, Memories and Records, Hodder & Stoughton; WSC, of course, in these too…

“Leatherbound” does not exactly describe my Lives of the ‘Lustrious by Stephen & Lee, 1901, as it is covered with limp calfskin, no boards. A spoof of the great, it gives a pungent page to “CHURCHILL, WINSTON, Unknown Quantity”. … How seldom we see Marlborough with unfaded spines! I found it recently in original dust jackets, spines immaculate, but it wasn’t cheap…

[There followed some remarks about the Woods Bibliography's current availability status. Like most of us, Mr. Newfield ran hot and cold on Woods]: It amazes that this work, which is by far the best In its field, has received such criticism. Perhaps the critics will seek to improve it with their own? [Well, the critics are still promising.]

After telling the bookseller I was only interested in Churchill, he was surprised when I pounced on a copy of The War and Colonel Warden. [Reminds me of how another bookseller did a double-take when I pounced on my copy of Long Adventure - Ed.] … Possibly the most beautiful of Churchill books, Woods D(a)5 and D(a)8, published by Rarsohoff~ and printed by the Grabhorn Press in San Francisco, were printed in limited editions of 250 each; grab them when you see them. It is a tragedy that Grabhorn used “selfend” papers, the result being that almost every copy has one of two binding flaws front and back. Grabhorn should have known better - but they are still most desirable… Can anyone find a copy of Cawthorne’s Mr. Speaker, Sir?……. Was Ascalon/The Story of Sir Winston Churchill’s War-Time Flights 1943-1945, Gerrard Tickell, H&S, London, 1964, ever produced in hard cover? … And, if you collect mentions of Randolph Churchill and his son, don’t overlook The Great Saharan Mouse-Hunt, Pomeroy and Collins, Hutchinson, London 1962; a comic bit on RSC and some views of the then-student WSC.