Post-War Speeches

The first volume in this captivating collection of the prime minister's speeches brings to life the heady days after V-Day-and a nation newly at peace. Legendary politician and military strategist Winston S. Churchill was a master not only of the battlefield, but of the page and the podium. Over the course of forty books and countless speeches, broadcasts, news items and more, he addressed a country at war and at peace, thrilling with victory but uneasy with its shifting role on the global stage. In 1953, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for "his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." During his lifetime, he enthralled readers and brought crowds roaring to their feet; in the years since his death, his skilled writing has inspired generations of eager history buffs. The Sinews of Peace was the alternate title of the 1946 "Iron Curtain Speech" delivered at Westminster College-in which Churchill championed the idea of a "fraternal association" between people of the English-speaking world to preserve the spirit of military and political cooperation forged during the war. President Truman was in the audience. Was Churchill proposing a formal alliance between the two world powers? This inspiring collection contains the first of Churchill's speeches delivered immediately after World War II. In his signature charismatic, impassioned style, he calls for unity and cooperation between the victims and the limping former Axis powers-including a partnership between Germany and France. These speeches both recounted history and made it, as the leaders of Europe convened to form a new world order.

The second volume in this collection of the Prime Minister's oratory contains the post-war speeches that stoked patriotic fire in the waning days of Empire. Legendary politician and military strategist Sir Winston Churchill was a master not only of the battlefield, but of the page and the podium. Over the course of forty books and countless speeches, broadcasts, news items and more, he addressed a country at war and at peace, thrilling with victory but uneasy with its shifting role on the global stage. In 1953, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for "his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." During his lifetime, he enthralled readers and brought crowds roaring to their feet; in the years since his death, his masterful writing has inspired generations of eager history buffs. From 1945 to 1951, Churchill held fast to the political influence he had gained during World War II, serving as leader of the Opposition-the minority party in the English government. While some saw this new position as a demotion for a once-great political leader, he embraced the moment with all his might, addressing a nation triumphant in victory but increasingly aware that its long history of Imperial domination was coming to an end. Even at this moment of relative calm in his career, Churchill's rousing oratory still shines with brilliance and wit.

The fifth and final volume in this collection of the British prime minister's oratory contains the final speeches and addresses of his life. Legendary politician and military strategist Winston S. Churchill was a master not only of the battlefield, but of the page and the podium. Over the course of forty books and countless speeches, broadcasts, news items and more, he addressed a country at war and at peace, thrilling with victory but uneasy with its shifting role on the global stage. During his lifetime, he enthralled readers and brought crowds roaring to their feet; in the years since his death, his skilled writing has inspired generations of eager history buffs. In the last years of Sir Winston Churchill's life, his health was failing-he had suffered several strokes-but his intellect and wit were as sharp as ever. This collection contains some of Churchill's more obscure works, including addresses at banquets, award ceremonies, and to the Primrose League-where he had given his first political speech many decades before, in 1897. In these speeches we see the continued force of his mental acuity, and of his love for the country he served every day of his adult life.