This is not a book about Winston Churchill. It is not principally about his politics, nor his rhetorical imagination, nor even about the man himself. Instead, it addresses the varied afterlives of the man and the persistent, deeply located compulsion to bring him back from the dead, capturing and explaining the significance of the various Churchill myths to Britain's history and current politics.The authors look at Churchill's portrayal in
social memory. They demonstrate the ways in which politicians have often used the idea of Churchill as a means of self-validation - using him to show themselves as tough and honest players. They show the
man dramatized in film and television - an onscreen persona that is often the product of a gratuitous mixing of fact and fantasy, one deliberately shaped to meet the preferences of the presumed audience. They discuss his legacy in light of the Brexit debate - showing how public figures on both sides of the Leave/Remain debate were able to use elements of Churchill's words and character to argue for their own point-of-view.
This is not a book about Winston Churchill. It is not principally about his politics, nor his rhetorical imagination, nor even about the man himself. Instead, it addresses the varied afterlives of the man and the persistent, deeply located compulsion to bring him back from the dead, capturing and explaining the significance of the various Churchill myths to Britain's history and current politics.The authors look at Churchill's portrayal in
social memory. They demonstrate the ways in which politicians have often used the idea of Churchill as a means of self-validation - using him to show themselves as tough and honest players. They show the
man dramatized in film and television - an onscreen persona that is often the product of a gratuitous mixing of fact and fantasy, one deliberately shaped to meet the preferences of the presumed audience. They discuss his legacy in light of the Brexit debate - showing how public figures on both sides of the Leave/Remain debate were able to use elements of Churchill's words and character to argue for their own point-of-view.
Introduction
1: Brexit May 1940
2: The Churchill Syndrome
3: Persistence and Change in Churchill's Mythic Memory
Epilogue
Steven Fielding is Professor of Political History at the University
of Nottingham. He is the author of a number of books, including A
State of Play: British Politics on Screen, Stage and Page, from
Anthony Trollope to The Thick of It (2014), and is currently
writing The Labour Party: from Callaghan to Corbyn. Bill Schwarz is
Professor of Modern Literature and History at Queen Mary University
of London. He is completing a three-volume study for
OUP, Memories of Empire, the first volume of which received the
Longman/History Today prize in 2013, and has been an editor of
History Workshop Journal since 1989. Richard Toye is Professor of
Modern British History at the
University of Exeter. His books include Lloyd George and Churchill:
Rivals for Greatness (2007), Churchill's Empire: The World That
Made Him and the World He Made (2010), and The Roar of the Lion:
The Untold Story of Churchill's World War II (2013). Winston
Churchill: A Life in the News is forthcoming from OUP in 2020.
A valuable exploration of the myths that began gathering around
Churchill as early as 1940 and that steadily thickened (aided and
abetted by Churchill himself), not only for the rest of his long
life but after his death as well.
*R. A. Callahan, CHOICE*
A fascinating book.
*David Aaronovitch, journalist and columnist for The Times*
In 'The Churchill Myths', the historians Bill Schwarz, Richard Toye
and Steven Fielding offer up a scorching indictment of our prime
minister.
*Nathan Yeowell, The Times*
The Churchill Myths is one of the best books about Brexit and
English self-delusion out there.
*Nick Cohen, journalist, author and political commentator*
Agreeably provocative [and] opinionated ... There is much good and
even original stuff in [this book].
*Anne Chisholm, Times Literary Supplement*
The Churchill Myths is a fascinating, insightful, and often
challenging read.
*Alastair Stewart, Finest Hour, the journal of the International
Churchill Society*
As the title makes clear, this book is concerned with the myths,
plural, of Churchill. The authors demonstrate how different
Churchills are summoned to speak both for and to the nation at
particular historical moments. There is no central body
adjudicating how the figure of Churchill is brought to bear on
contemporary events. Politicians, academics, journalists, writers,
directors, and cultural institutions, such as the BBC, are the cast
of characters who sculpt the social memory of Churchill. For the
most part, the authors avoid trying to rule on the accuracy of
these myths, although sometimes it proves necessary.
*Satya Gunput, Twentieth Century British History*
The Churchill Myths is a brilliantly provocative take-down of the
Churchill industry. Fielding, Schwarz, and Toye show how and why
British history has so often been crystalized into the story of one
man. By taking a hammer to the legend, not Britain's wartime prime
minister himself, they allow us to do the near impossible and see
Churchill afresh.
*Richard Aldous, Bard College, Author of Reagan and Thatcher: The
Difficult Relationship*
Churchill remains a complex and fascinating figure. This fresh
study of Churchill's position in political and popular culture
since 1940 provides a substantial reassessment of Churchill and his
legend. Written by major historians it is both scholarly and
accessible to a wide readership.
*Chris Wrigley, emeritus professor, University of Nottingham*
A good and impressive book ... Its attempt at de-mythologizing
[Churchill] allows us to raise new questions.
*Christian Egander Skov, Altinget*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
