Churchill and the bomb in war and Cold War

425 Pages·2018·3.723 MB·English

by  Ruane, Kevin

CHURCHILL AND THE BOMB IN WAR
AND COLD WAR
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CHURCHILL AND THE BOMB IN WAR
AND COLD WAR
Kevin Ruane
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
LONDON • OXFORD • NEW YORK • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY
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Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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London New York
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UK USA
www.bloomsbury.com
BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2016
© Kevin Ruane, 2016
Kevin Ruane has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be
identifi ed as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from
action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.
British Library Cataloguing-i n-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN : HB : 978-1-4725-2338-9
e PDF : 978-1-4725-2347-1
ePub: 978-1-4725-3216-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n-Publication Data
Names: Ruane, Kevin, author.
Title: Churchill and the bomb in war and Cold War / Kevin Ruane.
Description: London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016000484 (print) | LCCN 2016015737 (ebook) | ISBN
9781472530806 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781472523389 (hardback) | ISBN 9781472523471
(ePDF) | ISBN 9781472532169 (ePub)
Subjects: LCSH: Churchill, Winston, 1874–1965—Political and social views. |
Nuclear weapons—Great Britain—History—20th century. | Great
Britain—Politics and government—1936–1945. | Great Britain—Politics and
government—1945–1964. | Churchill, Winston, 1874–1965—Infl uence. |
Nuclear warfare—History—20th century.
Classifi cation: LCC DA566.9.C5 R78 2016 (print) | LCC DA566.9.C5 (ebook) |
DDC 355.02/17092--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016000484
Cover design: Paul Burgess
Cover image © Time & Life Pictures / David Savill / Topical Press Agency / Getty Images
Typeset by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk

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For Vanessa
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations Used in Text xi
Introduction: So Many Winston Churchills xii
Part I: War 1
1 Only Connect . . . 3
2 Tube Alloys 21
3 Allies at War 41
4 Th e Quebec Agreement 59
5 Mortal Crimes 79
6 Bolsheviks, Bombs and Bad Omens 95
7 Trinity and Potsdam 113
Part II: Cold War 131
8 Heavy Metal, Iron Curtain 133
9 Warmongering and Peacemongering 155
10 To the Summit 173
11 Atomic Angles 193
12 Hurricane Warning 211
13 A Pill to End It All 227
14 H-bomb Fever 245
15 Th e July Days 263
16 Sturdy Child of Terror 283
Conclusion: ‘. . . If God Wearied of Mankind’ 299
Abbreviations Used in Notes 317
Notes 319
Bibliography 373
Index 389
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ILLUSTRATIONS
1.1 Lindemann and Churchill in 1940 10
2.1 Sir John Anderson 30
3.1 Churchill and Roosevelt, June 1942 44
4.1 Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, Tehran, 1943 68
5.1 Niels Bohr 81
6.1 Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin in the grounds of the Livadiya Palace,
Yalta, during the Th ree Power Conference 102
6.2 Harry S. Truman 109
8.1 Hiroshima, 6 August 1945 140
8.2 Churchill, Fulton, 5 March 1946 151
10.1 Churchill and Attlee, February 1950 177
11.1 Th e Prof, November 1951 196
13.1 Churchill and Eden, Bermuda, December 1953 236
14.1 Churchill by Illingworth, Punch , 3 February 1954 250
15.1 Dulles, Churchill, Eisenhower, Eden, Washington 1954 267
16.1 Churchill leaves for the Palace, 5 April 1955 295
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
‘Whilst writing, a book is an adventure’, Winston Churchill refl ected in 1949. ‘To begin
with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a
master, and then a tyrant. Th e last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to
your servitude, you kill the monster, and fl ing him to the public.’1
Churchill, a prolifi c author, knew whereof he spoke. However, as my family will
testify, the process of writing this particular book went very quickly to the tyrant phase.
Th e fact that it was fi nished at all – never mind completed miraculously close to the
contractual deadline – owes a tremendous amount to the support and understanding of
my children, Niamh, Fiontan and Eimear, of my step- son, Sam, and above all of my wife,
Vanessa, who made (and makes) everything possible and to whom the book is lovingly
dedicated.
Although the arguments and interpretations in C hurchill and the Bomb are all my
own, the fi nal outcome – the monster, as it were – has benefi tted from the encouragement,
advice and wisdom of friends, colleagues and scholars, many of whom gave generously
of their time in reading all or parts of the manuscript. My thanks, therefore, to Paul
Addison, Kathy Burk, Jackie Eales, Matthew Jones, Shaun Sturips, Richard Toye, Geoff rey
Warner, Martin Watts and John Young. To James Ellison, I owe especial thanks: a fi ne
historian, he is also the frankest and most penetrating of critics. All writers need an
Ellison and I count myself singularly fortunate to have the original in my life – and not
just as a critic and sounding- board but as the very best of friends.
I must also thank, in no particular order: Sean Greenwood who, many years ago, fi rst
inspired me to believe I could be an historian; my friends and colleagues in the History
Department (as was) at Canterbury Christ Church, and indeed the University itself for
its support for my research over several decades; the QR committee of the CCCU
School of Humanities for fi nancial backing for my various travels; the many archivists
and librarians who have helped me track down the nuclear Churchill – in particular
Allen Packwood and his team at the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College,
Cambridge, and Finn Aaserud and Felicity Pons at the Bohr Archive in Copenhagen;
Wolfson College Cambridge for granting me visiting academic status complete with a
room in Sir Vivian Fuchs House; Celia Morris for her hospitality in Washington DC ; at
Bloomsbury Publishing, Emily Drewe, Frances Arnold and Emma Goode for the most
positive and stress- free publishing experience of my career; John and Nickola Ford for a
wooden retreat of great calm and contemplative value; Dr Philippe Laissue for his
scientifi c acumen and wondrous punning; Alex Kent for his geographical pointers;
Jonathan Hogg for kindly allowing me to view the pre- publication proofs of his brilliant
study of B ritish Nuclear Culture ; Richard Smyth and Mark O’Donnell, the alternative
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