The story of Churchill's relationship with the various kings and queens he served during his long political career, from his time as a radical Liberal under Edward VII, through his Finest Hour in the Second World War, to his last premiership under Elizabeth II.
The story of Winston Churchill's long relationship with the Crown—from radical liberal under Edward VII to his last premiership as an old man under the young Queen Elizabeth II.
Winston Churchill was born in a palace and was given a funeral worthy of a king. His family had enjoyed an intimate association with the British monarchy stretching back centuries. As King Edward VIII said of him, 'I have never met anyone of royal blood who exemplified in such high degree the ideal of the 'good king.'
Churchill and the Crown tells the story of Churchill's relationship with the various kings and queens he served during his long political career, from young journalist under Edward VII, through his dramatic fall from grace in the First World War under George V, the frustrations of appeasement during the interwar period and his relationship with Edward VIII during the abdication crisis of 1936, culminating in his Finest Hour in the Second World War under George VI and the coda of Churchill's public service to his final monarch: Queen Elizabeth II.
Ted Powell analyses Churchill's writings on monarchy and his role in preserving and establishing monarchies outside Britain. At the core of the book is a series of studies of Churchill's relationships with the monarchs he served. These studies offer a two-way perspective, examining both Churchill's view of individual monarchs and their attitudes towards him. They shed light not only on Churchill's career but also on the changing role of the monarchy in 20th century Britain.
Arvustused
Deeply researched and engagingly written, Churchill and the Crown sheds new light on one of the most important and interesting relationships of 20th century history - between Britain's greatest statesman and the monarchs he served for over six decades. * Lee Pollock, Historian and former Executive Director of the International Churchill Society * Churchill's ninety-year life encompassed the reigns of six British sovereigns from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth, and his relationships with them, and with other royal dynasties in Europe and the Middle East, were significant themes in his political and social life. Ted Powell's engrossing book offers the first fully comprehensive account of Churchill as (in his wife's words) 'Monarchical No. 1'. * Sir David Cannadine, Dodge Professor of History, Emeritus * [ A] unique and welcome look at Winston Churchill's undying enthusiasm for Britain's constitutional monarchy. ... highly insightful and readable. * Anthony Tucker-Jones, History of War *
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
List of Illustrations
Introduction: Churchill and the Crown
1: A Royalist Heritage: Ancestry and Parentage
2: Project Winston, 1894-1901
3: Making a Career: The Reign of Edward VII, 1901-1910
4: 'Bull in a China Shop', 1910-1915
5: The World Crisis, 1915-1922
6: In Defence of Monarchy, 1922-1939
7: Churchill and the Kaiser
8: Churchill and the Abdication, 1936
9: Divided Loyalties, 1937-1940
10: 'The Lion's Roar', 1940-1945
11: Churchill and Overseas Monarchies
12: Indian Summer, 1945-1955
Epilogue: A Royal Funeral
Notes
Picture Acknowledgements
Text Acknowledgements
Index
Ted Powell spent the early part of his career as Fellow and Director of Studies in History at Downing College, Cambridge. Later he qualified as a solicitor, and spent many years as a partner of national law firm Mills & Reeve. He is the author of Kingship Law and Society: Criminal Justice in the Reign of Henry V (1989) and King Edward VIII: An American Life (2018).
