This is not a biography of Winston Churchill - that niche has been
well filled already - but rather a history of the Churchill's
reputation in the years since his death and an analysis of the
political consequences of his actions. Starting from the pageantry
of his funeral in 1965 and the depth of emotion felt by the British
people, academic historian John Ramsden charts the post-war years
and the effect Churchill had on domestic and international
politics. He discusses the national unwillingness to criticize
Churchill even three decades after his death, and demonstrates just
how the statesman became so central to the British psyche. There's
an interesting section on the film Young Winston, which the general
public took as pure fact despite several well-publicised but now
forgotten accounts of Churchill's gross inaccuracy and fabrication,
and photographs of statues, monuments and street names influenced
by Churchill illustrate the physical legacy of his fame. Also
included are numerous satirical cartoons from Punch, the Daily Mail
and the like, which could easily be the subject of academic
analysis by themselves. Ramsden's analysis of the ways that British
self-images have been affected by Churchill's deeds and words will
provoke much thought in those who read it. It's widely accepted
that the Second World War - the last time Britain really played a
central part in world history - takes a disproportionately
important place in the national psyche, and that Churchill's iconic
speeches are a central element in the war mythology, but Ramsden
also argues that Churchill's romantic imperial view of Britain's
role has had an lasting effect on modern-day attitudes at all
levels. This is a dense but easy-to-read text that will appeal not
only to the modern historian and to students of politics and
sociology but also to anyone interested in media and propaganda and
the ways in which national identity is constructed and disputed.
(Kirkus UK)
John Ramsden is head of the history department at Queen Mary and Westfield College and a first-rate professional historian. He is a brilliant lecturer with an enviable reputation and is widely admired by the likes of Ben Pimlott and Peter Hennessy, who describes him as ?much better than me?. His first trade book, AN APPETITE FOR POWER: A NEW HISTORY OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY is the book to replace Lord Blake?s history ? an authoritative, readable, classic history book.
Ramsden?s second trade book is one on Churchill post-Second World War. This will not be ?yet another book? on Churchill, but a fresh, original biographical study of Churchill?s post-war fame and reputation, what he was thought to stand for and how that reputation was constructed. It will contain a lot of new and revelatory material on how his personality, attitudes, and vision of himself have affected our own political perception of ourselves as a nation, and will argue that Churchill?s romantic, imperial notion of Britain has contributed directly to many of the political debates of recent years ? particularly our attitudes in Europe. This will not be a dry political analysis but an important biographical study of the man who found himself described as the prized possession of the whole world, and of the whole Churchill phenomenon from one of our most interesting and readable historians.
This is Ramsden?s turf. This aspect of Churchill has never been dealt with in any depth and he will undertake extensive new research amongst archives in Britain and the USA ? much of which have either not been drawn on before or have only just been released.
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