Churchill fought the war twice over - as Prime Minister and again as its premier historian. In 1948-54 he published six volumes of memoirs which secured his reputation and shaped our understanding of the conflict to this day. Using the drafts and correspondence for The Second World War, David Reynolds opens our eyes to Churchill the author and to the research 'syndicate' on whom he depended. We see how the memoirs were censored by Whitehall to conceal secrets such as the codebreakers at Bletchley Park, and how Churchill ...
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Churchill fought the war twice over - as Prime Minister and again as its premier historian. In 1948-54 he published six volumes of memoirs which secured his reputation and shaped our understanding of the conflict to this day. Using the drafts and correspondence for The Second World War, David Reynolds opens our eyes to Churchill the author and to the research 'syndicate' on whom he depended. We see how the memoirs were censored by Whitehall to conceal secrets such as the codebreakers at Bletchley Park, and how Churchill himself censored them to avoid offending current world leaders. This book forces us to reconsider much received wisdom about the war and illuminates an unjustly neglected period of his life - the Second Wilderness Years of 1945-51, when Churchill, now over seventy, wrote himself into history, politicked himself back into Downing Street and delivered some of the most important speeches of his career.
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Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $2.36, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Random House (NY).
Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $2.36, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Random House (NY).
Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $2.36, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Random House (NY).
Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $2.36, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Random House (NY).
Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $2.36, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Random House (NY).
Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $3.22, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Basic Books.
Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $3.22, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Basic Books.
Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $3.22, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Basic Books.
Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $3.22, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Basic Books.
Add this copy of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing to cart. $3.22, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Basic Books.
This book is about the writing of "The Second World War", which was written by a syndicate led by Winston Churchill. Churchill planned to write about the war and was able to have policies put in place allowing him access to papers that others would not. He was alleged to have said we'll leave that to history but "I'll be one of the historians." As with most memoirs, issues were left out, conflated and/or distorted to put the 'author' in the best light possible. This was important to Churchill because he remained in politics. Reynolds does a great job of showing the politics involved in writing Churchill's 'memoir' and of the difficulties in publishing "The Second World War." It's a great book about writing even if you only have time to read the first half.
QA_laska
Sep 25, 2008
Riveting & revealing
A fascinating figure, definitely recommended for history buffs.