Winston S. Churchill Typed Letter Signed.

CHURCHILL, Winston S.

$3,000.00

Item Number: 145452

London:, March, 1957.

Rare typed letter signed by Winston Churchill to his proofreader. One page, octavo, on Churchill’s ‘Knightsbridge 28, Hyde Park Gate’ stationery, the letter reads in full, ‘My dear Wood, Thank you for your letter of March 7. I am much obliged to you for the assistance you have given me, and send you the enclosed cheque for £400. Yours very sincerely “Winston Churchill.”‘ The recipient, C. C. Wood was proofreader for British publisher Harrap during the publication of his six-volume memoir ‘The Second World War.’ In fine condition. Matted and framed. The piece measures 12.7 inches by 14.9 inches.

Winston S. Churchill was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. He was also an officer in the British Army, a non-academic historian, a writer and an artist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall, lifetime body of work. In 1963, he was the first of only eight people to be made an honorary citizen of the United States. As a young army officer, he saw action in British India, the Anglo–Sudan War, and the Second Boer War. He gained fame as a war correspondent and wrote books about his campaigns. At the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister. His speeches and radio broadcasts helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult days of 1940–41 when the British Commonwealth and Empire stood almost alone in its active opposition to Adolf Hitler. He led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured. After the Conservative Party suffered an unexpected defeat in the 1945 general election, he became Leader of the Opposition to the Labour Government. He publicly warned of an "Iron Curtain" of Soviet influence in Europe and promoted European unity. After winning the 1951 election, Churchill again became Prime Minister. His second term was preoccupied by foreign affairs, including the Malayan Emergency, Mau Mau Uprising, Korean War, and a UK-backed coup d'état in Iran. Domestically his government laid great emphasis on house-building. Churchill suffered a serious stroke in 1953 and retired as Prime Minister in 1955, although he remained a Member of Parliament until 1964. Upon his death aged ninety in 1965, Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of world statesmen in history. His memoir, 'The Second World War,' was named by Modern Library as one of the 100 best non-fiction books of the twentieth century and was placed number one on the 100 best non-fiction books of the twentieth century by National Review magazine.