Book Review: Churchill and Orwell by Thomas E. Ricks

      This book covers the personal histories of two famous writers: George Orwell and Winston Churchill.  The focus is on the critical years of their experience and their most renowned writing efforts.  Churchill has long been known for his wartime leadership of Great Britain during the years of World War II when the British had their backs to the wall as the Nazis swept through western Europe and they appeared to be unstoppable.   Had the British Isles not been 20 miles off the Brittany Coast, the Nazi Panzers would have come knocking on the door of 10 Downing St. and Buckingham Palace.
     George Orwell was a young writer, not widely read or widely known.  As a young man, he sought out his own experience and his own examination of conditions in Spain during the civil war being conducted by Franco's rebellious troops and the elected left wing government that had begun profound changes that had existed in Spain for hundreds of years.
     Author Ricks delves into the parallel lives of these two men, both Brits(Churchill of course, half American).   Both were well educated and both pursued writing as one of their goals.   Journalism was the common link between the two.   Churchill also loved politics and believed that his future was to be a player in the highest offices of Britain.  Orwell sought to explain difficult political theories, many of which had only recently been born on a global scale: Marxism, Communism, Fascism, and Socialism were among the most prominent new forms of government that were ikely to be chosen to replace monarchies around the European landscape.  MOdern communication enabled writers to expand their audience and promote their ideas like never before.  Radio was among those new media that could change minds and opinions.   Movies could also add a visual dimension to written facts to emphasize an argument.
     As the 1930's progressed, war appeared to be the next great global threat.  Japan had invaded China, and began a takeover of large sections of the country.  Germany began to expand its territory by absorbing nearby land in other European countries.  Spain was fighting against itself as the elected government tried to fend off forces supported by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.  The elected government was supported by volunteers battalions from all over, including America and Great Britain.  These volunteers were in turn supported by the Soviet Union and other Soviet volunteers.
However, the Communists disagreed among themselves and could not put up a united front to oppose Franco's forces who eventually won a victory over the left wing government.  Orwell's first major success came from his memoir of his service in Spain-Homage to Catalonia.
     In this book, he analyzed the left wing forces of the Nationalist government: the Soviet backed leaders; the Trotskyites; the Marxists; the anti-fascists; and land reform proponents allied w/ whoever had control(certain members of the Catholic hierarchy).  Franco's anti-government army had the support of Hitler's Nazis who had taken over in Germany at that time; and Mussolini's military Fascist army.  His work identified for the world what was happening in Europe as the fascists came to power.   His work resonates to this day as the reference source for the Spanish Civil War.
      Churchill, on the other hand, gained invaluable experience as a writer and military analyst in South Africa during the Boer War of 1899-1902, when British troops confronted Boers(Dutch colonialists) who objected to the British acts that banished slavery in South Africa.  While the Afrikaners had been in place for several hundred years, they did not appreciate the Brits who came in and disrupted the status quo, ie, slavery.  Churchill became an overnight sensation when he was captured by the Boers, imprisoned, then made a daring escape to return to front.  He then wrote extensively about the experience.  He was heralded at home and was promptly elected to Parliament upon his return, launching his political career.
      Author Ricks does not gloss over the weaknesses of both authors, nor does he leave out important details.   Churchill is long remembered for his wartime service as Prime Minister, but his decline began near the end of the war, and he was turned out by the electorate before hostilities ended.  Orwell contacted TB, and suffered for years until his death at age 46, just prior to his ascension as the world class writer he has become.  Still quoted today, his books 1984 and Animal Farm are classics, and are still widely read.   Churchill's 6 volume history of WW II placed him in the pantheon of historians, although his work has not had the staying power of Orwell's.
     A great read, worth the time and effort.
5 ***** rating