Churchill Documents - Volume 16 (ePub)

Volume 16 of The Churchill Documents chronicles the dramatic events of 1941. Editor Sir Martin Gilbert's masterful selection of documents, many of them secret at the time, reveals Churchill's energy and decisiveness in every aspect of war, his strategic grasp, and the vibrant human side of his forceful personality. To read The Ever-Widening War is to enter into Churchill's experience of leading Britain through the greatest crisis of the 20th century.

When Churchill took office as Prime Minsiter, Britain stood alone against Germany. She faced massive air raids, starvation, and the threat of invasion. By the end of 1941, Hitler threatened the defeat of the Soviet Union. Within hours of the German attack, Churchill made the decisive commitment to give the Soviets whatever help Britain could, and to persuade the United States to do likewise. That same December, Japan's surprise air assault on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the war as Britain's essential fighting ally.

In the writing of the official biography of Sir Winston Churchill, Randolph Churchill-and later Sir Martin Gilbert, who resumed the work following Randolph's death-had full access to Sir Winston's letters and papers, and also many hundreds of private archives. The work spans eight volumes, detailing Churchill's youth and early adventures in South Africa and India, his early career, and his more than fifty years on the world stage. No other statesman of modern times-or indeed of any age-has left such a wealth of personal letters, such a rich store of private and public documentation, and such vivid memories in the minds of those who worked closest to him. Through these materials, assembled over the course of more than twenty years, one is able to know Churchill in a way never before possible. Churchill's personal papers are so extensive that it was only possible to include in the narrative volumes a part of the relevant documents. The volumes titled The Churchill Documents run parallel with the narrative volumes, and with them form a whole. The letters, documents, and correspondence contained within are drawn from the Churchill Papers, now at Churchill College, Cambridge, and from many other archival sources, both private and public.