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Churchill Goes to War: Winston's Wartime Journeys
"Well researched and at times deeply inspiring" - Andrew Roberts, The Mail on Sunday More than an account of Churchill's momentous meetings with Roosevelt, Stalin and other leaders at the height of the Second World War, this book illuminates the practicalities of transporting a prime minister through dangerous skies and across hostile oceans in a time of global war. No life was more valuable to the British spirit than his, as he represented his country's will to resist the Nazis. Long-distance air travel had only just become practicable and sea travel also had its dangers. The German Navy and the Luftwaffe were a constant menace, as U-boats prowled the Atlantic and bombers attacked shipping in the Mediterranean. Like most of the British war effort, Churchill"s voyages were under-planned and improvised, and used a good deal of US technology. The story begins with a relatively simple trip to meet Roosevelt in a battleship in 1941, and continues through hazardous flights across enemy-occupied North Africa, to the fateful conferences at Yalta and Potsdam in 1945. While the book is meticulously researched in terms of its historical and technical reference by the author, he allows the character of the man to be revealed through the many different eyes of his travelling companions, as well as his ministers and senior military officers, his secretaries and typists, the officers and crews of the ships he travelled on, and the pilots, navigators and engineers of his aircraft. The book concludes with an examination of the legacy of these voyages, especially with regard to air travel and developing world statesmanship.
- GenresWorld War IIHistory
392 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 20, 2021
Brian Lavery's Churchill Goes to War: Winston's Wartime Journeys is not your typical book on Britain's wartime leader. It is something different even for avid readers of World War II history. Lavery doesn't deal with Churchill as warlord, grand strategist, or master politician, instead he looks at his wartime travels – the logistics, challenges, innovations, the give-and-take and jockeying for position among his semi-fixed entourage. Lavery did careful research, mostly from primary sources, concentrating on behind-the-scenes glimpses into the activities of Churchill and his inner circle during the fourteen major trips undertaken during the Second World War. Churchill visited: Cairo (five times), Washington (three times), Moscow (twice), Malta (twice), Quebec (twice), Newfoundland, Iceland, Bermuda, Gibraltar, Casablanca, Naples, Algiers, Marrakech, New York, Athens, Tehran, Yalta and Berlin -- not counting his numerous trips about Britain, France and Belgium.
Despite his successes as a leader and brilliance as a politician, Churchill often doesn't come off well in Lavery's book. In his commonplace interactions with colleagues and subordinates his behavior was frequently off-putting. He acted the petulant child -- selfish, demanding, and inconsiderate. He was a thrill-seeker willing to subject his companions to discomfort and danger -- just as long an nothing interfered with his objectives or impinged on his access to good food, fine wine, aged whiskey and brandy, and plenty of fragrant Havanas. Many of his trips, despite the huge obstacles overcome in their accomplishment, were unnecessary in the eyes of key advisers such as Beaverbrook, Cadogan and Alan Brooke. They saw in these junkets examples of Churchill just wanting to play.
The Prime Minister's voyages changed the world for leaders of all countries (Churchill coined the phrase “summit meeting,” but not until 1956). Prior to World War II, national leaders rarely traveled abroad. Churchill was the first world leader to exploit the 20th century's transportation revolution to extend his personal reach to far-flung corners. He used his magnetism to influence FDR, Marshall, Ike, Stalin, DeGaulle, Farouk, Mackenzie King, Ibn Saud, Archbishop Damaskinos of Greece, President Inonu of Turkey and many others. His trips were groundbreaking. He was the first British prime minister to fly across the Atlantic – in fact, he was the first statesman of any nation to do so. His initial trip to Cairo included overflights of Vichyite Algeria and Italian Libya during a period of active campaigning in North Africa. His 1942 flight to Moscow was completed with no aeronautical charts, just pencil tracings from a British army small scale map of Russia. Churchill's peripatetic stint as prime minister contributed a good deal to the advance of VIP transport aircraft design and equipage, use of mobile signals establishments, and improvements in long-range aeronautical navigation.
I recommend Churchill Goes to War: Winston's Wartime Journeys to any reader interested in Churchill or life among the war's leaders. Despite providing an intriguing glance into an unusual aspect of history, Lavery's book earns just Four Stars from me. The Conway first edition contains too many typos, misprints, and misspellings to rate Five Stars. It's unfortunate that a good book is undermined by sloppy production. Are copy editors extinct?
Despite his successes as a leader and brilliance as a politician, Churchill often doesn't come off well in Lavery's book. In his commonplace interactions with colleagues and subordinates his behavior was frequently off-putting. He acted the petulant child -- selfish, demanding, and inconsiderate. He was a thrill-seeker willing to subject his companions to discomfort and danger -- just as long an nothing interfered with his objectives or impinged on his access to good food, fine wine, aged whiskey and brandy, and plenty of fragrant Havanas. Many of his trips, despite the huge obstacles overcome in their accomplishment, were unnecessary in the eyes of key advisers such as Beaverbrook, Cadogan and Alan Brooke. They saw in these junkets examples of Churchill just wanting to play.
The Prime Minister's voyages changed the world for leaders of all countries (Churchill coined the phrase “summit meeting,” but not until 1956). Prior to World War II, national leaders rarely traveled abroad. Churchill was the first world leader to exploit the 20th century's transportation revolution to extend his personal reach to far-flung corners. He used his magnetism to influence FDR, Marshall, Ike, Stalin, DeGaulle, Farouk, Mackenzie King, Ibn Saud, Archbishop Damaskinos of Greece, President Inonu of Turkey and many others. His trips were groundbreaking. He was the first British prime minister to fly across the Atlantic – in fact, he was the first statesman of any nation to do so. His initial trip to Cairo included overflights of Vichyite Algeria and Italian Libya during a period of active campaigning in North Africa. His 1942 flight to Moscow was completed with no aeronautical charts, just pencil tracings from a British army small scale map of Russia. Churchill's peripatetic stint as prime minister contributed a good deal to the advance of VIP transport aircraft design and equipage, use of mobile signals establishments, and improvements in long-range aeronautical navigation.
I recommend Churchill Goes to War: Winston's Wartime Journeys to any reader interested in Churchill or life among the war's leaders. Despite providing an intriguing glance into an unusual aspect of history, Lavery's book earns just Four Stars from me. The Conway first edition contains too many typos, misprints, and misspellings to rate Five Stars. It's unfortunate that a good book is undermined by sloppy production. Are copy editors extinct?
August 21, 2022
A delightful description of Churchill's 14 principal travels between 1941 and 1945. The book focuses on details of his travels, means of travel, people who accompanied him during those travels and various anecdotes remembered by his associates about Churchill's condition, character and humour. Well researched and makes for an entertaining reading.
Some of the notes:
General Brooks on Churchill after landing in Cairo on the morning of 26 January 1943: "We had travelled all night in poor comfort, covering some 2,300 miles in a flight of over 11 hours, a proportion of which was at over 14,000 feet, and there he was, as fresh as paint, drinking white wine on top of two previous whiskies and 2 cigars".
Following the conference in Quebec in August 1943 Churchill travelled by train to Washington with his daughter and stopped on the way to show her Niagara Falls, and was asked if they had changed much since he had been there in 1900. "The principle seems the same . The water still keeps falling over", he responded.
General Ismay summarised the Yalta conference, where post-war Europe was discussed, succinctly. "From a gastronomical point of view it was enjoyable, from the social point of view, successful; from the military point of view, unnecessary; and from the political point of view, depressing".
Churchill's wife Clementine remarked after his defeat in the general election in 1945. "It may well be a blessing in disguise". Churchill growled, "At the moment it seems quite effectively disguised".
Some of the notes:
General Brooks on Churchill after landing in Cairo on the morning of 26 January 1943: "We had travelled all night in poor comfort, covering some 2,300 miles in a flight of over 11 hours, a proportion of which was at over 14,000 feet, and there he was, as fresh as paint, drinking white wine on top of two previous whiskies and 2 cigars".
Following the conference in Quebec in August 1943 Churchill travelled by train to Washington with his daughter and stopped on the way to show her Niagara Falls, and was asked if they had changed much since he had been there in 1900. "The principle seems the same . The water still keeps falling over", he responded.
General Ismay summarised the Yalta conference, where post-war Europe was discussed, succinctly. "From a gastronomical point of view it was enjoyable, from the social point of view, successful; from the military point of view, unnecessary; and from the political point of view, depressing".
Churchill's wife Clementine remarked after his defeat in the general election in 1945. "It may well be a blessing in disguise". Churchill growled, "At the moment it seems quite effectively disguised".
September 23, 2025
This book is a great follow up read of "The second world war" by Winston Churchill. With often hilarious sneak peaks in the day to day life of the PM, it takes you through the evolution of war and travel.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews