Speaking for themselves: The personal letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill - Hardcover

Churchill, Winston & Clementine Churchill

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385406916 ISBN 13: 9780385406918

Publisher: Doubleday, 1998

Synopsis

This a collection of the correspondence between Sir Winston and Lady Clementine Churchill extending from their early days of courtship in 1908 to Winston Churchill's death in 1965. The letters serve both as a chronicle of their personal achievements and tragedies over the years and as a political and social history. In their own words they recount events such as the sinking of the Titanic, the abdication of King Edward VIII, the downfall of governments, the Depression, and the two world wars. Here are first-hand accounts from the battlefields in 1915, reflections on political triumphs and upsets, as well as domestic minutiae, foreign travel, revelations of social scandals and words of mutual support. Mary Soames complements the letters with explanatory notes, biographical details and her own personal recollections in the introduction.

About this title

About the Author

Mary Soames (1922-2014) was the youngest child of Winston and Clementine Churchill. She was brought up at Chartwell in Kent and, aged eighteen, joined the ATS and served in mixed anti-aircraft batteries in England and Europe. She accompanied her father as his ADC on several of his wartime overseas journeys. In 1945 she was awarded the MBE (military). In 1947, she married Captain Christopher Soames, Coldstream Guards, later Lord Soames, PC, GCMG, CH. In 1998 she edited the private correspondence between her parents, Speaking for Themselves, completely revised and updated the celebrated biography of her mother, Clementine Churchill, in 2002 and completed her own autobiography, A Daughter's Tale, in 2011.

Review

"The record of a remarkably enduring marriage" * The Scotsman * "Lady Soames, the Churchills' sole surviving child... has edited these letters with great skill, providing a lively commentary and vivid pen portraits of supporting characters" -- Piers Brendon * Mail on Sunday * "We expect the correspondence of Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine, to be interesting... and still these letters can astonish: in their scope; in the way their individual brilliance is sustained day by day and year upon year" * Sunday Telegraph * "A fascinating aid to our understanding of an extraordinary couple" -- John Grigg * Spectator *

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0385406916
• ISBN 13: 9780385406918
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 717