How to use this Page

The week of the UK general election has finally arrived. After suffering weeks of incessant sound-bites, you will soon be free of political jargon for another few years. Phrases like “long-term economic plan” have been repeated so often that they have ceased to mean anything. From Margaret Thatcher to Harold Wilson, from Benjamin Disraeli to Winston Churchill, British prime ministers and politicians have uttered phrases that have echoed throughout history. How many of these famous political quotes do you remember?

The post How many of these famous political quotes have you heard before? appeared first on OUPblog.

The October issue of The New Criterion offers a lengthy feature article by Robert Messenger on Winston Churchill's friends and rivals. Messenger looks at two recent books, Overlook's David and Winston: How a Friendship Changed History and Gandhi & Churchill, by Arthur Herman, published by Bantam. Robert Lloyd George, great grandson of David Lloyd George, writes Messenger "helps us understand one of the least remembered aspects of Churchill's career: his time as the coming man of the Liberal Party."

The enduring friendship between British statesmen David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill is the subject of Robert Lloyd George's David & Winston, published this month and honored recently at a reception at the home of Overlook Publisher Peter Mayer (left). Yesterday in The Washington Times critic Martin Rubin wrote: "David & Winston should make readers look at its subjects a little differently from the common perception which the received wisdom has given us of them and is a worthwhile contribution to the ongoing historical analysis of these fascinating statesmen. "

The lifelong friendship between Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George, forged on the debate floors of Parliament and fostered by their passion for practical politics, was quite possibly one of the most influential in modern British—and perhaps worldwide—history. In his new book, David & Winston, Robert Lloyd George takes an intimate look at the friendship of his great grandfather and Churchill and how that friendship changed the lives and politics of two of Britain’s greatest statesmen.

Drawing on never-before-seen family archives, Lloyd George delves into nearly every facet of the often tumultuous relationship between the two historic men. From their first meeting, debating on the floor of the House of Commons, to Lloyd George’s conversion of Churchill from conservative to liberal progressive soon after, to their war-time lunches under the shadow of Nazi invasion and beyond, the reader is granted an insider’s look into the mutual appreciation and respect both men had for each other; a respect that endured throughout both their long lives, through peace-time and war. The many facets of their relationship are explored through personal documents and accounts—letters, public statements, and anecdotes—which Lloyd George makes liberal use of, electing to let the two men speak for themselves as much as possible. The book is also populated with political cartoons and photographs detailing the public perception of the two statesmen, who were often portrayed as an inseparable pair, and reactions to their policies. Both personal and far-reaching, David & Winston is vastly engrossing and a necessary exploration of the effects of such a friendship on both the state and the world stage. David & Winston will be available in bookstores in April 2008.