The Churchill Literary Society

Churchill and Clemmie at Hendon Air Pageant, 1914. Winston Churchill had been interested in airplanes since the very beginning of their origins. Even in the infancy of a eronautics , Churchill realized how instrumental airplanes could be in warfare. His first proposal on this subject was in February, 1909 – only six years after the Wright brother's first brief but successful flight in Kitty Hawk, and three months after the first "sustained fight" in the UK. "The problem of the use of airplanes was a most important one," he propounded, "and we should place ourselves in communication with Mr. Wright himself, and avail ourselves of his knowledge." The same year, the United States bought the first airplane for its army. Churchill quickly promoted a British air force as well. In 1911 Churchill used his new position as First Lord of the Admiralty to promote what is now known as the Royal Naval Air Service, or RNAS. In a speech on air power in 1913 that he ga...

Winston Churchill went many places and did many things. His life is full of interesting facts. Complete the quiz below to see what you remember. Loading…

Churchill in 1912; shortly after  founding the Other Club Winston Churchill had been in parliament for nine years by 1911, and during this time he had become notoriously controversial. Churchill had already changed political parties once (he was to do so again in 1922), he staunchly supported free trade, a largely unpopular ideal, and he also fought for Irish Home Rule campaign - a movement that many members of Parliament strongly opposed. To support him was often seen as supporting contentious political ideals. It is because of this that Churchill and his friend, F. E. Smith (Smith, who held many political beliefs similar to Churchill, later became the 1st Earl of Birkenhead) were blackballed when they asked to enter one of the most prestigious and renowned political clubs in England: a fortnightly dining club known simply as "The Club." Founded in 1764 by the artist Joshua Reynolds and the essayist Samuel Johnson, the Club was to be "composed of the heads of ...

Churchill (left) in Egypt in 1921 For the past month or so, I have worked on creating a digital map that charts all of Winston Churchill's travels. It will catalogue everywhere he went. As you may imagine, it is a large task; Churchill traveled everywhere from Calcutta to New York in his long life. So far, I have charted everywhere that he has traveled, as far as I know, up to the year 1907. I have fifty-eight years to go, but am planning to finish it sometime this month, if possible. Keep checking the map, as I am updating it constantly. I hope that you enjoy this resource!

In 1929, Winston Churchill visited Virginia and made Richmond's elegant Executive Mansion, the oldest in the United States, the base of his operations. Edwin Slipek Jr. notes: "In May 1929, the energetic Churchill, 54, suddenly found himself out of political power and with a rare chunk of time on his hands…. He lost his position as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and not unimportantly, the salary that came with it....Seeking to generate some income, Churchill decided to step up his writing, a skill for which he also was widely recognized. His new projects included a biography of John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, an ancestor, as well as a series of 10 newspaper articles for London's Daily Telegraph that would chronicle his North American trip." Churchill relished the trip, and when he wasn't writing or socializing with his hosts, Gov. Harry F. Byrd and his wife, Anne Beverley Byrd, he could often be found tramping through Civil War battlefields and ...

Anyone who knows a decent amount about Winston Churchill would admit that his was no ordinary personality. His recklessness in battle, fierce defiance, rare mastery of the English language, and witty repartee are just a few of his powerful traits. Despite his unusually potent character, however, I hope that all of my readers can join me in saying, emphatically, that Sir Winston Churchill was a real person. If you can, you will be smarter than 23% of British teens when it comes to Churchillian knowledge. Here's why: 23% percent of British teens surveyed in 2008 thought that Winston Churchill was a myth. Meanwhile, 58% believed that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes had actually existed. A 1904 sketch of the (fictional?) detective Sherlock Holmes Although Doyle may have taken this statistic as a complement to his writing, Churchill would certainly have been insulted. It is interesting to reflect that Churchill could have actually rea...

Many readers may not have known that Winston Churchill came to visit Franklin Roosevelt just two weeks after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. On the day when Roosevelt delivered his famous "day of infamy" speech, December 8th, 1941, Churchill offered to make a special trip to the White House. “We could review the whole war plan in light of reality and new facts,” he eagerly wrote. FDR was concerned about the German U-boats, but after Churchill convinced him that he would somehow stay perfectly safe, and the President replied that he would be “delighted to have you here at the White House." Two weeks later, Churchill arrived in Washington for a three-week stay at the White House. He celebrated Christmas 1941 with FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt, who despite being an extremely accommodating hostess, was slightly annoyed at the English Prime Minister. Roosevelt had forgotten to tell his wife that Churchill would be staying so long, and she had been under the impression that he w...