Although remembered and even lauded in the public mind as the British prime minister during the Second World War who played a major role in Allied victory over the Axis Powers and Japan, Winston Churchill had a life and political career before 1939 conditioned by fighting other wars and, in peacetime, thinking about war. While historians debate his achievements and failures between 1939 and 1945, a less explored dimension is Churchill's earlier connexion with war and warfare. This book explores Churchill's earlier experience in fighting wars as a soldier and politician.

Although remembered and even lauded in the public mind as the British prime minister during the Second World War who played a major role in Allied victory over the Axis Powers and Japan, Winston Churchill had a life and political career before 1939 conditioned by fighting other wars and, in peacetime, thinking about war. While historians debate his achievements and failures between 1939 and 1945, a less explored dimension is Churchill's earlier connexion with war and warfare. This book explores Churchill's earlier experience in fighting wars as a soldier and politician.

It is a truism that History is about "representation": but then opinions will diverge-as it should be-between what is meant by "representation". Most of the chapters in this volume were first presented in November 2008 at an International Conference co-organised by the Society for the Study of Labour History and the University of Rouen. The authors-of all generations-come from Britain, France, Germany and the United States, and cover the field from the Middle Ages to the most recent developments. The friendly confrontation of points of view and cross-fertilisation which result from such undertakings can only add to our perception of the diversity of that elusive notion in History, "representation"-of working people in Britain and France in this particular instance. Beyond the differences in periods, places and situations, the reader will not fail however to see the "bridges" which recurrently link the various elements in the collection.