Speaking for Themselves: personal letters of the Churchills

 

Over the last week or so I've been dipping into several different books rather than just concentrating on one of two. One book that falls into this category is the excellent Speaking for Themselves: The Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill which I managed to pick up the US version of very cheaply when I visited Chartwell last month.

Compiled by their daughter, Mary Soames, this book is a collection of the letters between Winston and his wife Clementine which they both wrote from the early days of their relationship, whenever they were parted. They provide a wonderful, intimate insight to both of them and how their relationship coped with separation. Reading their views on the people they met and what was going on in politics at the time is fascinating, but at the same time it also made me realise how little I know about certain periods in history.

If this book has any faults then it's just that I found myself wanting to know more about the times when the Churchills were together as well. Quite often the reader will get a fair amount of information about an event that was planned, with two different viewpoints, yet the event itself is passed over as they were together then and hence no letters were written about it. I'm not sure if there is a good biography of their lives together, but I'll certainly be on the look out for one to see if I can fill in some of the blanks that way.

If you do know about the Churchills and want to find out more about them as people rather than just Winston the politician or military man then I'd definitely recommend getting your hands on a copy of this book. Physically it's a bit too big to read cover to cover, but for dipping into every now and again provides a lovely insight to things.