WS 2010/2011 exam translation (advanced) (Staatsexamen Herbst 1998) text #3
He died nearly 30 years ago, and it is more than half a
century since his 'finest hour'1).
But in death, as throughout most of his very long life, Winston Churchill
remains a figure of compelling fascination and unresolved controversy. Two new
biographies merely confirm that the jury on Churchill is still out. Norman
Rose's2)
study is balanced, judicious and fair-minded: it recognises Churchill's virtues,
pays full attention to his shortcomings, and makes a serious attempt to view him
in historical perspective. By contrast, Clive Ponting's3)
much longer book is unashamedly the work of the prosecuting counsel. It refuses
to accept that Churchill was a great historical figure, finds fault with
everything he said or did, and regards him as a myth to be demolished rather
than as a man to be understood and assessed.
Ponting is totally out of sympathy
with his subject, with the result that his Churchill emerges as a
one-dimensional caricature: overwhelmingly ambitious, insufferably self-centred,
unpredictably inconsistent. He was an alcoholic, a racist, a eugenicist and an
elitist, and his marriage was more unhappy than successful. He sought power only
for personal gratification, and changed from one party to another with cavalier
indifference. Not surprisingly, his writings were one long litany of
self-justification, by turns economical with the truth and profligate with
falsehoods.
Rose is extremely good at bringing out
the paradoxes of Churchill's character and career. He agrees with the verdicts
of many contemporaries, who recognised Churchill's imagination, eloquence,
industry and ability, but who also lamented his lack of judgment, wisdom and
proportion. He notes that Churchill was often excessively belligerent in the
Commons, yet regarded coalition governments as the best possible arrangement for
running Britain's affairs. And he reminds us that for most of his life,
Churchill was disliked and distrusted: only after 1940 was he acclaimed as 'the
greatest Englishman of his time.' Rose's Churchill is a great man, with flaws
and faults to match, the saviour of his country who was also the statesman in an
era of decline.
David
Cannadine4),
The foulest and the finest hour. A review of the following two books: A) Churchill,
by Clive Ponting and B) Churchill,
An Unruly Life, by Norman Rose. Published in The Observer, 1 May 1994
(abridged)
1)
FINEST
HOUR: www.wepsite.de/Churchill,finest_hour.htm
2) Clive
Ponting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Ponting
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1132/is_n11_v47/ai_18205167/?tag=content;col1
3) David Cannadine, Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cannadine
On Churchill (BBC Radio):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/the_westminster_hour/2787261.stm
plus:
MORE SPEECHES:
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/great-speeches.htm
"We shall fight"(excerpt): Churchill,we shall fight(excerpt).mp3
CHURCHILL:
Two stories from his youth
CHURCHILL JOKES: Churchill (1),
Churchill (2), Churchill
(3),
Churchill (4)
NEW: The New Yorker, August 30, 2010: "Finest Hours, The Making of Winston Churchill"
Cave,
Boys! I can hear footsteps!
(Cartoon by Leslie Gilbert Illingworth, September 13, 1940)
Their Finest Hour by Winston Churchill
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