Churchill by Himself: The Definitive Collection of Quotations [Hardcover]

Richard Langworth (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2008

“Never give in!” Winston Churchill is famous for admonishing: “This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never.” What most people don’t know is that when he said this he was addressing not a nation facing the threat of invasion, but a roomful of schoolboys at his old school. A powerful, persuasive speaker and notorious wit, Churchill is one of the twentieth century’s most oft-quoted leaders—and one frequently misquoted or quoted out of context. Yet his actual remarks were often much wiser and wittier than reported. Churchill By Himself is the first exhaustive, attributed, and annotated collection of Churchill sayings. Edited by a longtime Churchill scholar and authorized by the Churchill estate, the quotations provide the first wholly accurate record of the esteemed statesman’s words.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"American Spectator," December 2008
"In "Churchill By Himself: The Definitive Collection of Quotations" editor Richard Langworth has with utmost scholarliness gathered 627 pages of Churchill's most memorable lines from his 15 million published words.....[A] magisterial work of scholarship that should be in the library of every Churchill aficionado."

"Tucson Citizen," November 6, 2008
"An absolute literary treasure"

About the Author

Richard Langworth is the author of A Connoisseur’s Guide to the Books of Winston Churchill and the editor of Finest Hour, the journal of Winston Churchill. He served as president of The Churchill Centre from 1990-99 and has been co-chairman of its Board of Trustees since 2000. A writer of forty books on Churchill and automotive history, he splits his time between Eleuthera, Bahamas, and New Hampshire.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 656 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs (October 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586486381
• ISBN-13: 978-1586486389
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Churchill, November 7, 2008

By 

Truth teller (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Churchill by Himself: The Definitive Collection of Quotations (Hardcover)

Richard Langworth has hit another grand slam with his new book, Churchill by Himself: The Definitive Collection of Quotations. This is an extraordinary work of scholarship that documents what Churchill said and didn't say. Like his previous work, A Connoisseur's Guide to the Books of Winston Churchill (unfortunately I lost mine in Katrina), Richard's meticulous attention to detail sheds pure white light on Churchill's quotations. It's about time someone cleared the air! The Bible, Shakespeare, Churchill, and perhaps Mark Twain with a dash of Teddy Roosevelt make up the lion's share of quotations used by business people and governmental speech makers. I'm no longer surprised how many quotations are attributed to Churchill which he never said or would have said. Now we can all get ground truth thanks to Richard Langworth.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A huge, wonderful collection of Chuchill quotes, December 23, 2008

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Churchill by Himself: The Definitive Collection of Quotations (Hardcover)

Winston Churchill is one of the few men whose name stands a good chance of being spoken by men as long as freedom exists. At 66, Churchill was called upon to rally a nation, an empire, teetering on the abyss of defeat.

And Churchill rallied his nation, his empire and the free world with his words.

A gifted orator and writer, Churchill authored 15 million published words. In this book are collected about 350,000 of Churchill's words in 4,120 quotations.

The editor, Richard Langworth, has done extensive research to validate the words as Churchill's own. It turns out that many follow the maxim of attributing words to Churchill that he had nothing to do with.

Churchill spent 50 years in public life. He was a soldier, journalist, Member of Commons, Lord of the Admiralty, member of the opposition, Prime Minister, world renowned author and more.

I've been an admirer of Churchill all my life. Many of the quotations are familiar to me. Yet, as they are categorized here, they take on a new life, a new perspecive.

Langworth begins with "The Immortal Words", the words of Churchill that will live forever in the memories of free men everywhere. The pity is that these words are rarely taught in American public schools. We will lose what we do not cherish and this means both the words of Churchill and our freedom.

Langworth progresses through Maxims, Churchillisms ("I have nothing ot offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat"), 34 sections in all that allow the reader to sense the full of Churchill and his words.

This is as remarkable book not only for Churchill admirers and students, but for those who revel in the beauty of the English language.

Jerry

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Churchill comes alive!, November 19, 2008

By 

Winton R. Churchill "Winton Churchill" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Churchill by Himself: The Definitive Collection of Quotations (Hardcover)

What a great job Langworth has done! By putting Churchill's quotations in a variety of context that help the reader understand this complex man, he has accomplished much more than any previous, quotation oriented text. Too much of the Churchill literature (while great) is too tough a slog for many readers today. (yes... sad but true) This book will bring the wit and wisdom of this great man to a much larger audience.