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The Fringes of Power: The Incredible Inside Story of Winston Churchill During WW II

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As I am a longtime admirer of Winston Churchill -- whose face and name is prominently featured on the dust jacket cover -- I eagerly looked forward to receiving this book. However, after reading through several chapters and numerous passages I ended up tossing the book into a pile that will eventually be given away as charity to the local library.

Notably, the title of this book, "The Fringes of Power", is an apt description for this work; and that title should be taken at face value. This book is very much about the people who worked at the fringes of power; not those who truly wielded it. To paraphrase a famous American television hamburger commercial: "Where's the beef?" Colville gives us a "fluffy bun", but precious little beef.

First of all, this diary is not written by Churchill, but by someone who worked with and for Churchill. We are promised "the incredible inside story of Winston Churchill", yet we get the John Colville story instead. Indeed, we are reading Colville's diary; not Churchill's. These are Colville's thoughts, his impressions, and most notably, the minutiae of his daily life -- where he ate dinner, with whom, and even what the weather was like on a given day. In some passages, this reads more like introspective poetry rather than solid insights into Churchill the man.

Secondly, there are a great many names of people and players who are identified in this diary, some of them quite obscure. But unless you are a Churchill historian, they will likely mean little to the average reader. Indeed, there are esoteric qualities about Colville's writing which seem impenetrable unless you are British, and a scholar of British politics during the run up to and during the World War II era.

Moreover, Colville's recollections of his life as a soldier add little but distraction. His recollections of his work for Neville Chamberlain is of doubtful utility, unless of course Neville Chamberlain is someone you wish to study. On that point, count me out. So, buyer beware: this is not truly a book about Churchill as the dust jacket cover suggests.

Finally, this book did little to satisfy my curiousity about Churchill. Were this Churchill's diary, I would be thrilled. But alas, it was written by a man who was acquainted with and for a time worked with Churchill. But there are many others who worked for and with Churchill who offer much better insights to the man.

As mentioned earlier, if you are a serious historian, intimately familiar with the entire cast of characters in the British political scene during Churchill's tenure in parliament and as Prime Minister, you may find this book interesting and enlightening. But if you are like many of us who want to know Churchill and care little about fringe minutiae, I would respectfully submit that there are much better offerings, including of course, the fine work of Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer.

John Colville was close to Churchill and a great admirer of him, yet Churchill's flaws are clearly depicted in Colville's diaries. Colville was a young man during WWII, with very lmited life experience outside of his own upper class circle. He was clearly impressed by Churchill's immense charisma, which blinded him to Churchill's faults such as his tendency to focus on trivialities and to waste time in pontificating till 03.00 in the morning. Following his return to Downing Street after a period of service in the RAF, Colville seems more aware of Churchill's failings. He is also quite scathing about many of the military chiefs. In 1953 Colville seems to have taken over a large part of Churchill's duties for several weeks, after Churchill had a stroke which was concealed from the public. Even after his recovery its clear from these diaries that Churchill was in no fit state to run the country, lacking sufficient concentration to read cabinet papers and spending much of the day playing cards. Had he been anyone else he would surely have been forced from office, even in those days when the media were much more respectful and less intrusive. Colville's evidence backs up much of the criticism of Churchill in Clive Ponting's very critical biography, which is all the more telling given that Colville was very much a fan of Churchill's.

As in all subjective accounts (and a diary is by its nature subjective), what's unsaid and unremarked upon is as telling as what's said and noted. Thus for instance there's little mention of the Soviet Union's contribution to the defeat of Germany, or of Churchill's colleague Atlee, or of the war in the Far East. Churchill's own history of the war shows the same biases. The availability to the upper classes of huge quantities of food and alcohol (despite rationing) is mostly taken for granted, likewise the fact that government officials slept in their own deep shelters but discouraged the public from sheltering in tube stations.

Basically this is an interesting and gossipy account from a bystander who had intimate knowledge of the personalities involved, but remained unaware of bigger issues (for instance, he never knew about the Enigma intercepts or the atomic bomb, and makes no further mention of Hess after the first shock of his arrival). However, given these limitations, this book does illuminate the bigger picture as portrayed by hisorians like Martin Gilbert (pro-Churchill), Clive Ponting (anti), and Churchill himself.

John Colville was a man blessed with good fortune. Born to a well-connected upper-class family, he excelled in school and capped his academic career with a first in history at Trinity College Cambridge. Fascinated by current events, he passed the Foreign Office entrance exam on the first try and was posted to the Middle East before returning home just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. A little more than a month after the start of hostilities, he was seconded to 10 Downing Street as an assistant private secretary, an assignment that gave him a privileged vantage point from which to witness events.

Colville's decision to keep a diary predated his posting, reflecting his desire to capture his impressions about the war that he experienced. His transfer to the office of the Prime Minister, however, transformed it into a priceless firsthand account of British politics during the war. It is the first part of the diary, covering Colville's observations from September 1939 until his transfer to the RAF in October 1941, that is the highlight of the book, yet the later sections covering his return to Downing Street in 1943-5 and again in Churchill's postwar ministry are also enjoyable for their insights. Winston Churchill is naturally at the heart of these diaries, and though Colville edited his diaries for publication he let stand many of his comments from that time no matter how inaccurate and embarrassing they must have seemed later. This only enhances their value, allowing the reader to see Colville's evolving attitude towards him, which begins with concerns for Churchill's "ineffective, and indeed harmful" (p.108) efforts as First Lord before coming to respect and admire him as Prime Minister. It is from these pages that we get some of our best assessments of Churchill and the war, as well as a generous collection of his bon mots about his political contemporaries (supplemented by a few from Colville himself)

All of this makes Colville's diary an indispensable resource for anyone interested in Churchill and Britain during the Second World War. It is valuable not just for the moments he captures involving the decision makers but for its portrait of upper-class life during the war as well, a life of dinners and diversions not too constrained by wartime deprivations. Together they make for an enduring work, one that will continue to shed light while the works which draw from it collect dust on the bookshelves.

john rupert colville was churchill private secretary during WW2.. HE KEPT A DIARY PUBLISHED HERE . TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS PERIOD AND MORE ABOUT CHURCHILL THIS IS A GREAT BOOK.