November 30, 2004
Remember, Indeed
The Maximum Leader reminds us that today is the 130th Anniversary of the birth of Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. Go on over for a fitting tribute.
Some people believed that Churchill was the reincarnation of King Arthur who, it had long been foretold, was destined to reappear to save the Kingdom at its darkest hour. Myth? Perhaps. I won't say that I believe it, but then again, I won't say that I totally disbelieve it either.......
(Incidentally, I'm currently wading through Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples for the first time. (Well, not "wading" so much as "sailing".) Next stop will be his Memoirs of the Second World War.)
Posted by Robert at November 30, 2004 01:19 PMI have both of those sets of Churchill books, but haven't tackled either yet; let us know how you find them.
Posted by: Dan at November 30, 2004 02:05 PMI'm currenlty reading Liddel-Hart's History of the Second World War. You can imagine there are a plethora of Churchill references.
Posted by: Brian B at November 30, 2004 02:15 PMThanks for the linky yips. I was going to post a photo too, but I had too hard a time figuring out which one to post. The Karsh photo you have is probably the best.
Good Luck Robert on "English Speaking Peoples." And good luck to Dan on both "English Speaking Peoples" and "WW2." They are faboulous works. If you are so inclined, you might try looking for his very short monograph "On Painting as a Pastime." It is great.
I just bought the first volume of his "Marlborough" biography after having the second for many years. I'm hoping to start that one after I'm done with "Colossus" by Niall Ferguson.
Posted by: The Maximum Leader at November 30, 2004 02:17 PM
Thanks for the reminder; I have my own Churchill post up now. Lots of William Manchester for everyone's enjoyment.
One of William Manchester's books had an excerpt of "Lays of Ancient Rome" in the first page or two, memorized by Churchill as a child: "Thus spake brave Horatious, Captain of the Gate, 'Death cometh to every man, sooner or late, what better death can a man have, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods?'" Like Horatious, Great Britian, rallied by Churchill, held the bridge alone against the Nazis for over a year and a half after the fall of France until Pearl Harbor at a dreadful cost. It is no exaggeration to say that he saved Western Civilization, at least in Europe, when the elite of his time believed that authoritarian government was the wave of the future.
Posted by: LMC at November 30, 2004 04:44 PMManchester mentions in his book the poem's great connection to Churchill -- besides its appropriateness -- as a schoolboy, he memorized the first thousand lines of Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome in order to win a prize.
Sorry, LMC, I see you did mention the memorization part . . . I ought to read more carefully.
Never in the fields of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few this was CHURCHILLS commets about the RAF during THE BATTLE OF BRITTIAN
Posted by: mad heron at November 30, 2004 09:44 PM
