“I had not before encountered this sort of ambition, unabashed frankly egotistical, communicating it’s excitement, and extorting sympathy.
It was not that he was without the faculty of self-criticism. He could laugh of his dreams of glory and he had an impish fun.”
Unnamed journalist from the Manchester Guardian. The Rest is History podcast episode 241, Young Churchill: Prisoner and Fugitive
That from The Rest is History podcast, with Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. The backstory here is young Churchill is traveling on a ship with a journalist from the Manchester Guardian. After spending a few days observing young Winnie this was his brilliant description.
Ambition combined with the ability to laugh at one’s self. Potent mix, that.
Listen to more exquisite Rest of History pods below:
666. Wine and the Birth of Civilisation – The Rest Is History
What does The Odyssey teach us about the history of wine in the ancient world? How did Julius Caesar use wine to conquer the world? And, why was The Judgement of Paris – when America took on France – the most controversial incident in the history of wine?
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the long history of wine; from ancient Jordan, to Bronze Age Greece, to the Vikings, and beyond…
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Lloyds. 250 years on and still backing the nation's aspirations.
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Floodlights and Goalposts 