Churchill's Menagerie

Churchill's Menagerie
Author: Piers Brendon
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2019-08-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 164313180X

Winston Churchill was known for his great love for and admiration of animals. In fact, one of Churchill’s key characteristics was his fascination with the animal kingdom—creatures of all sorts were a crucial element throughout his life. He was amused, intrigued, enchanted by, and sometimes even besotted with, a vast menagerie, from his pet budgerigar, dogs, cats, fish, and butterflies, to his own lion, leopard, and white kangaroos kept at London Zoo, and even more unusual species. Dwelling amid flora and fauna was Churchill’s ideal form of existence—“The world would be better off if it were inhabited only by animals”—and he signed his boyhood letters home “The Pussy Cat.”In this fascinating book, Dr. Piers Brendon looks deeper into Churchill’s love of the animal kingdom and at how animals played such a large part in his everyday life. We encounter the paradox of the animal-loving-hunter, who hunts foxes yet keeps them as pets, who likes fishing but loves fish, along with the man who used analogies to animals time and time again in his speeches and writings. The picture that emerges shows another side of the great man, showcasing his wit, wisdom, and wayward genius from a different perspective and shedding new and fascinating light on his love of the animal kingdom.

The Class Menagerie

The Class Menagerie
Author: Jill Churchill
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1999-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780380773800

Suburban single mom Jane Jeffry agrees to lend a hand at her friends former high school girl's club. When a corpse turns up, Jane must get to the bottom of it before more alumnae turn up dead.

Menagerie

Menagerie
Author: Caroline Grigson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2016
Genre: History
ISBN: 019871470X

Menagerie is the story of the panoply of exotic animals that were brought into Britain from time immemorial until the foundation of the London Zoo--a tale replete with the extravagant, the eccentric, and--on occasion--the downright bizarre. From Henry III's elephant at the Tower, to George IV's love affair with Britain's first giraffe and Lady Castlereagh's recalcitrant ostriches, Caroline Grigson's tour through the centuries amounts to the first detailed history of exotic animals in Britain. On the way we encounter a host of fascinating and outlandish creatures, including the first peacocks and popinjays, Thomas More's monkey, James I's cassowaries in St James's Park, and Lord Clive's zebra--which refused to mate with a donkey, until the donkey was painted with stripes. But this is not just the story of the animals themselves. It also the story of all those who came into contact with them: the people who owned them, the merchants who bought and sold them, the seamen who carried them to our shores, the naturalists who wrote about them, the artists who painted them, the itinerant showmen who worked with them, the collectors who collected them. And last but not least, it is about all those who simply came to see and wonder at them, from kings, queens, and nobles to ordinary men, women, and children, often impelled by no more than simple curiosity and a craving for novelty.

Churchill's Citadel

Churchill's Citadel
Author: Katherine Carter
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2024-11-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300270194

A major new history of Churchill in the 1930s, showing how his meetings at Chartwell, his country home, strengthened his fight against the Nazis In the 1930s, amidst an impending crisis in Europe, Winston Churchill found himself out of government and with little power. In these years, Chartwell, his country home in Kent, became the headquarters of his campaign against Nazi Germany. He invited trusted advisors and informants, including Albert Einstein and T. E. Lawrence, who could strengthen his hand as he worked tirelessly to sound the alarm at the prospect of war. Katherine Carter tells the extraordinary story of the remarkable but little known meetings that took place behind closed doors at Chartwell. From household names to political leaders, diplomats to spies, Carter reveals a fascinating cast of characters, each of whom made their mark on Churchill's thinking and political strategy. With Chartwell as his base, Churchill gathered intelligence about Germany's preparations for war--and, in doing so, put himself in a position to change the course of history.

Blood, Mud, and Oil Paint

Blood, Mud, and Oil Paint
Author: J. Furman DanielIII
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2024-10-22
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1985901137

Winston Churchill's impressive military and political career suggests that he had been preparing to lead Great Britain out of the darkness of the Second World War his entire life. Conveniently missing from this rendering of his accomplishments is that, long before his wartime triumph, Churchill failed frequently, publicly, and catastrophically. Author J. Furman Daniel argues that the events of May 1915–May 1916 proved the most difficult of all the obstacles the future prime minister would encounter. In this year of defeats, Churchill faced blame for the British disaster at the Dardanelles, resigned from his position as First Lord of the Admiralty, and struggled with policy initiatives and personal finances. Yet during this tumultuous time, Churchill served in the trenches of the First World War, gaining vital insight into modern warfare. He also found unlikely inspiration in painting, which he pursued for the remainder of his life and later credited as a crucial outlet during moments of personal despair and professional frustrations. Together, these experiences aided Churchill's eventual redemption within the British government and taught him how to weather future career-defining storms. Presenting a deeper understanding of one of the most consequential personalities of the twentieth century, Blood, Mud, and Oil Paint: The Remarkable Year That Made Winston Churchill reveals how the famous statesman rebuilt both his fragile mental state and political career and set the stage for his greatest political comeback.

Churchill's Menagerie

Churchill's Menagerie
Author: Piers Brendon
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019-06-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781643131368

In this unique narrative, Piers Brendon looks deeply into Churchill’s admiration of the animal kingdom—and how animals played such a large part in his everyday life. Winston Churchill was known for his great love for and admiration of animals. In fact, one of Churchill’s key characteristics was his fascination with the animal kingdom—creatures of all sorts were a crucial element throughout his life. He was amused, intrigued, enchanted by, and sometimes even besotted with, a vast menagerie, from his pet budgerigar, dogs, cats, fish, and butterflies, to his own lion, leopard, and white kangaroos kept at London Zoo, and even more unusual species. Dwelling amid flora and fauna was Churchill’s ideal form of existence—“The world would be better off if it were inhabited only by animals”—and he signed his boyhood letters home “The Pussy Cat.” In this fascinating book, Dr. Piers Brendon looks deeper into Churchill’s love of the animal kingdom and at how animals played such a large part in his everyday life. We encounter the paradox of the animal-loving-hunter, who hunts foxes yet keeps them as pets, who likes fishing but loves fish, along with the man who used analogies to animals time and time again in his speeches and writings. The picture that emerges shows another side of the great man, showcasing his wit, wisdom, and wayward genius from a different perspective and shedding new and fascinating light on his love of the animal kingdom.

Churchill's Bestiary

Churchill's Bestiary
Author: Piers Brendon
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books
Total Pages: 439
Release: 2018-10-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1789290511

In this fascinating and unique biography, Dr Piers Brendon looks deeper into Churchill's love of the animal kingdom, and at how animals played such a large part in his everyday life.

Working with Winston

Working with Winston
Author: Cita Stelzer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2019-05-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1643131036

An original and insightful look at Winston Churchill through the eyes of those who knew him best—the women who worked with him throughout his life. All politicians adopt a public persona that they believe contributes to electoral success. Though they might reflect the character of the politician, they reveal only a part of the man. What we know less about are the characteristics that Winston Churchill revealed when he was out of the public eye. Much has been written about Churchill, and of the important world leaders, politicians, high-ranking military personnel with whom he interacted. But Churchill also required a vast staff to maintain the intense pace at which he worked. When Churchill strode the world stage, the secretarial and support staff positions were inevitably filled by women. Though extraordinarily talented and valuable to Churchill and his work, these women remain unheralded. He was not an easy employer. He was intimidating, with never-ending demands who would impose his relentless and demanding schedules on those around him. And yet these women were devoted to him, though there were times in his political career in which he was decidedly unpopular. Many reflect upon their years working for him as the best years of their lives. Intelligent and hard-working, these women were far from sycophants. Just as Churchill was no ordinary Prime Minister, these women were not ordinary secretaries. Indeed, in today’s terms their titles would be much grander, as their work encompassed ultra-secret documents and decrypting and reading enemy codes. A treasure trove of insight and research, Working with Winston reveals the man behind the statesman and as well as brings long-overdue recognition to the “hidden army” that, like Churchill, was never off-duty.

Winston Churchill at the Telegraph

Winston Churchill at the Telegraph
Author: Warren Dockter
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2015-05-28
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1781314691

This fascinating collection of reportage chronicles the Prime Minister’s life through the newspaper where he began his career. The Telegraph had a uniquely close connection with Winston Churchill at every stage of his life. Beginning with his early days as a war correspondent for the paper, the association continued as he himself became the news—reported on in its pages at every stage of his historic political career. Collected here, for the first time, is the best reportage on this complex man. Unencumbered by the legendary status he would later acquire, there is praise and blame in equal measure: finding space for both dramatic accounts of his wartime premiership and affectionate reports on the animals living at Chartwell, his country estate. The Telegraph was also a happy home for Churchill the journalist, and featured within are many pieces written in his unmistakable prose. Capturing the urgency of the time in which he lived, Churchill at the Telegraph is a celebration of an intimate relationship that lasted over sixty years and shows Winston Churchill in all his paradoxical glory.

The Maggie Hope Series 5-Book Bundle

The Maggie Hope Series 5-Book Bundle
Author: Susan Elia MacNeal
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 1715
Release: 2016-02-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101968672

“Fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Charles Todd will feast on this riveting series chronicling Britain’s own ‘Greatest Generation,’” raves Julia Spencer-Fleming. “You’ll be [Maggie Hope’s] loyal subject, ready to follow her wherever she goes,” predicts O: The Oprah Magazine. With a seamless blend of mystery, real-life historical figures, and World War II drama, this award-winning, New York Times bestselling series features a whip-smart secretary who defies expectations to become England’s most daring spy. Now her first five adventures are collected in one thrilling ebook bundle: MR. CHURCHILL’S SECRETARY PRINCESS ELIZABETH’S SPY HIS MAJESTY’S HOPE THE PRIME MINISTER’S SECRET AGENT MRS. ROOSEVELT’S CONFIDANTE Also includes a preview of Susan Elia MacNeal’s next Maggie Hope novel, The Queen’s Accomplice! London, 1940. Winston Churchill has just been sworn in, war rages across the Channel, and the threat of a Blitz looms larger by the day. But none of this deters Maggie Hope. She graduated at the top of her college class and possesses all the skills of the finest minds in British intelligence, but her gender qualifies her only to be the newest typist at No. 10 Downing Street. Her indefatigable spirit and remarkable gifts for code breaking, though, rival those of even the highest men in government, and Maggie finds that working for the prime minister affords her a level of clearance she could never have imagined—and opportunities she will not let pass. In troubled, deadly times, with air-raid sirens sending multitudes underground, access to the War Rooms also exposes Maggie to the machinations of a menacing faction determined to do whatever it takes to change the course of history. Praise for the Maggie Hope series “Delightful may seem a strange word to describe a novel that takes place against the backdrop of the bombings of London during World War II, but it’s appropriate for this debut novel. . . . As sweet as it is intriguing.”—USA Today, on Mr. Churchill’s Secretary “A captivating, post-feminist picture of England during its finest hour.”—The Denver Post, on Mr. Churchill’s Secretary “With false starts, double agents, and red herrings . . . MacNeal provides a vivid view of life both above and below stairs at Windsor Castle.”—Publishers Weekly, on Princess Elizabeth’s Spy “A heart-pounding novel peopled with fully drawn real and fictional characters . . . provides the thrills that readers have come to expect from MacNeal.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch, on His Majesty’s Hope “A treat for WWII buffs and mystery lovers alike.”—Booklist, on The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent “MacNeal paints an engrossing portrait of a country on the verge of war, with many laws suspended and prejudice rife—a world not that much different from today.”—Kirkus Reviews, on Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante