"Lough has collected all available correspondence between Winston and his mother, Jennie Churchill, from his childhood until the end of her life. With excellent explanations of the events involved, the author gives readers first-rate insight into the personalities of mother and son. A great resource for gaining a further understanding of these two outsized characters and their era."
Description
My Darling Winston is an edited collection of the personal letters between Winston Churchill and his mother, Jenny Jerome, between 1881—when Churchill was just six—and 1921, the year of Jenny’s death. Many of these intimate letters— between two gifted writers—are published here for the first time, and the exchange of letters between mother and son has never before been published as a correspondence. A significant addition to the Churchill canon, My Darling Winston traces Churchill’s emotional, intellectual, and political development as confided to his primary mentor, his mother. As well as providing a basic narrative of Jenny’s and Winston Churchill’s lives over a forty-year period, My Darling Winston tells the story of a changing mother-son relationship, characterised at the outset by Churchill’s emotional and practical dependence on his mother, but which is dramatically reversed as her life begins to disintegrate tragically towards its end.
Reviews
"Readers who enjoy piecing together history and filling in gaps from primary evidence, as well as historians and Churchill enthusiasts, will find much of interest."
"Lough excels, providing us with just enough narrative, without taking over and distracting the reader from his subjects. He accompanies his text with excellent maps and uncommon photographs. Having David Lough as narrator is like having a skilled tutor, guiding us through the four-decade relationship between mother and son. He never falls short."
"A fascinating study. No More Champagne recasts many aspects of Churchill’s well-known biography."
