27 Nov Winston Churchill

In 1953 Sir Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature “for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values”. Churchill the writer is remembered today for three epic histories: Marlborough: His Life and Times (1933-38) a four-volume biography of  the first Duke of Marlborough; The Second World War (1948-53) a personal six-volume memoir of the great conflict; A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (1956-58) a four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies.

On your literary tour of England you might visit Blenheim Palace (25 miles north of Oxford): the stateliest of all stately homes and a World Heritage Site. Churchill was born there in 1874 and it houses a permanent Churchill Exhibition. You should certainly visit Chartwell, the family home from 1922 (now owned and managed by the National Trust) 40 miles south of London. It was there that Churchill drew inspiration for his writing and where he escaped into private life. There are also two huge statues in London – Parliament Square and the House of Commons – and also a memorial stone inside the west entrance of Westminster Abbey.