Some welcome sanity from historian Andrew Roberts.
British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) in the garden at 10 Downing Street, London, circa 1943. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
by Andrew Roberts
The movie Darkest Hour, in which Gary Oldman won an Oscar playing Winston Churchill, has garnered many plaudits, and deservedly so. It introduced a new generation to Churchill and the inspiring story of 1940, reminding them of how Britain stood alone for a year against the might and fury of Nazi Germany.
But it has also produced a vicious backlash against Churchill and all that he stood for and unleashed an avalanche of vitriolic abuse, much of it ahistorical and ignorant.
It says more about our modern “fake history” culture than anything about…
First Night History 
What our Western civilization desperately needs is a Churchill’s size leader.
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Size in the sense you mean but not his Conservative leanings! It seems to me that apart from WWII, the Tories have either delayed or destroyed what the UK needs for a decent and equal society.
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The inability or unwillingness of people to distinguish between verifiable fact and opinion is frustrating, no matter who’s history you’re dealing with 😦 Thanks for sharing.
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I suspect it’s more inability than unwillingness these days with education to blame. It is exceedingly frustrating. Thank you for commenting, Anne.
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Fake news is obviously undesirable, to say the least. But I never liked Churchill, and not because of those quotes.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I know and I know the reasons you’ve given in the past. You might have felt differently if you’d been of a certain age during WWII.
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Perhaps, though my Mum endured the Blitz, then voted Labour in 1945. Well done to her! 🙂
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Most did because who wouldn’t have wanted what Labour was offering, not least with health care? Churchill was good for the war, mistakes though he made, but the country needed something different for the future i.e. everything the Tories are destroying now.
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I agree with Jennie, very well said. There is much that modern attitudes would criticise in the way earlier generations behaved and spoke. Being ‘products of their time’ may excuse those attitudes, but will never make them right. But from there to cherry-picking the facts of history is a far cry… especially when it seeks to destroy a reputation only in furtherance of a political soap-box. Just as bad is the rewriting of the facts for dramatic purposes, when they are then presented as truth ( except in a small print disclaime no-one sees). In this multimedia age, many youngsters especially will garner a glimpse of history from the screen. I think we owe it to them and to our forebears to present the facts… even if only in essence. That still leaves room for both drama and the freedom to make up one’s own mind.
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Certainly.
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Well said!
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I’m glad you think so too. Whether it’s history or current affairs, it’s beyond a joke. Frightening, in fact.
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Yes, indeed!
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