Churchill Documents - Volume 4 (ePub)

Volume 4 of The Churchill Documents serves as the second companion volume to volume 2 of the official biography, Young Statesman, 1901-1914. It begins with Churchill's remarkable visit to East Africa in 1907 and his journey down the Nile. Then follows his entry into the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade, his courtship with and marriage to Clementine Hozier, his prominent part in the successful parliamentary and public struggle to curb the powers of the House of Lords, his work for prison reform as Home Secretary, his deepening involvement in defence matters, and his opening months as First Lord of the Admiralty.

Churchill's correspondence relating to his journey through East Africa and along the Nile shows that he combined political action and reflection with a sense of adventure. On his return, his private life took a turn toward courtship and marriage. From the spring of 1908, Churchill was a full and active member of the British Cabinet, and remained so for seven years.

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.