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By BiblioArchives /
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With a certain dynamic,
charismatic Englishman showing up in the cinema at the end of this week, I
thought I’d ask a friend of mine what he thought about the resurgence of
interest in one of history’s greatest leaders and what shaped the man who
rallied a nation. Simon Read is the author of Winston Churchill Reporting: Adventures of a Young War Correspondent.
Simon started out the same
way I did, as a newspaper reporter (we met while covering crime for competing
papers). Simon then turned to true crime, writing several fantastic books in
that genre. Then came Winston. Before he became the epitome of the
elder statesman, he was a daring journalist who covered multiple wars. Didn't know that? Then read on . . .
By Simon Read
Prime Minister Winston
Churchill’s finest hour, rallying Great Britain to carry on its solitary
struggle against Nazi Germany in the summer of 1940, is getting the big screen
treatment this month in Universal’s “Darkest Hour.” Churchill is a man frozen
in time: forever the determined war leader with the bulldog scowl and
ever-present cigar. The image has become so pervasive, the man’s almost been
rendered a caricature—one that overshadows his stunning achievements and true
depth of character.
In today’s troubling
political climate, Churchill can seem something of an aberration: a politician
who spoke the truth regardless of the political cost, who put country before
party, and who torpedoed his career multiple times to do what he thought was
right. That’s not to say the man was without fault. His views on empire and the
superiority of the English-speaking peoples are painfully outdated today. But
there was never any question as to where Churchill stood, good or bad. He is, when compared to many of today’s
leaders, a tonic.
He viewed his life prior
to becoming prime minister at the age of sixty-five as a prelude to his
greatest challenge. “I felt as if I was
walking with destiny,” he wrote in his memoirs, “and that all my life had been
but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.” But what forces shaped him
into the man he ultimately became? I think his most formative years were those
he spent as a war correspondent. Between
1895 and 1900, Winston Churchill emerged on the world stage as a brazen young journalist
and author, covering wars of empire in Cuba, India, the Sudan, and South
Africa. In those far-flung corners of the world—reporting from the front lines—he
mastered his celebrated command of language, discovered the joys of a good
cigar, learned to love the pleasant burn of strong whiskey, and established his
reputation for courage and his enthusiasm for armed conflict
He always sought out
danger and thought little of his personal safety, so convinced was he of his destiny. “I have faith in
my star—that is that I am intended to do something in the world,” he wrote to
his mother at the age of twenty-three from one battlefield. “If I am mistaken—what does it matter?” He
was even more forthcoming several months later in a letter home dated Dec. 22,
1897. “Bullets—to a philosopher my dear Mamma—are not worth
considering,” he wrote. “Besides I am so
conceited I do not believe the Gods would create so potent a being as myself
for so prosaic an ending . . . I shall devote my life to the preservation of
this great Empire and trying to maintain the progress of English people.”
Throughout the various
campaigns in which he served as both soldier and journalist, he was nearly
hacked to death by ancestors of today’s Taliban, took part in one of Britain’s last
great cavalry charges, and escaped from a POW camp and slogged hundreds of
miles across enemy territory to freedom. He wrote bestselling books and penned
numerous articles, firmly cementing his bona fides as a man of words and
action. His experiences allowed him to better empathize with the fighting men
on both sides—a trait that would define his attitude towards wartime
leadership: “In war: Resolution. In defeat: Defiance. In Victory: Magnanimity.
In Peace: Goodwill.”
His adventures as a war
correspondent, more than any other, shaped his complex feelings on war. His
reporting taught him how to relate the battlefield experience to everyday
people. As prime minister, he would use to his advantage what he knew of war to
convey to the British public in Shakespearean tones the horror and glory of
their most desperate hour.
As a young man, he had
told his mother he believed he was one day destined to save Britain and its
Empire. In that dark summer of 1940, Churchill found himself in his element.
A former newspaper
reporter, Simon Read has always been fascinated with Winston Churchill’s time
as a journalist. Winston Churchill Reporting: Adventures of a Young War
Correspondent is the first book to solely
address that period in the unforgettable Englishman’s unforgettable life. He
doesn’t consider it 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, he described it to
friends as “Winston Churchill as Indiana Jones.” For more information,
historical photos, and maps, visit www.winstonchurchillreporting.com.
Simon can also be found on Twitter at @simonreadbooks.
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