CHURCHILL, Winston S.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Secret Session Speeches. First UK edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author, "To Maurice Ashley from Winston S. Churchill", together with the presentation letter signed by Churchill, housed together in a handsome box by Asprey.Maurice Ashley (1907-1994) was Churchill's chief research assistant for his four-volume Marlborough biography, working for him from 1929 to 1935 despite their political differences - Churchill once introduced Ashley to Jan Smuts with the remark, "He's a terrible socialist, but he's an awfully nice man" (Gilbert, p. 138). Ashley published Churchill as Historian in 1968, in which he wrote that Churchill was "always the soul of consideration, courtesy, and charm. He expected one to work hard but not a quarter as hard as he worked himself" (p. 7).In 1948, Ashley published Mr. President, comprising biographical sketches of six US presidents, which was written while he was on wartime duty in Washington. On Chartwell stationery and dated 2 November 1948, Churchill's letter thanks Maurice for sending him a copy of Mr. President and offers in exchange this copy of Secret Session Speeches. Secret Session Speeches was first published in the US a month earlier. It concludes the War Speeches series and contains five of Churchill's secret parliamentary speeches that had been embargoed during the conflict.

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