CHURCHILL

CHURCHILL
The Life of a Politician and Author
from the Collection of John C. Walsh ’54
Exhibition Prepared by Naomi Pasachoff
CHAPIN LIBRARY · WILLIAMS COLLEGE
MAY- JUNE 2004

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Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
An ivory portrait miniature of Churchill graces
(1874–1965) today is often remembered only for
the Sangorski & Sutcliffe binding of this copy of
his wartime role. As Prime Minister, his sonorous
Churchill’s autobiography, which covers his life
voice gave hope to the British in the dark early
up to 1906.
days of World War II, and his leadership skills
helped the Allies achieve victory in that great
struggle. The Churchill Collection in the Chapin
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
Library, the core of which was the generous gift
of John C. Walsh, Williams Class of 1954, pro-
Marlborough: His Life and Times
vides a more complete view of the scope of its
London: George G. Harrap, 1933–1938
subject’s extraordinary life. The Library’s holdings
Trade edition
illuminate his family background and the develop -
Vol. 4 of four volumes
ment of his career as a writer, which culminated
Lord Randolph Churchill
in the 1953 Nobel Prize for Literature. They also
London: Macmillan, 1906
trace his political career before 1939 as well as his
Vol. 2 of two volumes
postwar role as Leader of the Opposition.
Churchill’s 1953 Nobel Prize for literature
This exhibition has been organized and written
cited him not only as a historian but also as a
for the Chapin Library by Naomi Pasachoff,
biographer. For fascinating subjects he had no
Research Associate at Williams College. All items
need to look further than his own family tree.
are the gift to the Chapin Library by John C.
His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was the
Walsh ’54, or purchased with funds generously
third son of the seventh Duke of Marlborough.
provided by Mr. Walsh, unless otherwise noted.
Churchill wrote a four-volume biography of the
*
first Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, hero
of the early 18th-century wars against Louis XIV
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
of France. A volume from the trade edition is
shown; the Walsh collection also includes a set
In War Resolution
of the limited edition (155 copies).
“Moral” to The Second World War
Churchill’s first biographical subject, however,
Wood-engraving by Leo Wyatt (1909–1981)
was his own father, Lord Randolph (1849–1895).
No. 54 of 100 copies
Young Winston feared his politician father, who
showed little affection for his elder son. To help
The Second World War
organize the primary documents he needed to
London: Cassell, 1948–1954
write his father’s political biography, Churchill
Vol. 1 of six volumes
hired a research assistant. The two-volume work
has been called “the most important, substantial
My Early Life: A Roving Commission
and reputation-enhancing of all his young man’s
London: Thornton Butterworth, 1930
writings.” This copy is inscribed by the author
to W.T. Cooke.
Churchill called the epigraph of his six-volume
The Second World War (1948–1954) the “Moral of
the Work”: it is highlighted in this introductory
case as a wood-engraving by British artist Leo
Wyatt (1908–1981). Other volumes of The Second
World War are shown elsewhere in the exhibition.
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Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
Lord Randolph Churchill
The Story of the Malakand Field Force:
London: Macmillan, 1906
An Episode of Frontier War
Vol. 1 of two volumes
London: Longmans, Green, 1901
Madame de Witt, 1829–1908
The River War: An Historical Account of the
Reconquest of the Soudan
Scènes d’histoire et de famille:
Edited by Col. F. Rhodes, D.S.O.
XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles
Illustrated by Angus McNeill, Seaforth Highlanders
Paris: Société des Écoles du Dimanche, 1869
London: Longmans, Green, 1899
Vol. 1 of two volumes
William Shakespeare, 1564–1616
Autograph letter signed, to T.E. Hickman
Shakespeare’s Comedies
August 8, 1899
London: George Newnes, 1901
After attending the Royal Military College at
Bookplate of Jennie Spencer Churchill
Sandhurst – he passed the entrance exam only
on his third attempt, but did well in his studies –
Although Churchill’s beautiful mother, Jennie
Churchill entered the 4th Hussars, a cavalry regi-
Jerome (1854–1921), had little time for her
ment. In 1897, when fighting broke out in north-
young son, he adored her. Jerome, daughter
western India between British forces and Pashtun
of a New York financier and a socially ambitious
warriors, he joined the Malakand Field Force as
mother, was educated in Paris. In the summer
both a soldier and a journalist. He later expanded
of 1869, fifteen-year-old Jennie was awarded
his newspaper dispatches into The Story of the
this book by Madame de Witt (shown closed,
Malakand Field Force, which attracted wide atten-
at center) as a school prize.
tion. This copy belonged to John Morley, who
The Jerome family had a summer home in
was Secretary of State for India when Churchill
Williamstown. According to local lore, purple
autographed it in February 1908. By then
is one of the Williams colors because of Jennie.
Churchill had begun his career in Parliament.
As a spectator at a Williams-Harvard baseball
In both The Story of the Malakand Field Force
game in 1869, she bought and pinned purple
and the first edition of The River War Churchill
ribbons on the Williams athletes to distinguish
let neither his youth nor his junior rank keep him
them from their opponents.
from criticizing the British commander, Lord
In 1874 Jennie married Randolph Churchill
Kitchener. Beginning in 1896, Britain sent its
at the British embassy in Paris. Married twice
army into the Sudan to forestall attempts by
more after his death, she continued to travel in
other nations to establish influence over the region.
aristocratic circles. In 1912 she received a copy
When a British force was assembled in Egypt for
of Shakespeare’s comedies (shown at right) from
this purpose, Churchill managed to get transferred
Alexandra, mother of the reigning monarch,
to it (again with a newspaper assignment), despite
George V.
Kitchener’s attempt to prevent his participating.
As his letter to T.E. Hickman indicates,
Churchill solicited critiques of his coverage of the
Sudan operation before publication. Hickman was
Assistant Adjutant-General on the Divisional Staff
of the Dongola Expeditionary Force of 1896.
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Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
The River War: An Historical Account
Mr. Brodrick’s Army
of the Reconquest of the Soudan
London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1903
Edited by Col. F. Rhodes, D.S.O.
New and revised edition
For Free Trade: A Collection of Speeches delivered
London: Longmans, Green, 1902
at Manchester or in the House of Commons during
the Fiscal Controversy Preceding the Late General
Three years after the two-volume history of the
Election
Sudan war first appeared (see the adjoining case),
London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1906
Churchill prepared a one-volume second edition
Bound with seven pamphlets by other writers
of The River War. It is notable not only for the
new material he inserted, but also for what he
Three volumes of Churchill’s political speeches
omitted: approximately one-fourth of the original
were published between 1903 and 1909. In those
text that dealt with controversial matters, including
collected in Mr. Brodrick’s Army he summarized
his attacks on Kitchener. Having begun his parlia-
his arguments against the plan of Secretary of State
mentary career, Churchill had become more
for War, St. John Brodrick, to enlarge the army.
cautious.
In 1904 Churchill daringly abandoned the
Tories for the Liberal Party, with whom he
remained affiliated for two decades. His collected
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
campaign speeches for the general election of
London to Ladysmith Via Pretoria
1906, the first in which he campaigned as a
London: Longmans, Green, 1900
Liberal, explain his commitment to free trade.
Mr. Brodrick’s Army and For Free Trade are two
Ian Hamilton’s March
of the most rare of Churchill’s publications.
London: Longmans, Green, 1900
In 1899 Churchill stood unsuccessfully for election
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
to Parliament as the Conservative (Tory) Party
candidate from Oldham in Lancashire. After the
My African Journey
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1908
Boer War began later that year, he traveled to
Two copies shown
South Africa as a war correspondent for the
Morning Post. The telegraphic reports he sent
In 1907, while he was Parliamentary Under-
to that London newspaper became the basis for
Secretary of State for the Colonies, Churchill
two books published in 1900, London to Ladysmith
undertook a tour of East Africa, a tour which
via Pretoria and Ian Hamilton’s March. The first
combined big-game hunting with official engage-
describes Churchill’s escape from a Boer prison
ments. The
camp, shown in the diagram, while the latter
Strand magazine commissioned him
to write articles about it, which paid him more
includes his participation in liberating his former
than the cost of the expedition. My African
fellow prisoners.
Journey is an enlarged version of the Strand
articles. Churchill described it as “a continuous
narrative of the lighter side of what was to me
a very delightful and inspiring journey.”
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Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
Nevil Macready, 1862–1946
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
Liberalism and the Social Problem
David Lloyd George, 1863–1945
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1909
Two copies
The Drama of Eight Days. June 22nd to
June 29th, 1922. How War Was Waged
Autograph letter signed, to David Lloyd George
on Ireland with An Economy of English Lives
April 8, 1910
As related by General Sir Nevil Macready,
Mr. Winston Churchill and Mr. Lloyd George
Liberalism and the Social Problem is a collection
New York: American Association for the
of twenty-one speeches Churchill made on social
Recognition of the Irish Republic, [1922?]
policy over a three-year period. One of the copies
shown is inscribed by Churchill to H.J. Tennant,
Churchill, as Secretary of State for the Colonies,
Secretary of the Board of Trade during Churchill’s
is one of the villains in this rare pamphlet pub-
tenure as President (1908–February 1910), and
lished by the American Association for the Recog-
later Secretary of State for Scotland.
nition of the Irish Republic. Fearful that he would
Churchill’s letter to Lloyd George (1863–1945),
be too easy a target for the next Catholic Repub-
Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1908 to 1914,
lican bullet, he did not sleep in his bedroom on the
illustrates their joint effort to dismantle the privi-
night of June 22, 1922, following the assassination
leges of the House of Lords. The John Morley to
in London of a staunch Irish Protestant.
whom Churchill refers (whose inscribed copy of
The Malakand Field Force is shown earlier in this
exhibition) also played an important role in the
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
reform of the House of Lords.
The World Crisis
London: Thornton Butterworth, 1923–1931
Erez Israel: The Jewish National Fund
Three of six volumes
Year-Book 5682–1922
Edited by Israel Cohen
As First Lord of the Admiralty from 1911,
Foreword by Winston S. Churchill
Churchill readied the British navy for a war with
London: W. Speaight and Sons, 1922
Germany which he anticipated. In 1915 he pro-
posed that Britain attack the Turkish-controlled
In 1921–1922, as Secretary of State for the
Dardanelles and Gallipoli Peninsula. Had this
Colonies, Churchill had to deal with two hot spots
attack succeeded, it would have enabled aid to
which continue to vex world peace today: Ireland
reach Russia, the United Kingdom’s ally, via the
and the Middle East. His foreword to the Jewish
Black Sea; but the campaign proved disastrous,
National Fund Yearbook for 1922 is extracted
and Churchill resigned from the Admiralty.
from a speech he gave in the House of Commons
A 1917 government commission reported that
on June 14, 1921, following a March visit to
Churchill bore no more blame for the misadven-
Palestine. He predicted that a continuous stream
ture than his colleagues. Between 1922 and 1924,
of Jewish immigrants into Palestine would bring
nonetheless, he lost three elections to Parliament.
prosperity to all the inhabitants of the region,
While in and out of office over the next years,
without negatively affecting any of them.
he wrote a six-volume autobiographical history of
the war, The World Crisis. The Chapin Library’s
set contains inscriptions by Churchill to Ian S.
Hamilton, who helped lead the 1915 Gallipoli
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landings but never blamed Churchill for their
The final edition of the Gazette announced the
failure. Hamilton further personalized Volume 1
end of the strike (“Surrender received by Premier
by recording a remark Churchill made:
in Downing Street”). The following year Churchill,
reflecting on this episode of his career, wrote in a
Winston wrote this after dinner last night.
letter: “I shall always look back to that extraordi-
When he got to the end of the “m” in
nary ten days. They form one of the most vivid
Hamilton he made so long a pause (indicated
experiences of my somewhat variegated life. . . .”
in the tent [i.e. the upswing from the end of
the “m” to the dot of the “i”] that I couldn’t
Library purchase
think what was the matter. He then wound up
saying – it isn’t fair to make a man tot up all
the d—d wriggles in your name after dinner.
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
My Early Life: A Roving Commission
London: Thornton Butterworth, 1930
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965, editor
Thoughts and Adventures
The British Gazette
London: Thornton Butterworth, 1932
London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office,
May 5–13, 1926
In 1924 Churchill rejoined the Conservative Party.
After the Conservatives lost the 1929 election, he
When Churchill became Chancellor of the
kept his seat in Parliament but held no Cabinet
Exchequer in 1924, he restored the gold standard.
position until 1939. He now spent much time
Among the unfortunate consequences of this policy
painting (a hobby he took up while nursing the
were deflation, unemployment, and a miner’s strike
wounds of his Gallipoli disgrace) and writing.
which blossomed into the general strike of 1926.
The autobiography of his life from birth through
After the compositors of the British newspapers
his first years in Parliament dates from this period.
went out in support of the miners, Prime Minister
The speech presenting Churchill the 1953 Nobel
Stanley Baldwin asked Churchill to supervise publi-
Prize for Literature calls My Early Life: A Roving
cation of a daily government newspaper. Between
Commission “one of the world’s most entertaining
May 5 and May 13, 1926, eight issues of The
adventure stories.” This copy is inscribed by the
British Gazette appeared.
author to Michael Graham Dixon.
Churchill wrote the leading (though unsigned)
In Thoughts and Adventures, a collection of
article on the front page of the first issue. It
Churchill’s essays, the subjects range from his
explained the need for a government newspaper:
career and hobbies, to politics in general and his
“Nearly all the newspapers have been silenced by
musings on the future, to an anomalous essay on
violent concerted action. And this great nation,
Moses. Having published his first five books by
on the whole the strongest community which
the time he was twenty-five, Churchill bragged
civilization can show, is for the moment . . .
that his literary output equaled that of the author
dependent only on the rumours which are carried
of the Pentateuch!
from place to place.” He also warned that the
strike’s success would mean the destruction of the
representative institutions underlying British
democratic freedom.
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Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
son compile a collection of his speeches on foreign
affairs and national defense, which resulted in
Great Contemporaries
this volume. Just as Winston wrote an admirable
New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1937
biography of Lord Randolph Churchill (published
Great Contemporaries
1906), his son also published (in 1966–1967)
London: Macmillan, 1943 printing
a definitive, two-volume biography of Churchill,
Inscribed by the author to Michael Graham Dixon
covering the period 1874 to 1914.
One of these volumes is inscribed by Winston
Following Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, the
Churchill to Sylvia Henley, cousin of his wife
growing German threat alarmed Churchill. In
Clementine. The other is inscribed by Churchill
1935 Churchill published a famous essay on Hitler,
to M. Philips Price.
by then Führer, in the Strand magazine; in 1937
it was printed also in his Great Contemporaries,
with profiles of other eminent political, military,
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
and literary figures, such as T.E. Lawrence and
Step by Step, 1936–1939
George Bernard Shaw.
London: Thornton Butterworth, 1939
Churchill’s concluding paragraph reveals his
Two copies
unease about Germany’s intentions: “Only time
can show, but, meanwhile, the great wheels revolve;
In a May 1939 piece, reprinted in Step by Step,
the rifles, the cannon, the tanks, the shot and shell,
a collection of eighty-two of his newspaper articles,
the air-bombs, the poison gas cylinders, the aero-
Churchill predicted that Hitler would next attack
planes, the submarines, and now the beginnings
Poland. At the end of Step by Step, which was pub-
of a fleet flow in ever-broadening streams from the
lished only a few months before Britain declared
already largely war-mobilized arsenals and factories
war on Nazi Germany, Churchill included an
of Germany.”
“epilogue”:
Great Contemporaries (1937)
Here then, in an hour when all is uncertain,
lent by Wayne Hammond
but not uncheered by hope and resolve, this
tale stops.
Great Britain stands in the midst, and
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
even at the head of a great and growing com-
Arms and the Covenant: Speeches by the
pany of states and nations, ready to confront
Right Hon. Winston S. Churchill, C.H. M.P.
and to endure what may befall. The shock
Compiled by Randolph S. Churchill
may be sudden, or the strain may be long-
London: George G. Harrap, 1938
drawn: but who can doubt that all will
Two copies shown
come right if we persevere to the end.
Churchill had a complicated relationship with
One of the copies of this book in the John C.
his father, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849–1895),
Walsh gift was inscribed by Churchill in June 1939
as well as with his son, Randolph (1911–1968).
to his sister-in-law, Nellie Hozier Romilly, and her
He once complained to the father of one of his
husband, Colonel Bertram Romilly.
young, industrious research assistants: “My son
is very idle, and profits little by the life of the
University.” In 1938 Churchill agreed to let his
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Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
opposing party – in this case from a pro-Labour
Party London tabloid.
A Speech by the Prime Minister the Right
Honourable Winston Churchill in the House
Purchased on the W. Edward Archer Fund
of Commons, August 20th, 1940
London: Ministry of Information, 1940
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
On May 10, 1940, Churchill became Prime
Minister of Great Britain. Speaking in Parliament
Speech to the Conservative Party Conference,
on August 20, 1940, during the most dangerous
March 15, 1945
period of the Battle of Britain, Churchill referred
Typescript, blocked for delivery
for the first time to the fighter-pilots of the Royal
“Here Is the Course We Steer”
Air Force as “The Few.” He also compared the
London: McCorquodale, 1945.
cooperation among Great Britain, the United
States, and Canada to the powerful flow of the
In mid-March 1945 Churchill addressed the
Mississippi River: “Let it roll on full flood,
Conservative Party Conference in London. The
inexorable, irresistible, benignant, to broader
typescript of his speech is organized so as to guide
lands and better days.”
Churchill in the cadences of his delivery. This was
subsequently published in pamphlet form under
Franz Rose
the title “Here Is the Course We Steer.” Looking
ahead to a successful outcome of the war “before
Das ist Churchill
the summer ends, or even sooner,” Churchill
München: J.F. Lehmanns Verlag, 1940
outlines the postwar responsibilities of the party,
emphasizing jobs, agriculture, and export trade.
Martin Pase (i.e. Ernst Pasemann)
Churchills Reden und Taten
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
im Schweinwerfer der Presse und Karikatu
Leipzig: Lühe-Verlag, 1941
Typed letter signed, to Sir Archibald Weigall
February 26, 1941
“Churchill’s Charge Is Disgraceful – Attlee”
Sunday Pictorial, July 1, 1945
Churchill’s letter to Sir Archibald Weigall,
former Governor of South Australia, accepting
Not surprisingly, Churchill was the subject of
the presidency of the Conservative and Unionist
negative Nazi propaganda during World War II.
Films Association, was written only hours after
Churchills Reden und Taten (Churchill’s Speeches
he learned of an attack on a convoy. He worried
and Deeds) is a collection of unfavorable Churchill
that more such disasters would spell “the end
caricatures. In Das ist Churchill (This Is Churchill)
of us.”
the antisemitic author Franz Rose attacked
Churchill’s career from 1914 through 1939.
The blazing headline in the Sunday Pictorial
illustrates the negative criticism Churchill also
received at home – no less than any prominent
politician may expect from supporters of an
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Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
friendly contact has been made with the
Russians advancing from the East.
“Le Châtiment du Kaiser”
The 21st Group of armies, wheeling &
France-Orient: La revue française libre des Français
striking to the North had the honour of liber-
d’Orient (Delhi), vol. 2, no. 12, Avril 1942
ating Holland & Denmark & of receiving &
gathering as captives in the space of three or
Souvenir photo album of Churchill’s visit to
four days upwards of two millions of the
Laxou, near Nancy, France, on August 12, 1950
once-renowned German Army.
Photographs by René Colin
Among other articles appearing in this 1942 Free
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
French journal were two by General Charles de
Gaulle and one by Churchill, entitled “Le Châti-
The Second World War
ment du Kaiser” (“The Kaiser’s Punishment: Why
London: Cassell, 1948–1954
Did We Not Hang Him?”). According to an intro-
Two of six volumes
ductory note, by this time journals around the
world were wondering what Hitler’s punishment
In the late 1940s, assisted by research assistants
would be following an Allied victory.
and secretaries, Churchill began to prepare the
The unpublished photos by René Colin in the
first fully-documented history of the war. The
album at right commemorate Churchill’s summer
Second World War appeared in six volumes
1950 visit to France. At the town of Laxou, “where
between 1948 and 1954. These war memoirs,
numerous patriots were shot by the Germans,”
written in Churchill’s characteristically superb
Churchill laid a wreath of flowers at the Monu-
prose and still widely read after a half-century,
ment of the Resistance.
offer unique insights into the exercise of leader-
ship during stressful times.
Bernard L. Montgomery, 1887–1976
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
Ten Chapters, 1942 to 1945
London: Hutchinson, 1946
Typescript of Edinburgh speech, April 29, 1946
In 1946 Field-Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery,
“The Day Will Come”: A speech by the Rt. Hon.
commander of the British 8th Army in Africa
Winston Churchill O.M., C.H., M.P., at Edinburgh,
and Europe, had a facsimile of his autograph book
29th April, 1946
published. In his foreword “Monty” wrote: “It has
London: Conservative Central Office, 1946
been a long journey: from Alamein to the Baltic
Sea. At various stages in that journey the Prime
Ready for change despite its appreciation for
Minister, Mr. Churchill, wrote a page in my auto-
Churchill’s wartime leadership, the country
graph book and recorded his impressions: in his
voted for Labour in the next elections. Until
own handwriting.” Churchill’s final comment,
1951 Churchill was leader of the Conservative
dated May 24, 1945, begins:
opposition. Speaking to the Scottish Unionist
Rally in Edinburgh in late April 1946, he warned
At last the goal is reached. The terrible enemy
that no nation was less suited “to the application
has unconditionally surrendered. In loyal
of the Socialist system,” and that the present was
accord with our splendid American Ally full &
no time “for such an experiment.” Comparing
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the typescript of Churchill’s speech with the
ideological formulas and theories upon all the rest
pamphlet published after its delivery is to compare
of their fellow countrymen, regardless of the peril
poetry and prose.
in which we all stood” and has “spread class warfare
throughout the land . . . and . . . divided this
nation, in its hour of serious need, as it has never
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
been divided.”
The opening paragraph of Churchill’s speech
Speech at the Mass Meeting, Winter Gardens,
to the Scottish Unionist Association, shown here
Blackpool, on Saturday, 5th October, 1946
in galley proof with the author’s corrections,
London: Conservative and Unionist
asserts that the “steady improvement in the
Central Office, 1946
strength of our Party throughout the United
Kingdom” over the past year proves the validity
Churchill’s attack on Labour government policies
of the maxim “Trust the people.” The speech
continued in his address to the Conservative
was later published under that title.
Party Conference at Blackpool in October 1946.
Defending his belief in a “property-owning
democracy,” he reminded his audience that not
“Local Tory Women to Hear Churchill
only Labour believed in safeguards against misfor-
in London”
tune: “It is 38 years ago since I introduced the
London: Press Department, Conservative and
first Unemployment Insurance scheme. . . .”
Unionist Central Office, 1948
“Mr. Churchill to Address 6,500 Tory Women”
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
London: Press Department, Conservative and
Unionist Central Office, 1948
“The People’s Peril – and the Way Out”:
A Speech in the House of Commons on
March 12th, 1947
Winston S. Churchill, 1874–1965
London: Conservative and Unionist
Central Office, 1947
“This Country Needs a New Parliament”: Speech
by the Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill, O.M., C.H.,
Corrected galleys of Mr. Churchill’s Speech to the
M.P., at the 21st Annual Conference of the Central
Scottish Unionist Association, 16th May, 1947
Women’s Advisory Committee, at the Royal Albert
Hall, London, on Wednesday, 21st April, 1948
“Trust the People”: A Speech by the Rt. Hon.
London: Conservative and Unionist Central
Winston Churchill, O.M., C.H., M.P. Ayr,
Office, 1948
May 16th, 1947
London: Conservative and Unionist
The title of this pamphlet comes from its final
Central Office, 1947
paragraph, in which Churchill exhorts his
audience:
Churchill also spoke out in the House of Com-
mons about the Labour government’s deficiencies.
The time has come – indeed it is overdue –
His accusations in “The People’s Peril – and the
when this country needs a new Parliament
Way Out” sound astonishingly contemporary.
and a new approach to solve our national
Despite the fact that the Labour government polled
problems. The Conservative Party, if called
“only 37 per cent. of the total electorate,” it had
on by the electors, will form a Government
taken upon itself “to impose their particular
devoid of Party prejudices and working
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