How to Think Like Churchill

Daniel Smith

• Publisher: Michael O'Mara
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781782433569
• eBook ISBN: 9781782433316
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Looking at defining moments in Winston Churchill's life and revealing his key principles, philosophies and decisions, this book will teach you how to think just like Churchill. Remembered for his leadership during the Second World War, Churchill's commitment to 'never surrender', as well as his stirring speeches and radio broadcasts, helped inspire British resistance to the Nazi threat when Britain stood alone against an occupied Europe. As well as a hugely successful politician, Churchill was an officer in the British Army, a journalist, historian and a writer, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953. As one of the few voices warning about Nazi Germany in the 1930s, he returned to government to play his part in defeating Nazism, becoming one of the defining figures of the twentieth century. Studying how and why he accomplished what he did, how he overcame personal and professional adversity and stood strong in the face of overwhelming odds, with quotes and passages by and about the great man, you too can learn to think like Churchill.

Landmarks in a Remarkable Life

1874			Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill is born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on 30 November to Rt. Hon. Lord Randolph Churchill (the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough) and his American wife, Jennie Jerome.
1880			Winston’s brother, John Strange Spencer-Churchill, born on 4 February.
1882			Winston attends St George’s School in Ascot, Berkshire.
1884			Moves from school in Ascot to one in Hove.
1888			Begins at Harrow School.
1893			Commences training as a cavalry cadet at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy.
1895			Winston’s father dies on 24 January, aged forty-five. Winston joins the 4th Hussars as a second lieutenant and is granted permission to serve with the Spanish forces in Cuba, coming under live fire for the first time. He also makes his first visit to the USA.
1896			Posted with the army to India.
1897			Serves with the Malakand Field Force on the North-West Frontier.
1898			Is present at the Battle of Omdurman in Sudan.
1899			Retires from the army to pursue his political ambitions. Fails to win the parliamentary seat for Oldham in Lancashire. Travels to South Africa as a journalist, reporting on his experiences. He is briefly held as a prisoner of war by the Boers before making an audacious escape. Afterwards joins the South African Light Horse.
1900			Elected Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Oldham. Publishes first and only novel, Savrola.
1901			Makes maiden speech in Parliament. Joins the Territorial Army and is later commissioned as a captain in the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars.
1904			Swaps allegiance from the Conservative Party to the Liberal Party.
1905			Appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies.
1906			Elected Liberal MP for the Manchester North West constituency.
1907			Becomes a Privy Councillor.
1908			Becomes Liberal MP for Dundee in Scotland, a seat he holds until 1922. He completes a landmark year by marrying Clementine (Clemmie) Hozier on 12 September and being appointed President of the Board of Trade.
1909			The Churchills’ first child, Diana, is born.
1910			Becomes Home Secretary in February, holding the post for some eighteen months.
1911			A son, Randolph, is born. Churchill appears on the scene at the infamous Siege of Sidney Street. In October he is named First Lord of the Admiralty.
1914			Outbreak of First World War. Churchill personally oversees the defence of Antwerp for a period in October. Meanwhile, Clemmie gives birth to a second daughter, Sarah.
1915			Resigns as First Lord of the Admiralty in May following the Dardanelles disaster. Becomes Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a post he holds until November. He also rejoins the army and sees active service on the Western Front in the First World War.
1917			Appointe...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Dedication page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Landmarks in a Remarkable Life
• Don’t Let a Slow Start Hold You Back
• Address Your Shortcomings
• Read Like Churchill
• Entertain Ambition
• Indulge Your Spirit of Adventure
• The Great Escape
• Know How to Spin a Yarn
• From Hack to Nobel Laureate
• Find Your Perfect Partner-in-Crime
• Clemmie
• Refine Your Ideology
• Churchill, Conservatism and Liberalism
• Roll with the Punches
• The Dardanelles Disaster
• Be Pragmatic ...
• ... But Don’t Forget Your Guiding Principles
• Churchill the Democrat
• See Which Way the Wind is Blowing
• Hope for the Best and Prepare for the Worst
• Churchill and Hitler
• Bounce Back with Grace
• Moving into Number 10
• Lead from the Front
• It’s the Way You Say It
• Maintain a Sense of Humour
• Churchill and the Black Dog
• Connect with the Common People
• Fight, Not Flight
• Churchill’s Dark Side
• Churchill and the Empire
• Make Time for Life’s Finer Things
• Be Magnanimous in Victory
• Get the Churchill Look
• Maintain a Life Outside of Politics
• Churchill the Painter
• Carve Out a Legacy: the Search for a Lasting Peace
• Churchill and the Bomb
• Think Global
• Come to an Accommodation with God
• The Greatest Briton
• Selected Bibliography