Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples is a history of the British Isles written by Churchill between the years of 1937 and 1956. Churchill took a leading role in writing the book, but he did depend on a number of dedicated research assistants who were invaluable in gathering the information he needed. His account begins with Caesar's conquest in 55 BC of large areas of the British Isles and concludes at the advent of the Great War in 1914. The text also considers the early history of the United States of America, whose people for Churchill were a close kindred of his own (given their shared Protestant roots and their commitments to forms of government ruled by the populous).

and who now preserve, nourish, and develop them in their own ways." (Preface to Volume I of A History of the English-Speaking Peoples) This final of Churchill's great, multi-volume works spawned many single-volume spinoffs in the form of excerpted works that have become collectible in their own right. These include The American Civil War (1961), The Island Race (1964) , Heroes of History (1968), and Joan of Arc (1969). But that does not make him an unworthy guide through history. In fact, I assert some of the most appealing parts of the narrative are Winston's evaluations of the different characters and events, which he can be relied upon to deliver as they exit the scene. All of these are entertaining and some are downright enlightening. He points out that Charles I, for instance, had genuine qualities as a general, considering he ruled a country that had known seventy years of peace, while Oliver Cromwell is censured because he was the only military dictator England has ever known, ruling with no popular consent by force alone, and parallels are drawn with the twentieth century that I wouldn't have thought of myself. Burr is nothing more than an "evil genius". He has implied sympathy for the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War, but he does a decent enough job justifying it and clearly isn't a fan of slavery. He also gives a much-needed new perspective on the Indian Mutiny: the British were not the only belligerents who shamed themselves in 1857. I was genuinely interested to see how he would take the U.S. Constitution, but somehow he manages to convincingly portray it as a restatement of British Common Law principles: At first sight this authoritative document presents a sharp contrast with the store of traditions and precedents that make up the unwritten Constitution of Britain. Yet behind it lay no revolutionary theory. It was based not upon the challenging writings of the French philosophers which were soon to set Europe ablaze, but on Old English doctrine, freshly formulated to meet an urgent American need. The Constitution was a reaffirmation of faith in the principles painfully evolved over the centuries by the English-speaking peoples. It enshrined long-standing English ideas of justice and liberty, henceforth to be regarded on the other side of the Atlantic as basically American.Sir Winston S. Churchill, who himself made history as Prime Minister of Great Britain twice, twice (1940–45 and 1951–55.) He began the book in 1939 and delivered the book prior to the outbreak of WWII to his publisher with about half a million words. This book was finally published in 1956. However, this book, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Volume I, The Birth of Britain, was the one I read and finally, finished. Roberts's other great enemy is Europe. Britain, acting as 'an abusive parent' to the Commonwealth, entered the former European Economic Community in 1972, under the 'moral cowardice' of Heath, in 'the dour, drab defeatist Seventies'. His subtext seems to be that British foreign policy should return to a version of the 'splendid isolation' of 1900, but in partnership with American global isolationism. This book took me 10 days to read. My average read is one to two days, three max but there are a few reasons for taking so long on this great book. Churchill, who excelled in the study of history as a child and whose mother was American, had a firm belief in a so-called " special relationship" between the people of Britain and its Commonwealth (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.) united under the Crown, and the people of the United States who had broken with the Crown and gone their own way. His book thus dealt with the resulting two divisions of the "English-speaking peoples". Eventually, the small remaining area in and around Calais (Burgundian area) in France controlled by Britain was no longer an issue, due in part to the Wars of the Roses. The Earls and Lords were too busy killing each other.

October 19, 2022: A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Volume 3, The Age of Revolution, by Winston S. Churchill (Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc., New York, 1957) The simultaneous four-volume U.S. first edition is certainly less stately in appearance, though in our opinion perhaps excessively maligned as being an unattractive edition. TL;DR: The book succeeds due to Churchill's strong narrative, accessible style and intense focus on political development. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-06-02 14:00:49 Associated-names Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection (Library of Congress) Boxid IA40098616 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier This history will endure; not only because Sir Winston has written it, but also because of its own inherent virtues - its narrative power, its fine judgment of war and politics, of soldiers and statesmen, and even more because it reflects a tradition of what Englishmen in the hey-day of their empire thought and felt about their country's past." The Daily Telegraph

Churchill's four volume epic, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, was published between 1956 and 1958. The work traces a sweeping historical arc from Roman Britain through the end of the Nineteenth Century. Volumes I & II deal primarily with Britain and her rise to become a world power, including early colonization of North America. Volume III necessarily broadens in scope, covering 1668 to 1815, including the American Revolution and the defeat of Napoleon. Volume IV covers 85 years of the Nineteenth Century, ending with the death of Queen Victoria. Perhaps not conincidentally, this is the very year that saw Churchill conclude his first North American lecture tour, take his first seat in Parliament, and begin to make history himself.