Scandalous Book of the Month: The Churchills in Love and War

Title:  THE CHURCHILLS IN LOVE AND WAR
Author:  Mary S. Lovell
Hardcover: 624 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1St Edition edition
Pub Date:  May 9, 2011

Description:  Of all Britain’s great families perhaps none has been so overshadowed by the force of one member’s personality as the Churchills. And yet in this vivid and brilliant tale of the dynasty – of which Gladstone remarked, ‘There never was a Churchill from John of Marlborough down who had either morals or principles’– theirs turns out to be a narrative of epic breadth and drama.


From the First Duke of Marlborough – soldier of genius, restless empire-builder and cuckolder of Charles II – onwards, the Churchills have been politicians, gamblers and profligates, heroes and womanisers. The family continued to flourish in the nineteenth and twentieth-century, achieving power and influence in both Britain and America, helped by marriages to the ravishing and wealthy New York society beauties Jennie Jerome and Consuelo Vanderbilt. Mary S Lovell tells a gripping story of momentous times that include the death of Queen Victoria, two world wars, the Wall St Crash and Great Depression, Women’s Emancipation, and beyond. She charts triumphant political and military campaigns; the construction of great houses; quiet, domestic tragedies; disastrous marriages – ending in venereal disease, guns by the bedside and papal annulment – including those of Winston’s children; and profoundly happy ones such as his own to Clementine Hozier.


The Churchills is a richly layered portrait of an extraordinary set of men and women – grandly ambitious, regularly impecunious, impulsive, arrogant and brave. And towering above the Churchill clan is the figure of Winston - his failures and his triumphs shown in a new and revealing context - but ultimately our ‘greatest Briton’ .

I had the chance to hear Mary S. Lovell speak two weeks ago in New York at Scandinavia House thanks to the Royal Oak Foundation.  Long an admirer of her biographies, it was wonderful to hear her talk about a book that she has such passion for.  She took us through a quick tour of the Churchills focusing mainly (as does the book) on Randolph, Winston and his descendents. Afterwards, I was lucky enough to have her sign a copy of the book. I also got to tell her how much I've enjoyed her books on Amelia Earhart, Jane Digby and The Mitfords, all of which I have used in my research. Afterwards at the reception, I had a lovely chat with a friend of hers, who mentioned that Lovell's book on WWII spy Betty Pack had never been published in the UK.  Apparently because of classified information about the spy.

The book is huge, over 600 pages, so I've been taking short dips between the pages. It's a hard book to put down, particularly the sections on the family patriarch, John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough. I've been to Blenheim Palace, the seat of the Marlboroughs, and also to the Cabinet War Rooms, but I still haven't been to Chartwell, which is on my list of things to do the next time, I'm in England.

For lovers of English history, I can't highly recommend this book enough.

Comments

The Court Jeweller said…
Okay, this sounds great -- I've been fascinated by Consuelo Vanderbilt and her counterparts ever since I read "The Buccaneers" by Edith Wharton. The American heiresses who married into the British aristocracy were a really interesting bunch!
June 8, 2011 at 9:56 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Many Lives of Beryl Markham

Image
“A life has to move or it stagnates. Even this life, I think. Every tomorrow ought not to resemble every yesterday.” – Beryl Markham   Two of my favorite writers, Lauren Willig and Deanna Raybourn , have writers have novels set in Kenya during the 1920’s. I have previously written about some of the denizens of the Happy Valley Set (Alice de Janze, Idina Sackville) before but I was all of a sudden inspired to read more about Beryl Markham. Way back in the 1980’s, after OUT OF AFRICA was released, there was a miniseries on CBS called SHADOW ON THE SUN starring Stephanie Powers as Markham. I vaguely remember a scene were Powers as Markham says “I’ve flown the Atlantic” in a really terrible English accent. Born in England but raised in Kenya, Beryl Markham was a notorious beauty. She trained race horses and had scandalous affairs, but she is most remembered for being a pioneering aviatrix. She became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the first person to make it
Read more

Scandalous Women in Fiction: Irene Forsyte

Image
I recently watched 2002 Granada Television production of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga again to immerse myself in the world of the Victorians. I was struck again by the character of Irene Heron Forsyte, the mysterious, and aloof beauty that is at the heart of the first series. During the course of the first six episodes she manages to enchant not one but three of the Forsyte men as well as stealing the heart of Philip Bosinney, the fiance of her good friend June Forsyte. She leaves her husband Soames, which causes a scandal, that reverberates throughout the second series. Soames is never really able to get over losing Irene. Irene is certainly a Scandalous Woman but it is less about what she does than how the men in her life perceive her that makes her so Scandalous. When we first meet Irene in both the television series she is living in Bournemouth with her stepmother. Her father who was a Professor (we are not told of what) has died, leaving Irene with only 50 pounds a year
Read more

Royal Princess, Royal Scandal - the sad life of Princess Margaret

Image
It'll be six years next month that HRH Princess Margaret passed away at the age of 71. Apparently her ex-husband, Lord Snowdon has decided to share intimate details of his marriage to the late Princess in a new biography. According to Hello Magazine: "News of the book, which is set to hit UK stores in the summer, may come as a surprise to many royal watchers. "There has always been an understanding that no biography would be published during his lifetime," says royal author Tim Heald - who wrote a biography of the Queen's late sister. "He has never spoken a word in public about Margaret," he continues, "He has remained very loyal to her and to her memory." "However, the royal snapper, who married the beautiful, blue-eyed royal at Westminster Abbey in 1960, has given his "full agreement" to the new biography by well-known journalist Anne de Courcy. "I am now happy for people to know about my life and I want to put the record
Read more