Liam Kennedy,Īli's examination remains an important corrective to the hagiographic praise that Churchill receives to this day. His study makes one thing clear: there is ultimately no path to a socialist and internationalist future without challenging this legacy. Alex Skopic,Īli's book is a helpful corrective to the cult of Churchill that has come to dominate British culture. The important thing about Ali's book, even after a thousand on the same subject, is that it is primarily interested in Churchill's years in service to British imperialism, and only secondarily interested in World War II, inverting the usual balance.a vital corrective. seeks not so much to flush WC down the toilet of history, but to reassign him to his rightful place as one of history's most over-rated figures. a worthy contribution in a crowded field Labour Hub, Lindsey German,Ī counter to popular mythology an effort to peel back the curtain of propaganda and locate truth. This book is an unreserved polemic against the man usually celebrated for standing up to Hitler Martin Chilton,Īn essential antidote to the Churchill myth.This book could not be more timely. ![]() Simon Heffer,Ī powerful corrective.shining a light on the nasty parts of the Churchill story that his supporters conveniently ignore. David Aaronovitch,Īli portrays Churchill as cruel, incompetent and blinded by prejudice SpectatorĪ Marxist insult to history. ![]() Priyamvada Gopal,įor Tariq Ali, Churchill debunking, like Churchill worship, is a political act. In Ali's telling, which draws on more honest existing historical scholarship than most popular biographies of Churchill, the two-times prime minister emerges not so much as deeply racist - some of his contemporaries remarked on it in shock - as profoundly authoritarian, with a soft spot for fascist strongmen, and a hostility to working-class assertion. As a peace time leader, even as the Empire was starting to crumble, Churchill never questioned his imperial philosophy as he became one of the architects of the postwar world we live in today. Over 3 Millions Bengalis starved in 1943 as a consequence of his policies. Despite his record as a defender of his homeland during the Second World War, he was willing to sacrifice more distant domains. His attempt to crush the Irish nationalists left scars that have not yet healed. As a minister during the first World War, he was responsible for a series of calamitous errors that cost thousands of lives. As a young man he rode into battle in South Africa, Sudan and India in order to maintain the Imperial order. Throughout his long career as journalist, adventurer, MP, military leader, statesman, and historian, nationalist self belief influenced Churchill's every step, with catastrophic effects. In this coruscating biography, Tariq Ali challenges Churchill's vaulted record. However, he was also one of the staunchest defenders of empire and of Britain's imperial doctrine. Even today, Boris Johnson in his failing attempts to be magisterial, has adopted many of his hero's mannerism! And, as Tariq Ali agrees, Churchill was undoubtedly right in 1940-41 to refuse to capitulate to fascism. The subject of numerous biographies and history books, Winston Churchill has been repeatedly voted as one of the greatest of Englishmen.
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