Churchill: The Power of Words

Throughout his six decades in the public eye, Winston Churchill understood and wielded the power of words. His speeches, books and articles have fascinated generation after generation with their powerful narrative style. Martin Gilbert has selected 200 extracts from Churchill's oeuvre that reflect his life, career and philosophy. They range from intimate memories of his childhood to his contributions to debates on social policy and war and his efforts after 1945 to see the world a better place. In them, we see how he used words for different purposes: to argue for causes, to advocate courses of action, and to tell the story of his own life. As Churchill's official biographer, Martin Gilbert is uniquely qualified to make this selection, and his informed and subtle choice of extracts, together with his illuminating text linking them together, create a fascinating biographical narrative of Churchill's life as recounted in his own words.

Sir Martin Gilbert is one of Britain's leading historians. He is the author of more than eighty books and an Honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He lives in London.