All Behind You, Winston: Churchill's Great Coalition, 1940 - 45 by Roger Hermiston
All Behind You, Winston: Churchill's Great Coalition, 1940 - 45 by Roger Hermiston
On 14 May 1940, the Evening Standard published a cartoon with the caption "All Behind You, Winston". It showed Churchill, the freshly installed prime minister, rolling up his sleeves to confront the oncoming menace of Nazi Germany. In his wake, leading the endless ranks of the British people, marched the most prominent figures of his new coalition government.
It was a potent expression of a moment when Britons of every class were truly all in it together. It also contained a truth that Churchill's titanic historical reputation has since eclipsed: that neither he nor the country would have prevailed but for the joint effort of this remarkable ministry of al all the talents. Indeed, without the vital support of the Labour Party, and its leader Clement Attlee, Churchill might not have become prime minister at all.
Now Roger Hermiston tells the story of the men -- and women -- who steered Britain through its darkest hour, showing how they helped to win the Second World War, and how they laid the foundations of the New Jerusalem that followed. Along the way, he explores the roles played by characters as diverse as the mercurial newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook, the pugnacious trade union baron Ernest Bevin, Lord Woolton, the minister for food, and Sir John Anderson, one of the first people to contemplate the awful power of the atom bomb.
Five years after that cartoon, Churchill predicted that history would shine a light on "every helmet" of his "great coalition". As it was, many were forgotten. This book seeks to recover their memory, and to celebrate a generation of politicians who rose above party to put their country first.
Aurum Press, Hardcover, 1st Edition, 2016
THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.