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41st out of 51 books
—
2 voters
Dinner with Churchill: Policy-Making at the Dinner Table
by
Cita Stelzer
A friend once said of Churchill He is a man of simple tastes; he is quite easily satisfied with the best of everything.
But dinners for Churchill were about more than good food, excellent champagnes and Havana cigars. Everything included the opportunity to use the dinner table both as a stage on which to display his brilliant conversational talents, and an intimate setting...more
But dinners for Churchill were about more than good food, excellent champagnes and Havana cigars. Everything included the opportunity to use the dinner table both as a stage on which to display his brilliant conversational talents, and an intimate setting...more
Hardcover, 301 pages
Published
October 9th 2011
by Short Books Limited
(first published October 6th 2011)
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Lavish stage settings but no performances.
Enroute through Scotland to Newfoundland for his August, 1941 meeting with Roosevelt, Churchill ordered a grouse hunt outside Perth for the Presidential dinner that would come later aboard HMS Prince of Wales. Is that interesting? Yes it is, along with a hundred other details showing Churchill's extreme care in planning and carrying out dinner parties as instruments of statesmanship.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked four months later, the US public was in a...more
Enroute through Scotland to Newfoundland for his August, 1941 meeting with Roosevelt, Churchill ordered a grouse hunt outside Perth for the Presidential dinner that would come later aboard HMS Prince of Wales. Is that interesting? Yes it is, along with a hundred other details showing Churchill's extreme care in planning and carrying out dinner parties as instruments of statesmanship.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked four months later, the US public was in a...more
I think most readers have had exposure to World War II history. Most of us have at least cursory knowledge of the big players - FDR, Churchill, Stalin. I was attracted to Dinner with Churchill because of its subject matter - Churchill's use of the dinner table to forward his policies. We're talking food here - and cocktails, and conversation!
Churchill is an iconic figure. His size, his cigars, his whiskey, his indomitable spirit. He has always been a symbol of Britain's steadfast resistance to t...more
Churchill is an iconic figure. His size, his cigars, his whiskey, his indomitable spirit. He has always been a symbol of Britain's steadfast resistance to t...more
This book should appeal to fans of Winston Churchill such as myself. The author explains how Churchill felt that good food and good conversation helped him achieve his goals. She gives us a quick overview of important dinners in Churchill's life especially the ones he hosted during WWII. She also runs down the menus for the dinners, tells us about Churchill's favorite food and drinks, and also gives us a list of important people that Churchill hosted. It's a very quick read and fairly well writt...more
There's not much here for fans of politics and policy -- Stelzer asserts that some of Churchill's best work was done over the dinner table, but she doesn't have enough details to provide any real insight into his diplomatic and political success.
What she does have is descriptions of food and bills of fare, many of which are reproduced in the book. There's a lot to like if you're a foodie, especially if you're interested in the food and dining customs of the mid-twentieth century.
What she does have is descriptions of food and bills of fare, many of which are reproduced in the book. There's a lot to like if you're a foodie, especially if you're interested in the food and dining customs of the mid-twentieth century.
I have been reading Manchester's "The Last Lion," and this was nice change of pace. Excellent but not-too-intense overview of Churchill's dinner diplomacy. It would probably not be interesting for those who aren't acquainted with Churchill's life -- but it is fascinating for a Churchill enthusiast. And I think that the appendix of "Diners" is the real treasure. It contains brief biographical sketches of significant guests -- who just happen to be major figures in UK and US politics.
A reasonably entertaining side-dish if you just can't get enough of the extraordinary life of Winston.
Find this book at Kennedy Library
If something about Churchill can be a piece of fluff, this is. Fascinating all the same.
Who can think that a book based on someone's appetite can be such good reading.
A great book and one of the best I have read so far on Sir Winston Churchill.
A great book and one of the best I have read so far on Sir Winston Churchill.
Entertaining look at Winston Churchill using the unusual filter of dinner table diplomacy. Contains some great anecdotes and quotes about a truly original character during the challenging WWII period.
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“It is well to remember that the stomach governs the world," wrote Churchill when planning the feeding of his troops on the north-west Indian frontier at the tail-end of the nineteenth century.”
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