The Churchill Myths

This is not a book about Winston Churchill. It is not principally about his politics, nor his rhetorical imagination, nor even about the man himself. Instead, it addresses the varied afterlives of the man and the persistent, deeply located compulsion to bring him back from the dead, capturing and explaining the significance of the various Churchill myths to Britain's history and current politics.

The authors look at Churchill's portrayal in social memory. They demonstrate the ways in which politicians have often used the idea of Churchill as a means of self-validation - using him to show themselves as tough and honest players. They show the man dramatized in film and television - an onscreen persona that is often the product of a gratuitous mixing of fact and fantasy, one deliberately shaped to meet the preferences of the presumed audience. They discuss his legacy in light of the Brexit debate - showing how public figures on both sides of the Leave/Remain debate were able to use elements of Churchill's words and character to argue for their own point-of-view.


A fascinating book. -- David Aaronovitch, journalist and columnist for The Times

The Churchill Myths is one of the best books about Brexit and English self-delusion out there. -- Nick Cohen, journalist, author and political commentator

Agreeably provocative [and] opinionated ... There is much good and even original stuff in [this book]. -- Anne Chisholm, Times Literary Supplement

The Churchill Myths is a fascinating, insightful, and often challenging read. -- Alastair Stewart, Finest Hour, the journal of the International Churchill Society

As the title makes clear, this book is concerned with the myths, plural, of Churchill. The authors demonstrate how different Churchills are summoned to speak both for and to the nation at particular historical moments. There is no central body adjudicating how the figure of Churchill is brought to bear on contemporary events. Politicians, academics, journalists, writers, directors, and cultural institutions, such as the BBC, are the cast of characters who sculpt the social memory of Churchill. For the most part, the authors avoid trying to rule on the accuracy of these myths, although sometimes it proves necessary. -- Satya Gunput, Twentieth Century British History

The Churchill Myths is a brilliantly provocative take-down of the Churchill industry. Fielding, Schwarz, and Toye show how and why British history has so often been crystalized into the story of one man. By taking a hammer to the legend, not Britain's wartime prime minister himself, they allow us to do the near impossible and see Churchill afresh. -- Richard Aldous, Bard College, Author of Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship

Churchill remains a complex and fascinating figure. This fresh study of Churchill's position in political and popular culture since 1940 provides a substantial reassessment of Churchill and his legend. Written by major historians it is both scholarly and accessible to a wide readership. -- Chris Wrigley, emeritus professor, University of Nottingham

A good and impressive book ... Its attempt at de-mythologizing [Churchill] allows us to raise new questions. -- Christian Egander Skov, Altinget