Winston Churchill Reporting : Adventures of a Young War Correspondent PDF
Preview Winston Churchill Reporting : Adventures of a Young War Correspondent
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD WINSTON CHURCHILL REPORTING 9780306823817-text.indd 1 7/23/15 1:25 PM Winston Churchill 9780306823817-text.indd 2 7/23/15 1:25 PM Winston Churchill REPORTING Adventures of a Young War Correspondent SIMON READ D A C A P O P R E S S A Member of the Perseus Books Group 9780306823817-text.indd 3 7/23/15 1:25 PM Copyright © 2015 by Simon Read For quotes reproduced from the works of Winston S. Churchill: Reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown, London on behalf of the Beneficiaries of the Estate of Winston S. Churchill. Copyright © The Beneficiaries of the Estate of Winston S. Churchill. For images reproduced from the Chartwell and Randolph Churchill Collections, held at The Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge: Reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown, London on behalf of the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02210. Designed by Cynthia Young Set in 11.75 point Adobe Garamond Pro by the Perseus Books Group Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: 978-0-306-82381-7 (hardcopy) ISBN: 978-0-306-82382-4 (e-book) Published by Da Capo Press A Member of the Perseus Books Group www.dacapopress.com Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the U.S. by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected]. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 9780306823817-text.indd 4 7/23/15 1:25 PM k This one’s for Katie, Spencer, and Cameron, with much love. To my sons, I will say the moral of this story is clear: Don’t give up. 9780306823817-text.indd 5 7/23/15 1:25 PM 9780306823817-text.indd 6 7/23/15 1:25 PM Contents Maps viii Author’s Note ix Prologue: History Calling 1 1 In a Hurry 5 2 Havana via New York 15 3 Churchill Under Fire 27 4 Letters and Books 43 5 The Theater of War 55 6 Once More Unto the Breach 79 7 The River War 93 8 Last Charge at Omdurman 111 9 Literary Pursuits 133 10 Churchill Restrained 141 11 Dead or Alive 167 12 Back in the Fray 181 13 Blood and Fury 201 14 Adventures and Escapes 219 Epilogue: Into History 237 Acknowledgments 249 Bibliography 251 Notes 259 Index 299 vii 9780306823817-text.indd 7 7/23/15 1:25 PM Maps Churchill in Cuba 22 Churchill in India 48 Churchill on the North-West Frontier 62 Churchill in the Sudan 103 Churchill in South Africa 144 viii 9780306823817-text.indd 8 7/23/15 1:25 PM Author’s Note I can hear the question now: “Why another book about Winston Churchill?” Because Churchill, complex and multifaceted as he was, offers so many angles from which we can explore his life and career. Books about Churchill gener- ally focus on his role as Great Britain’s iconic war leader or cover his life in its entirety. The latter tend to paint in broad brushstrokes, if only because there’s so much ground to cover. In recent years, however, a number of books have been published focusing on a single aspect of Churchill’s long and varied life, whether it be his career as an author (Peter Clarke’s Mr. Churchill’s Profession), his early political life (Young Titan by Michael Sheldon), or even his culinary tastes (Cita Stelzer’s Dinner with Churchill), to name a few. But the defining image of Churchill is that of unconquerable warlord: the bulldog scowl, the ever-present cigar, the “V” for victory salute, and a legacy of soaring oratory that continues to stir emotions. When most of us think of Churchill, we think of him as the icon immortalized by history—but what forces shaped him into the man he became? He was, after all, sixty-five years old when he ascended to No. 10 Downing Street, with a life behind him not short on accomplishment. Various Churchill biographers will undoubtedly give various answers. As this book attests, I think his most formative years were those he spent as a war cor- respondent, between 1895 and 1900. He mastered his command of the language writing articles and books, and experienced the heroics and horrors of combat that forever shaped his complex views of war. And it is war for which Churchill will always be remembered. As a side note, it was during this period that he de- veloped a fondness for whisky and discovered the pleasures of a well-made cigar. As a former newspaper reporter, I’ve always been fascinated by Churchill the journalist. The volume in your hands gave me a chance to dive deep into one of the most exciting chapters of an already eventful life—and one that has not yet been the sole topic of a book. That said, I don’t consider this a biography or a work of history—although it contains elements of both. It is, instead, a true tale of adventure featuring Winston Churchill in the starring role. When writing the book, I described it to friends as “Winston Churchill as Indiana Jones.” As clichéd as it sounds, I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Cheers. Simon Read June 2015 ix 9780306823817-text.indd 9 7/23/15 1:25 PM
Description:The list of books you might like
