CHURCHILL'S BRITAIN:

'A fascinating tour guide, rich in stories and detail, which informs as well as entertains - a kind of life through places.' - New Statesman. Blenheim Palace, Chartwell, and the Cabinet War Rooms - all places synonymous with Winston Churchill. But there was much more to the great statesman than grand houses and government buildings. Peter Clark takes us the length and breadth of the British Isles. We visit the shop where Churchill bought his cigars in London, stop over at impressive country homes in Norfolk and Surrey, and join the crowds at impassioned political altercations in Belfast and Dundee, through the home counties, southwest England and the north of England to Lancashire, Manchester and Yorkshire and to Scotland and Ireland where all could smell his cigars! The book is in the form of gazetteer divided into geographical regions and many locations are private homes or working institutions not open to the public. Each region is introduced with a historic map, bringing Britain as Churchill knew it to life. It notes homes in which he lived, places he studied, the offices he occupied and locations where he delivered significant speeches. The author has tried to examine the relationship Churchill had with each of the four constituencies he represented in the House of Commons between 1900 and 1964 and there are also many less well known locations that tell stories that shed light on his personality or politics. This tour of sites pieces together a fresh, fascinating picture of an extraordinary individual. The New Statesman 'Best Books of 2020' (hardback edition). 376 page paperback.