Book review by Dennis D. McDonald

The ability to seek, know, and speak the truth as the foundation of freedom was George Orwell’s thinking. This idea played out especially in his writings from 1936 on. During his involvement in the Spanish Civil War he had witnessed firsthand how both the Left and the Right of that day--Communism fighting with Fascism--manipulated the truth as a fundamental element in political control.

Churchill came to his views on freedom and democracy from a different route. Orwell had came from a not-well-to-do middle-class family and as a young man he witnessed firsthand the evils of British Imperialism during his time as a policeman in Burma. Churchill came from the British upper class and experienced the privileges of that realm even after joining the army while having his family pull strings to get him special postings.

Churchill like Orwell experienced combat firsthand but unlike Orwell subsequently turned that experience to his advantage in politics. In and out of elected office between the world wars he recognized early on that Hitler was a menace that could not be appeased. He then led England in the early years of World War II as it almost single-handedly opposed the advances of the Nazis.

Orwell and Churchill never met each other but author Ricks’ juxtaposition of the two in this beautifully written and extensively researched 2017 book convincingly demonstrates their affinities despite their different backgrounds and temperaments.

I’ve long been a fan of Orwell and have always admired not only his writing style but his honesty and clear thinking. The Churchill that emerges from these pages was someone who not only knows how to communicate and lead but was masterfully able to coherently manage both strategy and tactics and how to correctly focus his and the energies of others.

Ricks does not shy away from pointing out the flaws of these men. That does not distract from the message about how relevant they still are despite the years that have passed since their accomplishments. The focus on truth as the fundamental element in maintaining freedom and democracy is certainly relevant today as we see how knowing the truth not only in our politics but in our daily communication are increasingly threatened.

Orwell was prescient in seeing how communication technology could be employed for manipulating the truth but throughout history that has always been the case. Witness, for example, how members of the church opposed printing English language versions of the Bible since that would allow the people to bypass control by the clergy in communicating and interpreting the Bible.

I highly recommend this book is a unique look at two very important 20th-century people.

Book review copyright (c) 2020 by Dennis D. McDonald