Book

James, Lawrence, 1943- author.

Churchill and empire : a portrait of an imperialist / Lawrence James.

New York : Pegasus Books, 2014.

viii, 452 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Narrative historian Lawrence James has written a genuinely new biography of Winston Churchill, one focusing solely on his contradictory 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: America was a former colony where the natives had become worthy to rule themselves, but--he felt--still had that connection to Britain. This outmoded attitude was one of the reasons the British voters rejected him after leading the country brilliantly in the Second World War. His attitude remained decidedly old-fashioned, truly Victorian, in a world that was shaping up very differently.--From publisher description.

Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965.

Prime ministers -- Great Britain -- Biography.

Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1936-1945.

Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- 20th century.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 391-432) and index.

Jolly little wars : Omdurman -- He'll be prime minister of England one day : a subaltern's progress -- A dog with a bone : Lieutenant Churchill's imperial world -- An adventurer : questions of character -- Humbugged : the Colonial Office, 1905-1908 -- Tractable British children : more native questions -- Breathing ozone : the Admiralty, October 1911-March 1914 -- These grave matters : the Irish crisis, March-July 1914 -- The interests of Great Britain : the coming of war, July-August 1914 -- A war of empires : an overview, 1914-1918 -- I love this war : the Dardanelles and Gallipoli, August 1914-May 1915 -- A welter of anarchy : Churchill, the Empire and the Bolsheviks, 1919-1922 -- Carry on like Britons : Churchill's Russian war, 1919-1921 -- The weight of the British arm : policing the Empire, 1919-1922 -- Reign of terror : Churchill and Ireland, 1919-1923 -- The possibility of disaster : the Near and Middle East, 1919-1922 -- The will to rule : the struggle to keep India, 1923-1936 -- An unnecessary war, part I : the Japanese challenge, 1931-1939 -- An unnecessary war, part II : appeasement, 1935-1939 -- A war of peoples and causes : Churchill as war leader and strategist -- We felt we were British : the Imperial war effort -- A disaster of the first magnitude : holding the Middle East, 1939-1941 -- Supreme effort : distractions, chiefly French -- Britain's broke : Anglo-American exchanges, 1939-1941 -- A shocking tale : the Singapore debacle, 1941-1942 -- The dark valley : perils and panic, 1942 -- A state of ordered anarchy : India, 1942-1943 -- The wealth of India : subversion and famine, 1943-1945 -- The flag is not let down : Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt -- Fraternal association : America and the future of the British Empire -- Your lofty principles : gains and losses, 1945 -- Abiding power : the Empire and the Cold War, 1946-1951 -- Splutter of musketry : small wars, 1950-1951 -- A falling from power? : atom bombs and Arabs, 1951-1955 -- The third British Empire, 1951-1955.

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