Learn more about Winston Churchill

So, I was watching Darkest Hour, a sepia-toned and fanciful version of Churchill’s World War II years, chock-full of duty, pluck and chins up.  I wanted to know more about him besides the cigar smoking and champagne swilling. I needed facts, and hey, I don’t get my facts from movies, I get’em from books. There is a veritable passel of good ones on him, and I’m diving in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would you like to hear some assorted fun facts about Winston Churchill?

  • Winnie as “fashion” innovator-He is credited with jazzing up the boiler suit, a one-piece coverall worn over clothing and fastened with zippers and buttons. His were called siren suits, fabricated by bespoke tailors in luxury fabrics, including pinstripe wool and velvet in a variety of colors, and designed to pull on over pajamas when seeking shelter during a night air raid. Churchill liked them so much he often wore them to meetings with world leaders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • He was a prolific amateur artist who used art to buoy him during bouts of depression.
  • During the Boer War in 1899, Churchill worked as a war correspondent for the London Morning Post and was captured by the Boers and sent to a P.O.W. camp. He soon escaped and began a 300-mile trek through enemy territory to freedom, hiding in a coal mine shaft at one point.
  • He had an overwhelming thirst for glory and recognition on the battlefield, although war’s carnage horrified him.

A few nice Churchill quotes:

  • Winston Churchill once defined tact as “the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.”
  • “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”
  • “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile – hoping it will eat him last.”
  • “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
  • “I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
  • “All I can say is that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.”

 

 

photo credit: http://secretlifeofmannequins.blogspot.com/2015/01/siren-suits-second-world-war-onesie.html
Posted in General, Reviews and Recommendations.

2 Comments

  1. Look at Forty ways to look at Winston Churchill by Gretchen Rubin. A quick look at a fascinating person. It piqued my curiosity to learn more.

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