Welcome to Sir Martin Gilbert's website, a celebration of his life and his work, his passion, his philosophy, his favourite haunts, his humour and his humanity.
The official biographer of Winston Churchill and a leading historian on the Twentieth Century, Sir Martin is a scholar and an historian who, through his 88 books, has shown there is such a thing as “true history”.
Churchill, the “Great Gentleman”
Photo: Churchill and Alexander, 24 August 1944, from In Search of Churchill 500 words/ 2 ½ minute read The list of Churchill’s reform measures is impressive. The Tory Democrat who became an active Liberal and then a Conservative again (at the age of fifty-six) c...
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Is Holocaust Education the Antidote to Antisemitism? By Esther Gilbert
Photo: Hitler Youth at a Nazi Party convention rally in Nuremberg, c. 1934; Photo, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust 1760 words/8 ½ minute read Through the years, in thinking and teaching about the Holocaust, I have viewed it as a way to see what human beings are capable o...
Read more >>Esther’s Moving on … But not really. By Esther Gilbert
Photo: The Canadian Rockies, February 2021, E Gilbert photo 515 words/ 2 ½ minute read Geography was so important to Martin. It was not only the history of a particular moment in time that counted, but that moment was inextricably linked to the place where it happen...
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“Along Afghanistan’s War-torn Frontier”
Photo: Steve McCurry’s 1984 photograph of young Sharbat Gula in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan, published in 1985. 630 words / 3 minute read The face of then twelve-year old Sharbat Gula that adorned the cover of the June 1985 edition of National Geographic...
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When journalists write history. From Esther Gilbert
Photo: Is he facing the truth, or filtering it? The dark shadow of this biography. Image from intheblack.com 430 words / 2 minute read Andrew Roberts wrote a review in The Spectator of a new Churchill biography. It seems that the author of the book uses his journalism ...
Read more >>Learning the Lessons of Leadership: Inspiring Our Next Generation
Photo: Gordon Brown, Sir Martin, Rabbi Sacks, 11 June 2011, Hendon Synagogue; Sir Martin holding the pages with his questions. Photo by Sandra Meyer, with thanks to Rabbi Mordechai Ginsbury. 575 words / 3 min read On 15 June 2011, at Hendon Synagogue, Sir Martin moderat...
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