Churchill’s American Network: Winston Churchill and the Forging of the Special Relationship

Historian Stelzer (Working with Winston) documents Churchill’s pre-WWII visits to America in this thoroughly researched if disappointingly superficial chronicle. Stelzer recounts four of Churchill’s trips, including a lecture tour from 1900 to 1901 on his Boer War experiences and a visit from 1931 to 1932 when his focus was on shoring up the British-American alliance. According to Stelzer, during these journeys Churchill cultivated a powerful and influential network of allies “to finance his lifestyle and to create a cadre sympathetic to Britain’s policy needs.” Drawing on “hundreds of rarely consulted press reports” from across the U.S., Stelzer provides lots of new details about Churchill’s travels, but not many documented mentions of the impact of Churchill’s socializing. (Though one such intriguing mention is a letter from a British diplomat to Churchill stating that his visit to William Randolph Hearst “produced wonderful and immediate results amongst those who... have been antagonistic toward us.”) The result is a central hypothesis supported largely by supposition. (Discussing FDR’s decision to support Britain before entering WWII, Stelzer writes that the president “undoubtedly checked informally with... members of Churchill’s network,” but provides no evidence.) Stelzer’s recounting of Churchill’s experiences in America—including when he was struck by a car—provides a more comprehensive picture of those visits than many biographies. Still, readers will be dissatisfied by the lack of in-depth analysis. (Feb.)