About this item
A revelatory portrait showing how the famed British statesman created a network of American colleagues and friends who helped push our foreign policy in Britain's favor during World War II. Winston Churchill was the consummate networker. Using newly discovered documents and archives, Churchill's American Network reveals how the famed British politician found a network of American men and women who would push American foreign policy in Britain's direction during World War II - while at the same time producing lucrative speaking fees to support his lavish lifestyle. Stelzer has gathered contemporary local newspaper reports of Churchill's lecture tours in many American cities, as well as interactions with leaders of local American communities - what he said in public, what he said at private meetings, how he comported himself.
About the Author
Why I wrote Dinner with Churchill: Policy-Making at the Dinner Table
By Cita Stelzer
In the course of many years spent reading biographies of and books about Winston Churchill I realized that I had learned little about how this man planned the meals at which he had accomplished so much. After all, most of the deals that were struck at the famous international conferences held during WWII were made at or facilitated by dinners at which the leaders were more relaxed than at formal sessions.
So I began digging into the Churchill Archives at Churchill College, Cambridge. Not only did I find menus for the more famous dinners with Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, and Stalin. But there were details of Churchill careful setting of the stages for dinners with his generals, political friends and foes, leading academics and a host of other interesting people. In addition, I found bills for dinners at Claridges, the Ritz and The Savoy, with guests lists, amended wine selections, letters from Churchill and his staff complaining about over-billing, letters from Churchill thanking friends for the gifts of foods and wines, all in the Archives as set out in my book.
