Churchill's Empire: The World That Made Him and the World He Made
Written by Richard Toye
Narrated by Michael Page
4/5
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About this audiobook
Drawing on newly released documents and an uncanny ability to separate the facts from the overblown reputation (by mid-career Churchill had become a global brand), Richard Toye provides the first comprehensive analysis of Churchill's relationship with the empire. Instead of locating Churchill's position on a simple left/right spectrum, Toye demonstrates how the statesman evolved and challenges the listener to understand his need to reconcile the demands of conscience with those of political conformity.
Richard Toye
Professor Richard Toye is Professor of Modern History at the University of Exeter. His books include Lloyd George and Churchill: Rivals for Greatness (Macmillan 2007), Rhetoric: A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2013), and (with David Thackeray) Age of Promises: Electoral Pledges in Twentieth Century Britain (OUP 2021). He has made numerous TV and radio appearances and has written for a wide range of publications, including the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Times Literary Supplement.
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Reviews for Churchill's Empire
14 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An interesting read. An insight into Churchill's attitude towards the British Empire over his lifetime. By reading this book I learned Churchill often would contradict himself. For instance he believed in fundamental human rights for all men but seemed to exclude some ethnic groups from this principle (not overtly of course!). Many people see Churchill as a great historical figure, but I feel this book as portrayed him as a complex character who frustrated many people with his unreliable behavior throughout his life.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Toye surveys Churchill’s acts and statements about Britain’s empire, from Ireland to South Africa, Canada, Australia, and India, over the course of his extremely eventful lifetime. The book therefore skims over a lot of things that deserve (and have) books of their own, but I was really interested in how Toye showed Churchill’s concepts of empire operating in so many different contexts. Toye points out that those who excuse Churchill’s racism as typical for a Victorian of his upbringing have to deal with the fact that other Britons with similar backgrounds managed to do better. Ultimately, Churchill was an overt racist: though he espoused the idea that “civilized” men were all entitled to the same rights, he defined civilization in such a way that it was very hard for nonwhites to achieve it. At the same time, his concepts of empire and of the shared destiny of the “English-speaking peoples” complicated his reactions to developments in Britain’s colonies/protectorates/etc., as did his keen desire for political power.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A useful review of Churchill's role in the Empire and effort to analyse his true feelings and how they may have changed over his long career.