2John5918
During May I re-read The Second World War by Winston Churchill, and that has to be my favourite book this month. It was the abridged version, a mere thousand pages or so. I first read the complete version 45 years ago when I was teaching in a small rural school in Uganda and to my surprise I found it in the school library. There wasn't much to do in the evenings and we were fortunate that we had electric light, so I lapped it up.
It's not the most objective view of World War II. As Churchill himself says in his preface, "I do not describe it as history, for that belongs to another generation. But I claim with confidence that it is a contribution to history which will be of service to the future." The reflections of a person who played such a central role in the war are of great interest and value. I also confess that I have always loved Churchill's mastery of the English language. His prose is a joy to read, just as many of his speeches are a joy to hear.
The first section, which considers the run up to World War II beginning in 1919, is very interesting. Although Churchill is oft-portrayed as a warmonger (and in many ways he was), nevertheless I'm struck by how strongly he believed that the war should never have taken place, and that at many points steps could have been taken to prevent it - diplomatic steps, not only military ones. From the preface again, "One day President Roosevelt told me he was asking publicly what the war should be called. I said at once 'the Unnecessary War'. There never was a war more easy to stop..."
Perhaps the other thing that strikes me throughout the book is Churchill's confidence that Germany would be defeated. It could be put down to hindsight, but he frequently quotes notes and memos which show his thoughts from the time. From the point when the RAF mastered the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain in 1940 and it thus became impossible for the Germans to invade Britain he was sure that Germany would be defeated, although in fact even before the Battle of Britain he was pretty confident that British naval power would prevent a successful invasion. When Russia entered the war in June 1941 he became even more certain, and when the USA entered in December 1941 he rejoiced, not I think because he thought the USA's participation made ultimate victory any more likely but simply because it would reduce the length of the war and take some of the burden off the British Empire and the Soviet Union.
It's not the most objective view of World War II. As Churchill himself says in his preface, "I do not describe it as history, for that belongs to another generation. But I claim with confidence that it is a contribution to history which will be of service to the future." The reflections of a person who played such a central role in the war are of great interest and value. I also confess that I have always loved Churchill's mastery of the English language. His prose is a joy to read, just as many of his speeches are a joy to hear.
The first section, which considers the run up to World War II beginning in 1919, is very interesting. Although Churchill is oft-portrayed as a warmonger (and in many ways he was), nevertheless I'm struck by how strongly he believed that the war should never have taken place, and that at many points steps could have been taken to prevent it - diplomatic steps, not only military ones. From the preface again, "One day President Roosevelt told me he was asking publicly what the war should be called. I said at once 'the Unnecessary War'. There never was a war more easy to stop..."
Perhaps the other thing that strikes me throughout the book is Churchill's confidence that Germany would be defeated. It could be put down to hindsight, but he frequently quotes notes and memos which show his thoughts from the time. From the point when the RAF mastered the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain in 1940 and it thus became impossible for the Germans to invade Britain he was sure that Germany would be defeated, although in fact even before the Battle of Britain he was pretty confident that British naval power would prevent a successful invasion. When Russia entered the war in June 1941 he became even more certain, and when the USA entered in December 1941 he rejoiced, not I think because he thought the USA's participation made ultimate victory any more likely but simply because it would reduce the length of the war and take some of the burden off the British Empire and the Soviet Union.
3Tess_W
>2 John5918: I will have to give ole Winston another try. I attempted Blood, Sweat, and Tears a couple of times, but gave up due to boredom.
4Verwijderd
Dish by Jeannette Walls. Interesting look at the celebrification of mainstream news media. As a former journalist, I wish she had spent more time talking about the social impact/trivialization of the American mind when it is fed personality- rather than issue-driven news. But she does cover a lot of ground. Written in 2000, so a lot of the real horrors of "citizen journalism" had not yet emerged.
