The Zoller Bibliography lists over 600 books about Churchill. This would be a formidable collection, but it would include many books that are really only for collectors, with no value to readers. Many are juvenile titles, and over a hundred are in foreign languages. I have attempted with this catalogue to distill this big number down to a workable list of 100 titles. This provides a superb reference library and ltst of reading enjoyment on the life, times, and works of Winston Churchill.

These 100 books are all avaialble at $50.00 or less, with the majority falling between $5.00 and $25.00. The total for all 100 titles listed is $2013.00, which gives an average of $20.00 each. This listing is NOT about expensive collectables. At this writing, I have multiple copies in stock of all of them. A full listing of available copies can be viewed by clicking on any title. The next two pages provide a list of the 100 titles, arranged by category. The order within the categories is random, and not necessarily best first.

The first two categories are general biographies of Churchill, the second being promarily collections of photos, with varying amounts of captions or text. If you had to pick just one, it would difficult to go wrong with Martin Gilbert.

Comprehensive Biographies

1.   Best, Geoffrey Churchill A study in Greatness

2.   Rose, Norman  Churchill an Unruly Life

3.   Gilbert, Martin  Churchill a Life  (1991)

4.   Pelling, Henry  Winston Churchill  (1974)

5.   Taylor, Robert L. Winston Churchill, An Informal Study of Greatness  (1952)

6.   Broad, Lewis  The Years of Preparation; of Achievement 2 vols

7.   Kraus, RenŽ  Winston Churchill A Biography (1940)

8.   Ephesian   Winston Churchill  (1927)

9.   Gilbert, Martin  Winston Churchill  (1979)

10. Martin, Hugh  Battle, The Life Story of Winston Churchill (1932-40)

11. Grant, R.G. Winston Churchill An Illustrated Biography

12. Manchester, Wm. The Last Lion 1874-1932

13. Manchester, Wm. The Last Lion 1932-1940

Photo Biographies

14. Churchill, Randolph & Gernsheim, Helmut. Churchill- His Life in Photographs

15. Gilbert, Martin. Churchill- A Photographic Portrait

16. Miller & Sainthill. Churchill, The Walk with Destiny

17. Soames, Mary. A Churchill Family Album

18. ILN. An Eightieth Year Tribute to Winston Churchill

19. Thompson, Malcolm. The Life and Times  of Winston Churchill

20. Longford, Elizabeth. Winston Churchill

21. Tucker, Ben. Winston Churchill His Life in Pictures (1945-55)

22. The Times. 1874-1965 The Churchill Years

23. American Heritage. Churchill The Life Triumphant

The third category is Churchill as writer and painter. The books by his daughter and Weidhorn stand out as best sellers.

Churchill as writer and painter

24. Weidhorn, Manfred. Sword and Pen

25. Alldritt, Keith. Churchill the Writer

26. Ashley, Maurice, Churchill as Historian

27. Woods, Frederick. Artillery of Words

28. Soames, Mary. Winston Churchill. His life as a Painter

29. Coombs, David. Churchill His Paintings

The fourth category is books on specific periods. The two books by Celia Sandys are both well illlustrated and contain original material not to be seen elsewhere.

Books about specific periods

30. Chaplin, E.D.W. Winston Churchill and Harrow

31. Morgan, Ted. Churchill: Young Man in a Hurry 1874-1915

32. Sandys, Celia. From Winston with Love and Kisses

33. Higgins, Trumbull. Winston Churchill and the Dardanelles

34. Gilbert, Martin. The Wilderness Years

35. Sandys, Celia. Churchill: Wanted Dead or Alive

36. De Mendelssohn, Peter. The Age of Churchill 1874-1911

The fifth and sixth categories are first hand accounts by people who worked with or for Churchill or knew him well. The books by Graebner and Eddie Murray are both good reads, but currently there is huge interest in Detective Inspector Thompson as a result of a TV documentary and a new biography, so “Shadow” and his other books are selling well.

First hand accounts by colleagues

37. Wheeler-Bennett, Sir John (editor). ACTION THIS DAY!

38. Bonham-Carter, Violet. Winston Churchill as I Knew Him

39. Montague Browne, Anthony. Long Sunset

40. Graebner, Walter. My Dear Mr. Churchill

41. Pawle, Gerald. The War & Colonel Warden

42. Birkenhead,  2^nd Earl . Churchill 1874-1922

43. Cowles, Virginia. Winston Churchill: The Era and the Man

44. Colville, John. The Fringes of Power: Downing Street Diaries 1939-1955  

First  hand accounts  by servants

45. Murray, Edmund. I Was Churchill's Bodyguard

46. Moir, Phyllis. I was Winston ChurchillÕs Private Secretary

47. Nel, Elizabeth. Mr. ChurchillÕs Secretary

48. Howells. Roy. ChurchillÕs Last Years

49. Moran, Lord. Winston Churchill The Struggle for Survival.

50. Thompson, W.H. I Was ChurchillÕs Shadow

51. McGowan, Norman. My Years with Churchill

The seventh catagory is collections of quotes and anecdotes. Czarnomski offers the best indexing for finding quotes on a particular subject, but Kay Halle’s book is probably the best fun. The small books here are cheap and make good gifts to your friends.

Books of anecdotes and quotes

52. Halle, Kay. The Irrepressible Churchill

53. Willans and Roeter. The Wit of Winston Churchill

54. Sims, Victor. Churchill the Great, The Best Stories

55. Sykes and Sproat. The Wit of Sir Winston

56. Coote, Colin. Maxims and Reflections

57. Czarnomski, F.B. The Wisdom of Winston Churchil

58.Frewin, Leslie. Immortal Jester

59. Coote, Colin. Churchill- A Self-Portrait

The 8th group is books on Churchill and the military. Several of these are critical, but for just one, you should consider Lewin or Lamb.

Churchill as Military Leader

60. Higgins, Trumbull. Churchill and the Second Front

61. Lewin, Ronald. Churchill as Warlord

62. Schoenfeld, Maxwell. The War Ministry of Winston Churchill

63. Hough, Richard. Former Naval Person

64. Roskill, S.W. Churchill and The Admirals

65. Gretton, Vice Admiral Sir Peter. Former Naval Person

66. Lamb, Richard. Churchill as War Leader

67. Nelson, James (ed.) General Eisenhower on the Military Churchill

The 9th heading is collections of essays and commentaries, books which are often overlooked, but contain some wondeful material. The kind words by Churchill’s Commons foes such as Clem Attlee and Manny Shinwell remind us of days of political good manners which seem gone forever. To narrow this down, I would go for an old one like Eade or no. 70 and a new one like Blake and Louis.

Collections of essays & commentaries

68. Stansky, Peter. Churchill, A Profile

69. Eade, Charles. Churchill by his contemporaries

70. WSC servant of crown and commonwealth (1954)

71. Blake & Louis. Churchill- A major new assessment

72. Churchill by His Contemporaries, an Observer Appreciation

73. Taylor, A.J.P.  et al. Churchill Revised

74. Parker, R.A.C. Winston Churchill Studies in Statesmanship

75. Kemper, R. Crosby. Winston Churchill Resolution Defiance Magnanimity Good Will

The 10th group is books that don’t fit the other categories. My top picks here are easy- In Search of Churchill, and A Cartoon Biography, both great fun and absolute musts for a Churchill library.

Books on specific aspects

76. Gilbert, Martin. In Search of Churchill.

77. Kimball, Warren. Forged in War

78. Lee, J.M. The Churchill Coalition

79. Hall, Douglas. The Book of Churcilliana

80. Hough, Richard. Winston and Clementine

81. Bromage, Mary. Churchill and Ireland

82. Rabinowicz, Oskar. Winston Churchill on Jewish Problems

83. Urquhart, Fred. WSC: A Cartoon Biography

84. Kersaudy, Francois. Churchill and DeGaulle

85. Wilson, Theodore. The First Summit

86. Pilpel, Robert. Churchill in America

87. Barker, Elisabeth. Churchill and Eden at War

88. Young, Kenneth. Churchill and Beaverbrook

89. Berlin, Isaiah. Mr. Churchill in 1940

90. Bardens, Dennis. Churchill in Parliament

91. Thomas, David. The Member for Woodford    

The 11th category is critical books ranging from important books like Rhodes James to David “There was no Holocaust” Irving. You may not like any of these, but it is good to see other views and a test to see if you can spot the non-facts.

Critical or Revisionist Titles

92. Hughes, Emrys. British Bulldog

93. Trukhanovsky, Vladimir. Winston Churchill, A Marxist Biography

94. Charmley, John. Churchill The End of Glory

95. Rhodes James, Robert. Churchill A Study in Failure

96. Irving, David. ChurchillÕs War vol I: The Struggle for Power

97. Ponting, Clive. Churchill

98. Thompson, R.W. The Yankee Marlborough

99. Germains, Victor. The Tragedy of Winston Churchill (1931)

100. Pearson, John. Citadel of the Heart

I have also listed a further 10 titles, nos. 101-110, which are important useful books, which due to scacity, cost more than $50.00 each. I sell every copy I can get of Addison, and the two books by A. MacCallum Scott (1905 and 1916) give us a view of the early Churchill wholly untainted by later greatness.