Churchill: Saint or Sinner?

A new biography by Tariq Ali

I am currently reading a recent biography of Winston Churchill by Tariq Ali, subtitled His Times, His Crimes. As to be expected by such a life-long leftie firebrand, the author pulls no punches. The clue is in the subtitle. As well as warts an’ all look at Churchill, it ranges far and wide, above and beyond Churchill. He devotes many pages to chronicling the struggles of the working class movements, including brief stops at the so-called Peterloo massacre in 1819, and passing glances at the Chartists and the Cato Street Conspiracy. It was this biographical focus that attracted me to the book. After all, who needs another we-are-not-worthy biography of Winston? Yet one of the latest in this most fawning of literary breeds has been our recent hapless prime minister, Boris Johnson. Maybe he was hoping to get some tips on political leadership through the pages of history? Well, too late now. Anyway, I’ll pass on reading that one, thank you.

But don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against the man often voted as the greatest figure of the last century. (I’m back to discussing Churchill, not Johnson.) I understand that he was a unifying force, a rallying, implacable presence, against the terror of Hitler and Nazi Germany. Without his leadership we may have fallen under the Nazi yoke. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, an’ all that —…