The-Churchill-Documents,-Volume-11-The-Exchequer-Years,-1922-1929

The Churchill Documents, Volume 11: The Exchequer Years, 1922-1929

The letters and documents reproduced in this volume were written between November 1922 and July 1929, the period covered in the first part of Volume V of the official biography of Sir Winston Churchill. Among the subjects covered in this volume are Churchill’s return to Conservatism in 1924, the General Strike of 1926 and the continuing coal strike that year, the story of the British Gazette, and Churchill’s work as Chancellor of the Exchequer, including the return to the Gold Standard, war debts, and his five budgets.

Book Excerpt:

From Victor Cazalet's diary entry, 2 January 1927:

“I never knew Winston in better form. He's magnificent, full of fun and talk, charming, affectionate and vivacious. We talked of the Budget, and the deficit: there will, I think be no extra taxation this year. Spender-Clay was there and Professor Lindemann. I love all the children, and my god-daughter Mary is growing apace in looks and intelligence.

“Winston was very much against my becoming Political Correspondent of the Evening Standard. He explained how life in The House would be impossible on those lines. No one would tell me anything. I saw his point and wrote off accordingly. I stayed till nearly midnight as Winston simply would not let me go.”

 

What the author says

“In taking Churchill's story forward another six and a half years ... I have chosen documents which span every aspect of Churchill's life at that time, from the most personal and reflective, to the political and the administrative, the literary and financial, the national and the international. The 'Exchequer Years' were, for Churchill, a period of great controversy, and of great creativity; of ideas and achievements which enhanced his career; of skilful negotiations; of insight and of vision.”

 

 

What the press say

 “This huge volume is a treasure trove for British political and social history in the 1920s … primarily a compilation of source material and a work of reference, but it is also full of delights for the casual browser. … a unique and fascinating source for all students of British history ….” Brian Bond, British Book News

“Martin Gilbert continues to put all students of 20th Century history doubly in his debt. Four years after publishing the fifth volume of Sir Winston's official life, he now gives us 1,500 pages of original documents covering the years 1922-29. It is a rich but far from indigestible feast of Cabinet minutes. Treasury memoranda, family letters and private diaries. No statesman has ever been so utterly exposed to posterity.” Kenneth Rose, Sunday Telegraph

 

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  • Formats: Hardback
  • ISBN: 978-0-916308-24-7