Winston Churchill and the Forging of the Special Relationship
December 4, 2023
Historian Stelzer (Working with Winston) documents Churchill’s pre-WWII visits to America in this thoroughly researched if disappointingly superficial chronicle. Stelzer recounts four of Churchill’s trips, including a lecture tour from 1900 to 1901 on his Boer War experiences and a visit from 1931 to 1932 when his focus was on shoring up the British-American alliance. According to Stelzer, during these journeys Churchill cultivated a powerful and influential network of allies “to finance his lifestyle and to create a cadre sympathetic to Britain’s policy needs.” Drawing on “hundreds of rarely consulted press reports” from across the U.S., Stelzer provides lots of new details about Churchill’s travels, but not many documented mentions of the impact of Churchill’s socializing. (Though one such intriguing mention is a letter from a British diplomat to Churchill stating that his visit to William Randolph Hearst “produced wonderful and immediate results amongst those who... have been antagonistic toward us.”) The result is a central hypothesis supported largely by supposition. (Discussing FDR’s decision to support Britain before entering WWII, Stelzer writes that the president “undoubtedly checked informally with... members of Churchill’s network,” but provides no evidence.) Stelzer’s recounting of Churchill’s experiences in America—including when he was struck by a car—provides a more comprehensive picture of those visits than many biographies. Still, readers will be dissatisfied by the lack of in-depth analysis.
December 15, 2023
The author of Dinner With Churchill and Working With Winston returns with a study of Churchill's visits to the U.S. Even though Churchill visited only half a dozen times over 50 years, not always for far-reaching purposes, this lively account will amuse collectors of Churchilliana. Stelzer reminds readers that her subject was half American. His mother, a wealthy American heiress, married Randolph Churchill, who became a leading political figure. Moving in the highest circles of both nations and fiercely dedicated to her son's career, she worked hard to smooth his path. As a junior officer, he traveled to Cuba to report on Spanish forces battling rebels. An imperialist throughout his life, he favored Spain. After a lecture tour in the U.S. in 1900, nearly 30 years passed before he returned for two more tours, now a political celebrity. As befitted his stature, he met the cr�me de la cr�me, including the president, Hollywood superstars, and wealthy industrialists, most of whom succumbed to his charms, often loaning him their mansions and private railroad carriages. Churchill did badly in the 1929 crash and suffered serious injuries when a car struck him, but this barely slowed him down. Stelzer concludes her story in the early 1940s. By that time, Churchill was one of the most famous British figures in the eyes of many Americans, and even those opposed to entering the war looked kindly on him. Despite the title, this is not primarily a history of Churchill's efforts to win hearts and minds, but rather a breezy record of his travels, the important people he met, the media attention he received, and the speeches he delivered. Because income for lectures, articles, and books preoccupied him throughout his life, the author devotes a good amount of attention to the fees he earned. A cheerful chronicle of Churchill's excursions in America.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.