Churchill Documents - Volume 6 (ePub)

The letters and documents reproduced in volume 6 of The Churchill Documents were written between July 1914 and April 1915, a period covered by the third volume of Winston Churchill's official biography. This volume contains the documentary evidence of his initiatives, setbacks, and achievements as wartime First Lord of the Admiralty.

By examining in detail the evolution of British war policy, Sir Martin Gilbert has discovered the extent to which the precise nature of Churchill's involvement and responsibility, with regard to all the controversial aspects of his war policies, differed from what many of his contemporaries believed: misconceptions that soon became widely accepted in the public mind. The volume includes his efforts to sustain the siege of Antwerp, his support for the use of air power in war, and his central part in the development of the tank. It also shows the enthusiasm and forcefulness with which he supported an offensive naval policy, first against Germany, then against Turkey, impressing and influencing his colleagues.

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.