News From the Front
CHURCHILL BACK IN BUSINESS, WEEK 7
Virginia Cowles recounts encountering Winston Churchill at the French Embassy in 1950 and informing him that she was planning on writing his biography. “‘There’s nothing much in that field left unploughed,’ he growled.” We turn next to Cowles’ WINSTON CHURCHILL: THE ERA AND THE MAN, as we revisit the veritable handful of Churchill memoirs written by women.
Read More »CHURCHILL BACK IN BUSINESS, WEEK 6
Princess Marthe Bibesco is a name that cries out fairy tale or film treatment. The Princess, however, was quite real, and knew Winston Churchill quite well. We conjure her next, and her powerfully evocative book, “Sir Winston Churchill: Master of Courage,” as we continue our survey of the very few Churchill memoirs written by women.
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CHURCHILL BACK IN BUSINESS, WEEK 5
We were already thinking deeply about the women who worked for Winston Churchill (and occasionally wrote about him), when news came of the passing at 96 of Doreen Pugh, Churchill’s Personal Secretary for the last ten years of his life. Ms. Pugh did not write a book about her boss. Elizabeth Nel, however, did. In our tour of Churchill memoirs written by women, we look to hers next.
Read More »CHURCHILL BACK IN BUSINESS, WEEK 4
Winston Churchill’s unspoken rule that his staff not write about him was only broken twice in the years before Churchill achieved his postwar celebrity. The first time was by a man — his bodyguard, Inspector Walter H. Thompson. The second time was by a woman — a secretary named Phyllis Moir. Only one of these breaches was excused.
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CHURCHILL BACK IN BUSINESS, WEEK 3
In our “tell-all” age, it’s hard to imagine having worked for Winston Churchill and not writing about it. Virtually every man who labored alongside Churchill — from his wartime aides and generals, to his bodyguards — published memoirs or, at the very least, some version of their diaries. The women, however, were another story…
Read More »CHURCHILL BACK IN BUSINESS, WEEK 2
We have just marked the one week anniversary of our reopening. It feels good to be back. To celebrate, we placed in our store window the largest, most beautifully framed original print of Yousuf Karsh’s iconic photographic portrait of Winston Churchill that you are anywhere likely to see. You really should come see it.
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CHURCHILL BACK IN BUSINESS, WEEK 1
After more than a year (15 months actually), we are back in business. Tuesday, June 1, we reopened our doors to all vaccinated customers. Just show your vaccination card (a photo or copy is fine), and you’re in (Monday-Friday 10-4). With a mask, of course; the store remains as small and windowless as ever. Come visit us soon.
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CHURCHILL OUT OF HIBERNATION, WEEK 45
“Time ends all things,” Winston Churchill once reflected. Well, we have reached the end of our year-long pandemic peregrination through Winston Churchill’s book-length works; we have reached THE UNWRITTEN ALLIANCE. And a plan for re-opening our doors very soon.
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CHURCHILL OUT OF HIBERNATION, WEEK 44
A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES was Winston Churchill’s final opus magnum. As history, it is flawed; as literature it is marvelously illuminating and entertaining. Just like the man himself. We explore it next, with the finish line in sight, on our marathon race through his book-length works.
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CHURCHILL OUT OF HIBERNATION, WEEK 43
STEMMING THE TIDE, the fourth volume of Winston Churchill’s collected postwar speeches, captured Winston Churchill at a crossroads. His return to No. 10 as Prime Minister arrives midway through the book. His age and declining health are the subtext throughout. We look to STEMMING THE TIDE next, in our chronological exploration of Churchill’s book-length works.
Read More »CHURCHILL OUT OF HIBERNATION, WEEK 42
IN THE BALANCE was the the third of Churchill’s postwar speech volumes. How that man could talk! We unpack it next, as we pursue Winston Churchill through his book-length works.
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CHURCHILL OUT OF HIBERNATION, WEEKS 40/41
Last week we celebrated Chartwell Bookseller’s 38th Birthday (on April 11, to be exact). No big to-do. We’re just glad we’re still here. This week, we resume our “Churchill Out of Hibernation” tour of Winston Churchill’s book-length works with EUROPE UNITE.
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