SOURCE: “‘That Will Depend on Who Writes the History’: Winston Churchill as His Own Historian,” in More Adventures with Britannia: Personalities, Politics and Culture in Britain, edited by William Roger Louis, University of Texas Press, 1998, pp. 241-54.

In the following essay, Ramsden examines the ways in which Churchill shaped his own “mythic image” in his writings and speeches.

When President Harry Truman introduced Churchill at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, in March 1946, he described him merely as “one of the great men of the age.” This was graceful without actually saying much, especially since Truman went on to bracket Churchill with Stalin as the type of leader that the world then so needed. At home, Churchill had already been forced into opposition by the 1945 general election, and, while this did not indicate ingratitude for his war services, it nevertheless cast a shadow on his standing. His admirers were...