Churchill Documents - Volume 2 (ePub)

Here in the second volume of The Churchill Documents-Volume 2: Young Soldier, 1896-1901-are included documents relevant to the first volume of the official biography, Winston S. Churchill: Youth, 1874-1900. When an extract or quotation appears in the narrative volume, the complete document appears here. Where space prevented the inclusion of a contemporary letter in the narrative volume, it is included here.

Winston Churchill saw active service in three theaters of war between 1897 and 1901: India, Sudan, and South Africa. These were among the most intense years of his life: several times in danger of death in the firing lines; being taken prisoner of war and escaping from captivity; reporting as a journalist from the scenes of the fiercest fighting; and making every effort to enter Parliament and enter British political life. During these five years he published five books, wrote many newspaper and magazine articles, lectured in Britain and the United States, and was elected to the House of Commons.

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.