Richard Toye's Literary Research
Editor/Finest Hour
article which turned out to be someone else's work, was claiming last
November that Churchill's radical liberal philosophy was taken from
H.G. Wells, as we discovered today while preparing a new issue of
FINEST HOUR.
In the first case WSC was blamed for work that wasn't his; last year,
he was being discredited for borrowing work that wasn't his. The
following appears in FINEST HOUR 135,Summer (July).
But this is really getting too easy, like shooting fish in a barrel.
Give us a critic who is really tough--like Professor John Charmley!
(Sorry, we cannot provide italics herewith.)
DID WSC BORROW FROM WELLS?
LONDON, NOVEMBER 28TH-Churchill was a closet science fiction fan who
borrowed the lines for one of his "most famous speeches" from H.G.
Wells, said Dr. Richard Toye. A history lecturer at Cambridge
University, Toye has since made waves proclaiming that an unpublished
article allegedly by Churchill reveals WSC as an anti-Semite. Toye
claimed that the phrase, "The Gathering Storm" (not a speech but the
title of WSC's first volume of war memoirs) had been written by Wells
decades earlier in The War of the Worlds.
"It's a bit like Tony Blair borrowing phrases from Star Trek or Doctor
Who," Dr. Toye said. (When he "discovered" the "anti-Semitic article"
last January, Dr. Toye said he almost off his chair. Clearly his seat
was already greased by his discovery of this factoid in November! -
Ed.)
"People look at politicians in the 20th century and presume their
influences
were big theorists and philosophers," Dr Toye continued. "What we
forget is that Churchill and others were probably not interested in
reading that stuff when they got home after a hard day in the House of
Commons. They wanted to read a book that was full of ideas but was
also going to be fun. H.G. Wells was perfect for that. Churchill was
definitely a closet science-fiction fan. In fact, one of his
criticisms of Wells' A Modern Utopia (1905) was that there was too
much thought-provoking stuff and not enough action."
Toye argues that Wells was an important intellectual influence on
Churchill during the formative period of his career. In 1901, Wells
wrote Anticipations, a book of predictions about the future calling
for the establishment of a scientifically organised New Republic, with
state support for citizens. His publisher sent a copy to Churchill,
who wrote to Wells: "I read everything you write," adding that he
agreed with many of his ideas. Two days later Churchill gave an
address to the Scottish Liberal Council in Glasgow in which he said
the state should support its "left out millions."
In 1908, Wells supported Churchill when he stood in a by-election for
the
seat of Manchester North-West. In 1931, Churchill admitted that he
knew Wells's work so well he could pass an exam in it. "We need to
remember that there was a time when Churchill was a radical Liberal
who believed these things," Dr Toye explained. "Wells is often seen as
a socialist, but he also saw himself as a Liberal, and he saw
Churchill as someone whose views were moving in the right direction.
Wells advocated the idea of selective breeding, arguing that people
should
only be able to have children if they met certain conditions such as
physical fitness and financial independence. Churchill told Wells he
particularly admired "the skill and courage with which the questions
of marriage and population were discussed." Churchill was then
described by a friend as "a strong eugenist."
On English-speaking peoples, Wells predicted the political unification
of "the English-speaking states" into "a great federation of white
English-speaking peoples." Churchill often argued for to the
"fraternal association" or "unity" of the English-speaking peoples,
and even wrote a four-volume History of the English-speaking
Peoples."
-Sarah Cassidy, The Times
==================================================================
Churchillian comment:
Like Dr. Toye's claims about Churchill's alleged anti-Semitism
elsewhere in this issue, these conclusions remind us of Arthur
Balfour's famous rejoinder to a fellow MP: "The Hon. Member has said
much that is trite, and much that is true. The problem is that what's
true is trite, and what's not trite is not true."
The notion that Churchill was too busy to do any serious reading and
preferred to indulge in science fiction when he "got home after a hard
day in the House of Commons" (a simply hilarious vision to anyone
steeped in WSC's routine), is simply a case of "terminological
inexactitude." Anyone consulting the books Churchill read in his
youth, for example, know that his tastes ran from Aristotle to
Shaksespeare, Darwin to Wynwood Reade. Sure, he read science fiction-
even Henty novels. Sure, his photographic memory borrowed phrases from
them. That doesn't mean he picked up his most essential philosophy
from some novelist.
At the time he wrote Wells sharing their ideas about the welfare
state, Churchill was reading Progress and Porverty, by the American
economist Henry George, who proposed that private ownership of basic
elements like land should be taxed, instead of wealth or income. By
that time WSC was in his most radical period as a crusading Liberal,
which peaked over Irish Home Rule and reforming the House of Lords,
before war clouds rang down and commanded his attention. It is not
hard to conclude that Churchill got more of his Liberal political
philosophy from economists than from science fiction writers.
Dr. Toye's claim that "The Gathering Storm" came from Wells is easily
refuted by the basic book every Churchillian should own: Winston S.
Churchill, the official biography. In his volume VIII, published
nearly 20 years ago, Sir Martin Gilbert showed that it was Emery Reves
who suggested The Gathering Storm. Churchill merely approved of it, in
January 1948. Gilbert writes (pages 394-95):
"A final telegram from Emery Reves was decisive in an area of utmost
importance, the title of the first volume. Churchill had chosen
'Downward Path' as the theme of the years 1931 to 1939. This title,
Reves telegraphed, 'sounds somewhat discouraging.' The American and
other publishers would prefer a 'more challenging title indicating
crescendo events.' Reves suggested 'Gathering Clouds', 'The Gathering
Storm' or 'The Brooding Storm.' The title Churchill chose was 'The
Gathering Storm.'"
Now we suppose someone could say very well, it was Emery Reves who
read "The Gathering Storm" in The War of the Worlds and handed it over
to Churchill. But that's really being silly, isn't it?
Antoine Capet
_Troublesome Young Men : The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power And
Helped Save England_ by Lynne Olson
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (April 17, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0374179549
ISBN-13: 978-0374179540
Antoine Capet, Rouen (France)
Daniel N Myers
book. Lynne Olson, the author, is a Washingtonian and we are working with
the English-Speaking Union DC Chapter to organize a book launch and signing
on Saturday, May 5. I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy and am
writing a review for Finest Hour.
Dan Myers
Daniel N. Myers
The Churchill Centre
Washington, D.C.
Daniel N Myers
book. Lynne Olson, the author, is a Washingtonian and we are working with
the English-Speaking Union DC Chapter to organize a book launch and signing
on Saturday, May 5. I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy and am
writing a review for Finest Hour.
Dan Myers
Daniel N. Myers
The Churchill Centre
Washington, D.C.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Church...@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:Church...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Antoine Capet
> Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 4:58 AM
> To: Church...@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [ChurchillChat] Troublesome Young Men
>
>
>
paul Sparling
I came accross a Canadian Website http://www.damianpenny.com/ that noted
Churchill was dropped from the English Curriculim, I thought I'd pass on one
of the comments:
Damian adds: take a pill, Mark. I wasn't taught anything about Winston
Churchill in school, but I still know he invented the electric light bulb.
Paul Sparling
paul Sparling
Daimnation!
Comments: Not their finest hour
Comment by DaninVan:
We have history?!
re the light bulb:
"The first electric light was made in 1800 by Humphry Davy, an English
scientist. He experimented with electricity and invented an electric
battery. When he connected wires to his battery and a piece of carbon, the
carbon glowed, producing light. This is called an electric arc.
Much later, in 1860, the English physicist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan
(1828-1914) was determined to devise a practical, long-lasting electric
light. He found that a carbon paper filament worked well, but burned up
quickly. In 1878, he demonstrated his new electric lamps in Newcastle,
England.
In 1877, the American Charles Francis Brush manufactured some carbon arcs to
light a public square in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. These arcs were used on a few
streets, in a few large office buildings, and even some stores. Electric
lights were only used by a few people."
Posted at 2007-07-13 14:16:31 [PermaLink]
Comment by Bruce Rheinstein:
And people wonder why children in British (and American) schools receive
such poor educations.
Besides, I'm pretty sure that Churchill didn't invent the light bulb. He
invented the telephone.
Posted at 2007-07-13 14:29:58 [PermaLink]
Comment by Strangelove PhD:
We can hardly resurrect fascism and communism if people know about them and
how to defeat them, now can we? Fetch me my harem.
Posted at 2007-07-13 14:37:24 [PermaLink]
Comment by Mark Collins:
Bruce Rheinstein: I thought he invented the siren suit:
[External Link]
Mark
Ottawa
Posted at 2007-07-13 15:22:48 [PermaLink]
Comment by Ernie G:
Most students nowadays are hazy on the details about Washington and
Jefferson, particularly with respect to any good they may have done. But the
teachers and textbook writers make sure there's one thing they know. Both
were powerful white men who owned slaves.
Posted at 2007-07-13 15:33:18 [PermaLink]
Comment by DaninVan:
Irrelevant, Ernie; we're concerned about the lightbulb here. Get with the
program, eh! :)
Posted at 2007-07-13 17:41:08 [PermaLink]
Comment by Bruce Rheinstein:
"he invented the siren suit"
And lost the '45 election. There's a connection there, somewhere.
Posted at 2007-07-13 17:56:26 [PermaLink]
Comment by Mark Collins:
Bruce Rheinstein: Despite also during WW II wearing the uniform of all three
services (I think the last link is army); sure was hard to win the service
vote.
[External Link]
[External Link]
[External Link]
Mark