The Truth About Myself in The Strand Magazine, January 1936.
London: George Newnes, Ltd., 1936. First edition. Periodical. This original publication of “The Truth About Myself” in the January 1936 issue of The Strand Magazine (Vol. XC, No. 541) features Churchill’s elusive and compellingly introspective article prominently advertised, with the title and author printed in bright yellow below Churchill’s front cover image. The 11-page article appears at pages 276-286, profusely illustrated with 17 photographs and a caricature. Notably, the magazine also includes Rudyard Kipling's story "TEEM – A Treasure-Hunter", published here the same month that Kipling died.
Condition is very good, the covers strikingly bright, clean, and complete with only some light creasing to the lower front cover and a four-digit number faintly stamped on the upper front cover. The red spine is bright and complete though creased, as is common. The contents are clean, bright, and complete.
This is the companion piece to Churchill’s article in the November 1935 issue titled “The Truth About Hitler”: “…now the Editor wants me to write the truth about myself.” Most remarkable about this article is how very non-Churchillian it is - tonally heavy without the full measure of Churchillian wit and sparkle, imparting a palpable sense of a defensive Churchill, isolated and uncertain.
The article reverberates with the ostracism and pressure directed at Churchill in his 1930s “wilderness years” which found him out of power and out of favor, persistently warning about the growing Nazi threat. Albeit with a touch of humor (“…it is only the solicitations of our Editor which have induced me to devote a whole article to my own personality… not only am I a modest, but also an extremely benevolent man.”), Churchill directly defends his record against his detractors’ allegations. Against charges of inconsistency, Churchill states “There are moments when I feel that I might make a case for being the only consistent politician.” Churchill then does just that, setting his evolutions in the context of the shifting political expediencies of others. He also defends his reputation as a contrarian: “…I have a tendency… to swim against the stream... When I see… worshipful forces running in full cry together, my inclinations are to go the other way. I am sorry that it should be so.”
Churchill even mitigates his strengths, confessing about his reputation as an orator: “The truth is that I am not a good speaker, and I only learned to speak… with exceptional difficulty and enormous practice.” The article is remarkable for the oscillations between humbled vulnerability and pugnacious self-confidence: “…I feel that most of my mistakes have been due to allowing my judgment to be overruled or deflected by other people’s stupid judgment.” In this context Churchill defends the lingering stigma of the Dardanelles.
The article feels indelibly rooted in the middle of a decade that saw Churchill pass into his sixties with his own future as uncertain as that of his nation: “Young men ought to be ambitious… But such an experience as I have recorded is surely a cure for any form of personal ambition.” This is Churchill on the defensive – on topics ranging from hats (“I am usually caricatured with a tiny hat on my head… I do not delight in hats.”) to war-mongering (“Neither let me say do I delight in war…”). The article reads almost as a tortuous journey back to self-affirmation: “I am proud to feel the glow of counter-attack. I am glad to spend what is left of my mortal span in trying to rouse the good and brave people of England and of Britain and of her Empire…”
The Churchill of the final paragraphs finally evokes the indomitable strength that would see his country through war ahead: “Although I see so harshly the dark side of things, yet by a queer contradiction I awake each morning with new hope and energy revived… I mean to do my part in this while life and strength remain.”
Reference: Cohen C485; Woods C285. Item #008977
Price: $400.00