though highly creditable for a man with so much else to occupy him, do not really survive close attention.” Why? “He can seldom offer the keen, unmistakable aesthetic pleasure of the genuine artist.” T.S. While appreciative of Churchill’s desire to have his histories embody a certain “magnificence,” he also thought that his “historical writings. He has the soul of an artist.Īs to Churchill’s artistry, Evelyn Waugh had his doubts. He took infinite pains to polish up his prose after two or three typewritten versions, he would have four or five galley-proofs-an expensive business for his publishers. I heard what seemed to be a spirit voice whispering to him, but the whispers were his own he murmured each sentence over to see how it sounded before he dictated it. For Edmonds, the experience was unforgettable. In his massive new biography of Winston Churchill, Andrew Roberts recounts how Major-General Sir James Edmonds, editor of the government’s official war history, helped Churchill compose The World Crisis, his history of the Great War, by supplying him with pertinent maps and documents, after which Churchill, striding up and down his study at Chartwell, his country house overlooking the Weald of Kent, would dictate his account of events to his secretary. Churchill: Walking with Destiny, by Andrew Roberts (Viking, 1,152 pp., $40)
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