Churchill and Empire

by Lawrence James

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:	432,677
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

Editorial Reviews

06/23/2014
James (The Rise and Fall of the British Empire) offers a fresh, welcome perspective on the exhaustively-analyzed Churchill by focusing narrowly here on his "ardent and unswerving faith in the British Empire." Throughout his long life, Churchill paternalistically and blindly believed that white Anglo-Saxon Britain was preordained to humanely rule an empire consisting predominantly of backward peoples who could not rule themselves. For him Britain was a civilizing force, war was an unavoidable outcome of imperialism, and the subjugation of India and maritime supremacy made Britain a global superpower. As a young officer at the Battle of Omdurman, Churchill reveled in the romance of a cavalry charge but was dismayed by Britain's slaughter of wounded Dervishes. As James points out, Churchill's passion for empire fostered interventionist impulses. Similarly, his unyielding support of WWI's disastrous Gallipoli campaign was rooted in his belief that the Turks' proclamation of jihad irreparably threatened Britain's prestige in South Asia and the Arab world. The WWII surrender of Singapore dealt a death blow to Churchill's empire; and ironically, the supremacy of America—Britain's partner in the "special relationship" nurtured by Churchill—eclipsed the British Empire as Nazi imperialism never did. James's complex, engrossing, and multifaceted portrait sheds new light on a flawed but brilliant man. Photos. (June)

Publishers Weekly

(A) highly original book... an entertaining read as well as a serious historical analysis... a pioneering biography of Churchill... It will be of abiding interest to all those concerned with Britain's past and how it influenced the world in which we live today.—D.R Thorpe, THE TIMES

All the narrative drama, colour and insight that we have come to expect is once again on irresistible show in Churchill and Empire. He makes a convincing case that empire was never far from Churchill's mind and that the great conflicts of the 20th century in which he was involved were essentially imperial in character.—Richard Aldous, IRISH TIMES

He writes extremely well and refreshes a multitude of familiar topics with narrative skill. The clarity, pace and punch of his prose carry the reader along.—Paul Addison, LITERARY REVIEW

Lawrence James is the doyen of Empire historians—Philip Hensher, THE SPECTATOR

Seemingly miraculously, Lawrence James has found something fresh to say about Churchill by concentrating on his romance with the Empire. James is an unabashed admirer of the great man.—SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Seemingly miraculously, Lawrence James has found something fresh to say about him [Churchill] by concentrating on the great man's lifelong romance with the Empire and viewing his multifaceted activities through that prism.—Nigel Jones, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH. Book of the Week

There have been so many books written about Churchill, but this one looking at his vision of Empire is a refreshingly new angle.—GOOD BOOK GUIDE

a fascinating portrait of an endlessly interesting man... it makes for wonderful reading. You will certainly learn a thing or two about our finest statesman.—Natasha Hardin, THE SUN

a new, insightful narrative—Ben Felsenburg, METRO

witty and erudite... James' book does an important job—Nick Rennison, THE SUNDAY TIMES

From the Publisher

James has a gift for writing generally pithy prose.

The Financial Times

Should enlighten and entertain readers who wish to learn more about an empire that was more extensive and arguably more influential that that of Rome.

The Washington Post

This is a stylish, intelligent, and readable book.

The New York Times Book Review

Scholars usually reject Churchill's view of the British Empire as an essentially beneficent and civilizing force as self-serving hypocrisy. But James does not superficially endorse this view. Careful readers will find an account that reveals genuineness to the dilemma he faced: whether the process of bringing civilization to those who lacked it was compatible with their coercion.

Choice

[A] brisk, thorough, and revisionist study … James has a gift for narrative. … Churchill and Empire is a thoughtful, searching look at British imperial rule and its most eloquent champion.

National Review

[A] brisk, thorough, and revisionist study … James has a gift for narrative. … Churchill and Empire is a thoughtful, searching look at British imperial rule and its most eloquent champion.

National Review

04/01/2014
There seems always to be more to say about this fascinating statesman. Author James (Raj) has produced a well-crafted study of Winston Churchill's lifelong commitment to maintain into the 20th century the empire so painstakingly created by his Victorian predecessors. The author details Churchill's various political and military adventures beginning with his postings in Afghanistan and Africa and moving through his years as first lord of the admiralty during World War I and then his vigorous leadership of Britain during World War II. Churchill ended his second term as prime minister in 1955; by that time the devolution of the empire was under way, but he never lost his firm belief that these kinds of governments were a good thing for citizens and that the mother country often knew best. The Victorian world that shaped Churchill's views, however, was long gone. VERDICT James helps flesh out this aspect of Churchill's life and thought, making his well-written book complementary to existing studies. It should appeal to anyone interested in Churchill and 20th-century British history.—Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames

Library Journal

2014-04-08
An intriguing new look into both imperialism and a fascinating historical figure.Prolific historian James (Aristocrats: Power, Grace and Decadence—Britain's Great Ruling Classes from 1066 to the Present, 2009, etc.) homes in on the tumultuous years between 1898 and 1955—the span of time in which Winston Churchill (1874-1965) started as a staff officer and finished his last day of his second term on Downing Street. The author filters a vast amount of information into a brisk narrative of volatile geopolitics, and he punctuates it with anecdotes and personal moments from Churchill's life. While examining the Dardanelles campaign, James pauses to consider Churchill's nightly routine, "during which, fuelled by champagne and brandy, he expounded his views on the war and his vital part in its direction." Just as the histories of the colonies are enlivened by Churchill's quick wit and powerful persona, the motivations behind his political agendas and battle strategies take on interesting new dimensions through this colonial lens. James eschews a traditional biography, referencing Churchill's upbringing and past only when necessary. What he does highlight is the man's antiquated belief in "empires as the engines of progress that were adding to the sum of human happiness." James deftly sprints through the long list of battles during Churchill's career, focusing particularly on his struggles in Palestine, India and the complex aftermath of both world wars, when he found himself "trapped between his instinctive urge to hammer the enemies of the Empire into submission and the need to uphold its moral character." This results in a book that is more analytic than informative, more likely to question grand notions of liberty and duty than to inform readers on the basics of the two historical forces in its title.Exciting but very specific, this work will appeal most to those already knowledgeable about the subjects and looking for fresh insights.

Kirkus Reviews