Churchill and Empire
One of our finest narrative historians, Lawrence James has written a genuinely new biography of Winston Churchill, one focusing solely on his relationship with the British Empire. As a young army officer in the late nineteenth century serving in conflicts in India, South Africa, and the Sudan, his attitude toward the Empire was the Victorian paternalistic approach—at once responsible and superior. Conscious even then of his political career ahead, Churchill found himself reluctantly supporting British atrocities and held what many would regard today as prejudiced views, in that he felt that some nationalities were superior to others, his (some might say obsequious) relationship with America reflected that view. This outmoded attitude was one of the reasons the British voters rejected him after a Second World War in which he had led the country brilliantly. His attitude remained decidedly old-fashioned in a world that was shaping up very differently. This ground-breaking volume reveals the many facets of Churchill’s personality: a visionary leader with a truly Victorian attitude toward the British Empire.
1116879858
Churchill and Empire
One of our finest narrative historians, Lawrence James has written a genuinely new biography of Winston Churchill, one focusing solely on his relationship with the British Empire. As a young army officer in the late nineteenth century serving in conflicts in India, South Africa, and the Sudan, his attitude toward the Empire was the Victorian paternalistic approach—at once responsible and superior. Conscious even then of his political career ahead, Churchill found himself reluctantly supporting British atrocities and held what many would regard today as prejudiced views, in that he felt that some nationalities were superior to others, his (some might say obsequious) relationship with America reflected that view. This outmoded attitude was one of the reasons the British voters rejected him after a Second World War in which he had led the country brilliantly. His attitude remained decidedly old-fashioned in a world that was shaping up very differently. This ground-breaking volume reveals the many facets of Churchill’s personality: a visionary leader with a truly Victorian attitude toward the British Empire.
14.99 In Stock
Churchill and Empire

Churchill and Empire

by Lawrence James
Churchill and Empire

Churchill and Empire

by Lawrence James

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$14.99 

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Overview

One of our finest narrative historians, Lawrence James has written a genuinely new biography of Winston Churchill, one focusing solely on his relationship with the British Empire. As a young army officer in the late nineteenth century serving in conflicts in India, South Africa, and the Sudan, his attitude toward the Empire was the Victorian paternalistic approach—at once responsible and superior. Conscious even then of his political career ahead, Churchill found himself reluctantly supporting British atrocities and held what many would regard today as prejudiced views, in that he felt that some nationalities were superior to others, his (some might say obsequious) relationship with America reflected that view. This outmoded attitude was one of the reasons the British voters rejected him after a Second World War in which he had led the country brilliantly. His attitude remained decidedly old-fashioned in a world that was shaping up very differently. This ground-breaking volume reveals the many facets of Churchill’s personality: a visionary leader with a truly Victorian attitude toward the British Empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781605985992
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Publication date: 06/15/2014
Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format: eBook
Pages: 448
Sales rank: 432,529
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

One of our finest narrative historians, especially on imperial subjects, Lawrence James is the author of The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, Raj, and The Aristocrats. He lives near Oxford. 
One of our finest narrative historians, especially on imperial subjects, Lawrence James is the author of The Rise and Fall of the British Empire, Raj, and The Aristocrats. He lives near Oxford.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction 1

Part 1 1874-1900

1 Jolly Little Wars: Omdurman 7

2 He'll Be Prime Minister of England One Day: A Subaltern's Progress 14

3 A Dog with a Bone: Lieutenant Churchill's Imperial World 19

Part 2 1901-1914

4 An Adventurer: Questions of Character 35

5 Humbugged: The Colonial Office, 1905-1908 38

6 Tractable British Children: More Native Questions 47

7 Breathing Ozone: The Admiralty, October 1911-March 1914 57

8 These Grave Matters: The Irish Crisis, March-July 1914 73

9 The Interests of Great Britain: The Coming of War, July-August 1914 80

Part 3 1914-1922

10 A War of Empires: An Overview, 1914-1918 89

11 I Love this War: The Dardanelles and Gallipoli, August 1914-May 1915 101

12 A Welter of Anarchy: Churchill, the Empire and the Bolsheviks, 1919-1922 120

13 Carry on like Britons: Churchill's Russian War, 1919-1921 129

14 The Weight of the British Arm: Policing the Empire, 1919-1922 134

15 Reign of Terror: Churchill and Ireland, 1919-1923 145

16 The Possibility of Disaster: The Near and Middle East, 1919-1922 153

Part 4 1923-1939

17 The Will to Rule: The Struggle to Keep India, 1923-1936 179

18 An Unnecessary War, Part I: The Japanese Challenge, 1931-1939 193

19 An Unnecessary War, Part II: Appeasement, 1935-1939 203

Part 5 1939-1945

20 A War of Peoples and Causes: Churchill as War Leader and Strategist 221

21 We Felt We Were British: The Imperial War Effort 227

22 A Disaster of the First Magnitude: Holding the Middle East, 1939-1941 239

23 Supreme Effort: Distractions, Chiefly French 245

24 Britain's Broke: Anglo-American Exchanges, 1939-1941 258

25 A Shocking Tale: The Singapore Debacle, 1941-1942 270

26 The Dark Valley: Perils and Panic, 1942 280

27 A State of Ordered Anarchy: India, 1942-1943 290

28 The Wealth of India: Subversion and Famine, 1943-1945 300

29 The Flag Is Not Let Down: Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt 307

30 Fraternal Association: America and the Future of the British Empire 318

31 Your Lofty Principles: Gains and Losses, 1945 329

Part 6 1945-1955

32 Abiding Power: The Empire and the Cold War, 1946-1951 343

33 Splutter of Musketry: Small Wars, 1950-1951 356

34 A Falling from Power? Atom Bombs and Arabs, 1951-1955 362

35 The Third British Empire, 1951-1955 376

Envoi 387

Bibliography 391

Notes 409

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