The Roar of the Lion: The Untold Story of Churchill's World War II Speeches - Hardcover

Toye, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199642524 ISBN 13: 9780199642526

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2013

Synopsis

''My aunt, listening to the Prime Minister's speech, remarked of "our greatest orator ", "He's no speaker, is he? "' -diary of teacher M.A. Pratt, 11 Nov. 1942.

The popular story of Churchill's war-time rhetoric is a simple one: the British people were energized and inspired by his speeches, which were almost universally admired and played an important role in the ultimate victory over Nazi Germany. Richard Toye now re-examines this accepted national story - and gives it a radical new spin.

Using survey evidence and the diaries of ordinary people, he shows how reactions to Churchill's speeches at the time were often very different from what we have always been led to expect. His first speeches as Prime Minister in the dark days of 1940 were by no means universally acclaimed - indeed, many people thought that he was drunk during his famous 'finest hour' broadcast - and there is little evidence that they made a decisive difference to the British people's will to fight on.

In actual fact, as Toye shows, mass enthusiasm sat side-by-side with considerable criticism and dissent from ordinary people. Yes, there were speeches that stimulated, invigorated, and excited many. But there were also speeches which caused depression and disappointment in many others, and which sometimes led to workplace or family arguments. Yet this more complex reality has been consistently obscured from the historical record by the overwhelming power of a treasured national myth.

The first systematic, archive based examination of Churchill's World War II rhetoric as a whole, The Roar of the Lion considers his oratory not merely as a series of 'great speeches', but as calculated political interventions which had diplomatic repercussions far beyond the effect on the morale of listeners in Britain. Considering his failures as well as his successes, the book moves beyond the purely celebratory tone of much of the existing literature. It offers new insight into how the speeches were written and delivered - and shows how Churchill's words were received at home, amongst allies and neutrals, and within enemy and occupied countries.

This is the essential book on Churchill's war-time speeches. It presents us with a dramatically new take on the politics of the 1940s - one that will change the way we think about Churchill's oratory forever.

About this title

Product Description:

[ The Roar of the Lion: The Untold Story of Churchill's World War II Speeches By ( Author ) Nov-2013 Hardcover

Review:

Rooted in primary sources, this is an engaging read in which we find our preconceptions of this iconic figure challenged. (Who Do You Think You Are?, Sarah Newey)

A book about Churchill's wartime speeches is likely only to appeal to his most ardent fans, or so one might think. But Toyne's superb history is more concerned with the impact that his speeches had on the British population, as well as those listening abroad... an intelligent and essential corrective to Churchillian glory, which neither idolises the man nor damns him. (Independent on Sunday, Lesley McDowell)

This scholarly book presents a readable and in-depth exploration of Churchill's speeches, including the notes and drafts stored at the National Archives at Kew, Churchills diaries and memoirs, within their historic, political and bureaucratic context. This book will appeal to writers as well as lawyers and politicians, historians, World War II scholars and to all who are fascinated by Churchill himself. (Guardian, GrrlScientist)

Thoroughly researched, readable and fascinating. (David Reynolds, The Guardian)

[Richard Toye] provides a nuanced and discriminating account of the pivotal episode in Churchill's career. (Peter Clarke, Financial Times)

The Roar of the Lion is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book. (Richard Overy, Times Literary Supplement)

Toye writes lucidly, and there is no sense of repetition in the book, which forensically examines one speech after another... [There] are still a lot of new aspects of Churchill's life to be explored. Toye has found one with this first ever, comprehensive, archival based study of WSC's splendid wartime speeches. (History Today)

The book explores enemy and neutral responses, as well as how the speeches were written. In doing so, it offers a nuanced portrait of a key facet of Churchill's war leadership. (Gary Sheffield, BBC History Magazine Books of the Year 2013)

The main strength of The Roar of the Lion lies in its patiently researched microhistories of the speeches. Toye pinpoints the contexts in which they were written, the calculations that lay behind them, and their reception not just at home but also overseas. (Literary Review)

[Toye is] one of Britain's leading historians and a man sympathetic to, but not subsumed by, the Churchill of lore and yore. (Boston Globe)

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199642524
• ISBN 13: 9780199642526
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320