The Churchill Literary Society

Winston Churchill c. 1950       Many historians have named Sir Winston Churchill the 20th century's best orator — some even go as far as stating that he was arguably the best British orator ever. Either conclusion can't be all that far from the truth. Churchill's speeches  –  especially his wartime speeches  –  are brilliant. From fighting on the beaches and the landing grounds to offering nothing but blood, toil, tears and sweat, Churchill was a master at summing up certain thoughts and feelings in his speeches. "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle," said President Kennedy of Churchill. The sheer amount of speeches that Churchill produced is also incredible. Churchillian Richard Langworth notes, "To be precise you’d have to count (I won’t!) the speeches listed in the Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches 1897-1963 . Rough estimate: there are forty speeches per page of contents, about eight contents pages per volume, and eight volu

Churchill standing above the crowd at the Ministry  of Health balcony giving the famous victory sign. On May 8th of this year the world celebrated the 75th anniversary of VE day. Although celebrations were sadly different from the festivities that had been planned (no parties in the streets or celebratory cream teas with friends and neighbors, this year), there were still many ways to celebrate. Allan Packwood of the National Churchill Museum hosted a webcast with Celia Sandys, Churchill's granddaughter, as a guest; a pianist played the popular World War Two song "We'll Meet Again" in the church of St. Mary which was broadcast all over the UK; and Churchillians everywhere (including me) flashed the iconic "V is for Victory" sign every few minutes while proudly reciting Winston Churchill quotes for all to hear. I enjoyed VE day under lockdown with tea, a  Victoria sponge, and cucumber sandwiches. Although these proceedings aren't quite as nice as the annu

November 11th is Veterans Day in the USA, but it has not always been so. Now recognized as Veterans Day, November 11th was once celebrated as Armistice Day in the allied nations. On this day at eleven o'clock, World War 1 officially ended. A year after the first Armistice Day, Winston Churchill made a speech thanking General Pershing and his fellow Americans for securing the victory. The speech, humorously titled "Farewell to 'the Beer of Old England'" reflected on the new prohibition laws, and how soldiers returning home were effected by it. However, Churchill first spoke of Armistice Day before introducing this topic. Here is an excerpt from his speech:  "We are all delighted to see General Pershing and his gallant Americans over here. We are passing through a phase of intense rejoicing almost reaching the extremes to which human beings are capable, and the rejoicings after the great war are like everything else in that great war - on a scale and in