Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill Read online

  affairs

  birth

  death

  extravagance

  marriages

  reputation as a beauty

  William Manchester’s description of

  Churchill, John, 1st Duke of Marlborough

  Churchill, John, 7th Duke of Marlborough (grandfather of W. C.)

  Churchill, Marigold (daughter of W. C.)

  Churchill, Mary (Lady Soames, daughter of W. C.)

  Churchill, Randolph (father of W. C.)

  death

  depression

  disappointment in his son

  extravagance

  influence on his son

  political career

  sexual activity

  W. C.’s writings about

  Churchill, Randolph (son of W. C.)

  Churchill, Sarah, 1st Duchess of Marlborough

  Churchill, Sarah (Lady Audley, daughter of W. C.)

  Churchill: The End of Glory (Charmley)

  Churchill: Visions of Glory (Manchester)

  Churchill, Winston

  birth

  burial at Blenheim Palace

  childhood pets

  children

  death

  early childhood

  facts and assumptions

  family background

  fatherhood and family life

  funeral

  health

  heroic views of

  historical context

  honors and awards

  illnesses and injuries

  marriage

  memorial in Westminster Abbey

  nicknames

  retirement

  timeline of key events

  vital statistics

  See also character and personal qualities of W. C.; photographs of W. C.; political career of W. C.

  Churchill, Winston, American novelist

  Citizen Kane,

  Clarke, Kenneth

  Clifford, Clark

  Clough, Arthur Hugh

  Cody, Buffalo Bill

  Collins, Michael

  Colville, John (Jock)

  Conservative Party

  See also political career of W. C.

  contemporaries of W. C.

  Cooper, Diana

  Coward, Noël

  Cowles, Virginia

  The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Gibbon)

  Derby, Lord

  Diana, Princess of Wales

  Digby, Pamela

  Douglas-Home, Alec

  The Duel: Hitler vs. Churchill (Lukacs)

  The Duke’s Children (Trollope)

  Dulles, John Foster

  Eckersley, Peter

  Eden, Anthony

  education of W. C.

  at boarding school

  at Harrow

  at Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst

  self-teaching

  Edward VII, King of England

  Edward VIII, King of England

  Einstein, Albert

  Eisenhower, Dwight

  Elizabeth II, Queen of England

  Empire story of W. C.

  class contexts

  decline of the Empire

  heroic tragedy of W. C.

  hopes for union with the U.S.

  impoverishment by World War II

  Indian independence

  map

  racial contexts

  travel of W. C.

  Essays (Macaulay)

  Ethelred the Unready, King of England

  Everest, Elizabeth (nanny “Woom”)

  Fisher, Lord

  Fonteyn, Margot

  Franks, Oliver

  Freemasonry

  Freud, Sigmund

  Gandhi, Mahatma

  Garbo, Greta

  George V, King of England

  George VI, King of England

  Gibbon, Edward

  Gibraltar’s apes

  Gilbert, Martinn

  Gilbert and Sullivan operas

  Gladstone, William

  Goebbels, Joseph

  Goldberg Variations (J. S. Bach)

  Gospels of the New Testament

  government posts held by W. C.

  Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

  Chancellor of the Exchequer

  Colonial Secretary

  First Lord of the Admiralty

  First Lord of the Admiralty

  Home Secretary

  Minister of Defense

  Minister of Munitions

  President of the Board of Trade

  Secretary of State for War and Air

  Undersecretary of State for the Colonies

  See also Prime Ministry of W. C.

  Graham, Billy

  Grant, Ulysses

  Great Contemporaries (W. Churchill)

  The Great Dictator (film)

  Grimthorpe, Lord

  Haggard, H. Rider

  Haile Selassie

  Halifax, Lord. See Wood, Edward (Lord Halifax)

  Hamlet (Shakespeare)

  Hanfstaengel, Putzi

  Harriman, Pamela

  “Haystack” series (Monet)

  Hearst, William Randolph

  Henry V (Shakespeare)

  heroic views of W. C.

  criticism of

  support for

  tragic hero version

  Hiss, Alger

  A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (W. Churchill)n

  focus on politics and war

  the Island story

  Hitler, Adolf

  “A great Empire will be destroyed . . .” speech

  death

  on the Duke of Windsor

  “I am willing to sign anything. . . .” speech

  leadership style

  personal insecurity

  “The stronger man is right . . .” speech

  W. C.’s insight into

  Hoover, Herbert

  Hopwood, Francis

  Hore-Belisha, Leslie

  House of Commons

  See also political career of W. C.

  Housman, A. E.

  Hozier, Clementine. See Churchill, Clementine

  Ian Hamilton’s March (W. Churchill)

  Imperialism. See Empire story of W. C.

  India

  W. C.’s opposition to independence

  W. C.’s racist attitudes towards

  Inönü, Ismet

  Island story of W. C.

  Ismay, Hastings (Pug)

  Jacob, Ian

  James, Henry

  Jenkins, Roy

  Jerome, Jennie. See Churchill, Jennie

  Jerome, Leonard

  Julius Caesar

  Keegan, John

  Keller, Helen

  Kelly, Grace

  Kennedy, John F.

  Kennedy, Joseph

  Kershaw, Ian

  Keynes, John Maynard

  King, Mackenzie

  King John (Shakespeare)

  King Solomon’s Mines (Haggard)

  Kipling, Rudyard

  Kitchener, Lord

  Kurosawa, Akira

  Lady Hamilton (film)

  The Last Lion (Manchester)

  Lawrence, T. E. (of Arabia)

  Leslie, Anita

  Liberal Party

  See also political career of W. C.

  Lind, Jennie

  Lives (Plutarch)

  Lloyd George, David

  Lockhart, Robert Bruce

  Londonderry, Lord

  London to Ladysmith via Pretoria (W. Churchill)

  Lord Randolph Churchill (W. Churchill)

  Low, David

  Luce, Henry

  Lukacs, John

  Macaulay, Thomas

  MacDonald, Ramsey

  Macmillan, Harold

  Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum

  The Malakand Field Force (W. Churchill)

  Malcolm, Janet

  Manchester, William

  map of the British Empire

  Marlborough: His Life and
Times (W. Churchill)

  Marlborough, 1st Duke of. See Churchill, John, 1st Duke of Marlborough

  Marlborough, 7th Duke of. See Churchill, John, 7th Duke of Marlborough

  Marsh, Edward

  Martin, John

  Marx, Karl

  Maugham, Somerset

  Maurois, André

  military service of W. C.

  ambition

  army service

  in India

  in “little wars,”

  during World War I

  Moir, Phyllis

  Monet, Claude

  Montgomery, Bernard

  Moran, Lord. See Wilson, Charles McMoran (Lord Moran)

  Morrison, Herbert

  Morton, H. V.

  Mr. Churchill in 1940: A Portrait of a Great Man at a Great Moment (Berlin)

  Murrow, Edward R.

  My African Journey (W. Churchill)

  My Early Life (W. Churchill)

  Napoleon

  Nel, Elizabeth

  Nicolson, Haroldn

  Nietzsche, Friedrich

  Nixon, Richard

  Nobel Prize in literature

  The Oaken Heart (Allingham)

  Olivier, Laurence

  Onassis, Aristotle

  Order of the Garter

  Orpen, William

  Painting as a Pastime (W. Churchill)

  Pankhurst, Emmeline

  Patton, George

  photographs of W. C.

  aged seven

  in Berlin

  beside an airplane

  celebrating victory in Europe

  with Chamberlain

  with Clementine

  in Fourth Hussars uniform

  with his mother

  on HMS Prince of Wales

  painting

  at polo match

  with Queen Elizabeth II

  with Roosevelt

  in siren suit

  statue in Parliament Square, London

  “V” for victory

  of W. C.’s symbols

  of World War II activities

  at Yalta

  Pliny

  Plutarch’s Lives,

  political career of W. C.

  ACTION THIS DAY labels

  belief in his own destiny

  belligerence

  comments on socialism

  Dardanelles campaign

  defeat of 1899

  defeat of 1922

  defeat of 1945

  defense of Edward VIII’s marriage

  demands on his staff

  domestic policies

  emotionalism in public

  establishment of the British Air Force

  fascination with modern technology

  “finest hour,” May 28

  first election to the House of Commons

  influence of his father

  insight into the Nazi threat

  Leader of the Opposition

  leadership style

  love of pomp and ceremony

  management style

  party switching

  reactionary views

  relationship with FDR

  rises and falls

  royalist beliefs

  views on women’s suffrage

  vision of England’s glory

  wilderness years (1929–1939)

  See also Empire story of W. C.; government posts held by W. C.; Island story of W. C.; Prime Ministry of W. C.

  Ponting, Clive

  Porter, Katherine Anne

  portraits of W. C.

  Pound, Admiral

  Prime Ministry of W. C.

  from 1951–1955

  belief in his own destiny

  choice of, by Chamberlain

  defeat in 1945

  “finest hour,” May 28

  indifference to public opinion

  management style

  use of media

  during World War II

  See also public speaking; World War II

  Profumo, John

  public speaking of W. C.

  ability to inspire

  humor

  inability to extemporize

  quotability

  role of emotionn

  style and vocabulary

  use of a proxyn

  See also speeches

  Pygmalion (Shaw)

  Rashomon (Kurosawa)

  Reves, Emery

  Rhodes, James Robert

  Richard II (Shakespeare)

  Richard III (Shakespeare)

  The River War (W. Churchill)

  Roosevelt, Eleanor

  Roosevelt, Franklin D.

  on alcohol use of W. C.

  correspondence with W. C.

  meetings with W. C. and others

  relationship with W. C.

  undermining of the British Empire

  W. C.’s behavior towards

  Roosevelt, Theodore

  Rose, Norman

  Rothschild, Lionel Walter

  “Rouen Cathedral” series (Monet)

  Royal Academy exhibition of 1947

  Russell, Wendy

  Sackville-West, Vita

  Salisbury, Lord. See Cecil, Robert

  Sandys, Duncan

  Sassoon, Siegfried

  Savrola (W. Churchill)

  “Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth” (Clough)

  Scott, Percy

  The Second World War (W. Churchill)

  Seely, Jack

  servants of W. C.

  Mrs. Everest (nanny)

  valets

  Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Lawrence)

  Shakespeare

  Shaw, George Bernard

  Shelley, Norman

  Sheridan, Clare

  Simpson, Wallis

  Snow, C. P.

  Soames, Christopher

  speeches

  “. . . a greater day . . .”

  “. . . a riddle wrapped in a mystery . . .”

  “. . . blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

  “. . . certain splendid memory . . .”

  Chamberlain’s eulogy

  “. . . each one of us lies choking,”

  “. . . if he feeds the crocodile . . .”

  “. . . iron curtain . . .”

  “London can take it.”

  “. . . lots of people can make good plans . . .”

  “Never give in . . .”

  “Never was so much owed . . .”

  “. . . Poland is indestructible . . .”

  “Put your confidence in us . . .”

  “. . . slippery slope,”

  “Socialism seeks to pull down . . .”

  “. . . the lion heart.”

  “. . . the liquidation of the British Empire.”

  “. . . the tough fibre of the Londoners . . .”

  “. . . the worst features of Communism . . .”

  “. . . this was their finest hour,”

  “. . . we shall never surrender;”

  “. . . whatever happens at Dunkirk . . .”

  Stalin, Joseph

  Stanley, Venetia

  Stettinius, Edward

  Stevens, Wallace

  Stevenson, Frances

  Storr, Anthony

  The Story of the Malakand Field Force (W. Churchill)

  Strachey, Lytton

  Sutherland, Graham

  symbols of W. C.

  cigars

  hats

  siren suits

  uniforms

  use of liquor

  “V” for victory

  Taylor, A.J.P.

  Tedder, Arthur

  “The Scaffolding of Rhetoric” (W. Churchill)

  “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” (Stevens)

  Thoughts and Adventures (W. Churchill)

  time line of key events

  Time magazine

  Tito, Josip Broz

  “The Tower of Katoubia Mosque” (W. Churchill)

  tragic hero version of W. C.’s life and c
areer

  Trollope, Anthony

  Truman, Harry

  Twain, Mark

  United States

  Atlantic Charter

  entry into World War II

  honorary citizenship of W. C.

  W. C.’s hopes of union with

  W. C.’s trust in

  Vanderbilt, Consuelo

  Vice-Regal Lodge, Dublin

  Victoria, Queen of England

  Wavell, Archibaldn

  Webb, Beatrice

  Weizmann, Chaim

  Wells, H. G.

  Westminster Abbey

  William the Conqueror

  Wilson, Charles McMoran (Lord Moran)

  Wilson, Harold

  Winston S. Churchill: Finest Hour (Gilbert)

  Winston S. Churchill: The Prophet of Truth (Gilbert)

  Wood, Edward (Lord Halifax)

  Woolf, Virginia

  The World Crisis (W. Churchill)

  World War I

  Dardanelles campaign

  emergence of pacifism

  First Lord of the Admiralty

  military service of W. C.

  World War II

  Atlantic Charter

  Battle of Britain

  D-Day

  declaration of war on Japan

  defeat of Rommel’s army

  evacuation of Dunkirk

  “finest hour” of W. C.

  heroic view of W. C.

  impoverishment of the Empire

  invasion of the U.S.S.R.

  Japan’s surrender

  Lend–Lease Act

  London blitz

  Munich appeasement

  Norway campaign

  pacifist views

  Pearl Harbor attack

  Placentia Bay meeting

  Potsdam Conference

  Quebec Conference

  Singapore surrendern

  Tehran Conference

  United States’ role

  victory in Europe

  W. C.’s support of resistance movements

  W. C.’s visits to the front

  W C.’s visit to Berlin

  Yalta meetingn

  writings of W. C.

  biographies

  British history

  correspondence with FDR

  earnings from

  heroic language use

  historic memoirs

  journalism career

  lack of interest in romance and sexuality

  quantity

  quotability

  See also names of specific works

  Yeats, William Butler

  PHOTO: © DAVE CROSS

  GRETCHEN RUBIN received her undergraduate and law degrees from Yale and was editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal. She clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court and served as counsel to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt. She teaches at Yale Law School and School of Management and is the author of Power Money Fame Sex: A User’s Guide.

  Visit the author’s website at www.gretchenrubin.com.

  By Gretchen Rubin

  Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill

  Power Money Fame Sex: A User’s Guide

  PRAISE FOR Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill

  “A compelling read . . . that achieves the considerable feat of distilling an epic life to its essence while deconstructing the art of biography. Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill does for the writing of history what Wallace Stevens’s ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird’ did for poetry—both does it and shows us how it’s done.”