Summary and Analysis of Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill: Based on the Book by Candice Millard
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Summary and Analysis of Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill: Based on the Book by Candice Millard
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Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.
This short summary and analysis of Hero of the Empire includes:
- Historical context
- Chapter-by-chapter overviews
- Profiles of the main characters
- Timeline of key events
- Important quotes
- Fascinating trivia
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- Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
Winston Churchill is a towering figure of the 20th century, but Candice Millard focuses on a much younger Churchill, whose unexpected adventures and heroics helped make him into the charismatic leader he is rememered as.
With a trove of period details, a colorful cast of characters, and a deep feeling for 19th-century history, Millard’s biography recounts Churchill’s early military adventures before and during the Boer War. She then puts readers in the middle of that brutal conflict along with a young Churchill, as he rushes toward the daring escape that would bring him the admiration of the British Empire and the beginning of his legendary political career.
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781504044837 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Worth Books |
| Publication date: | 03/28/2017 |
| Series: | Smart Summaries |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 30 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
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Summary and Analysis of Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill
Based on the Book by Candice Millard
By Worth Books
OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA
Copyright © 2017 Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5040-4483-7
CHAPTER 1
Summary
Prologue
Standing outside the prison fence he's just climbed over, Winston Churchill waits for his comrades-in-arms to join him. Though young, he's already a veteran of four wars, and his goal of achieving military glory stands firm. When his friends make clear they can't get out of the prison, however, Churchill faces a situation he never expected: He's in an enemy land where he doesn't speak the language, alone, and is carrying no provisions. He doesn't even know which direction to run. None of this is to big a problem for Churchill. His extraordinary faith in himself is sure to see him through.
Part One: Pushful, the Younger
Chapter 1: Death by Inches
Winston Churchill was fascinated by war from his earliest days. He had an army of 1,500 toy soldiers, and enthusiastically fought and planned imaginary campaigns, hoping one day for the real thing, complete with a reputation for courage and daring. He attended Sandhurst, the Royal Military College, graduating in 1894, in a world where the British Empire covered a fifth of the globe and there was always combat in some part of it. Glory was to be won through medals, but modesty was considered a virtue. Churchill had no desire for the virtue, but he did want the medals. Through a combination of self-promotion and family connections, he saw his first action as a military observer in Cuba. His real education started the next year, on the North-West Frontier Province of India, fighting the ferocious Pashtun tribesmen. The fighting moved to the Hindu Kush mountains the next year, and Winston went with it. There was no room in the expedition for a regular officer, so he went as a combination officer and news correspondent. The unit he was with was attacked and surrounded, but Churchill stood his ground, shooting Pashtuns with a revolver until the relief column arrived. Many were killed, but Churchill was unscathed, and wasn't at all surprised, as he believed God had greater things for him in mind.
Chapter 2: The Graven Palm
The year 1898 was a big year for Churchill. He once again got himself to the forefront of colonial warfare, this time in the Sudan, ending up at the climactic Battle of Omdurman. He shot more than six men in this campaign, but more importantly, wrote a widely renowned book about it, The River War. He began to garner a reputation, and thought about following his father's footsteps into politics. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was the third son of the seventh Duke of Marlborough. The family was spectacularly well connected, but didn't have much money left. Randolph married an American heiress named Jennie Jerome, who was herself impressive in the realms of looks and charisma, but unfortunately didn't have as much money as it might have appeared. Randolph had a degree of brilliance, though, and skyrocketed to Chancellor of the Exchequer at the tender age of 37. He then sabotaged himself, and died at the equally tender age of 45. Winston wasn't close to his father, but he idolized him and wanted to mirror his achievements, if not his mistakes. In debt and wanting to move ahead, Winston resigned his military commission and accepted an offer to run for Parliament.
Chapter 3: The Scion
Churchill gave his first political speech — in his campaign for Parliament — in 1899. It was well received, and he loved doing it. Surprisingly, he was not a natural. He had a speech impediment, which he worked long hours to correct, the result of which was his distinctive way of speaking. He also wrote and practiced every element of his speeches carefully, though he delivered them in a calculated manner to feel off the cuff. In spite of his good press and the help of his beautiful, charismatic (and frequently scandalized) mother Jennie, Churchill lost the election to the Liberals. Having resigned from the army, Churchill had no profession to fall back on, but he still had great writing talent and great ambition.
Chapter 4: Blowing the Trumpet
Churchill grew up largely at Blenheim Palace, the magnificent estate granted to John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, for his victory at Blenheim in 1704. The estate belonged to Winston's cousin, the current Duke, but Winston was very conscious of the Churchill legacy, of his cousin's place in Parliament, and of his own father's early parliamentary start. He felt he was losing time. He was also conscious of growing trouble between the British and the Boers, the Dutch settlers in South Africa. The Dutch had been in South Africa for nearly 300 years, while the British didn't establish Cape Colony and other coastal enclaves until 1806. At first, the British and the Dutch left each other alone. But the British began moving inland, and, in 1833, they abolished slavery in the Cape. Dutch pioneers left and established the Orange Free State, Natal, and the Transvaal in the interior. The British annexed Natal in 1843; diamond mines were discovered in the Transvaal, and the British annexed that too. This prompted the First Boer War in 1880, which ended, to everyone's surprise, with a British defeat at Majuba Hill. The British were entirely unwilling to let this result stand, setting the stage for further conflict. Churchill, like most Britons, believed in the might and right of the British Empire, and spoke in favor of war with the Boers. The Boers, for their part, issued an ultimatum to Britain to cease their annexations and encroachments. The British ignored it.
Therefore, on October 11, 1899, the Boers declared war.
Part Two: Into Africa
Chapter 5: "Send Her Victorious"
Winston may not have launched his political career yet, but his writing landed him an offer to go to South Africa for the Morning Post, a respected paper, as a war correspondent — and the best-paid correspondent in England to boot. In spite of his tendency towards violent seasickness, Winston got on the first and fastest ship he could, taking with him his valet, extensive travelling equipment, and a selection of fine wine. He also carried the portrait of Pamela Plowden, the first great love of his life. Pamela was a social butterfly and had many suitors, of whom Winston was only one. Once on board, Winston wasted no time making the acquaintance of Sir Redvers Buller, the commander in chief, and a number of other senior officers. They were all eager to get to South Africa, as they thought the fighting would be over quickly. They believed the Boers were a gang of untutored bumpkins who would be quickly swept aside by the British juggernaut.
Chapter 6: "We Have Now Gone Far Enough"
The Boers may not have had pretty uniforms and the massive logistical might of the British, but they were very serious fighters indeed, and they were very prepared for this war. The Boers were citizen soldiers who had fought Zulu and Xhosa tribesmen their whole lives. They learned to ride and shoot from birth, and in anticipation of war, they'd all been armed with excellent German Mauser rifles. Louis Botha was young for command — 37 years old — but his hardiness and keen intelligence marked him out and made him a very popular leader when his commander fell ill. He became one of several Boer commanders who rapidly inflicted a series of embarrassing defeats on the British. The Boers swept into Natal, shooting up a British force near Dundee with great speed and accuracy. Another British force headed for the relative safety of Ladysmith, where Botha also defeated them and pinned them under siege in the town. A British relief force of 20,000 men landed and headed for Estcourt, near Ladysmith, so Botha headed there as well.
Chapter 7: The Blackest of All Days
Where the Boers were light and mobile, carrying little on their fast horses and operating on familiar territory, the British were waging a war 7,000 miles from home, and treating it as a European war, complete with heavy artillery, rain gear, tents, and huge amounts of supplies. They shipped 160,000 soldiers and many more non-combatants in to South Africa by March. Churchill wanted none of the British Army's immobility. He wanted to be at the front, and he used his connections to get on the last train to Natal before the lines were cut.
Chapter 8: Land of Stone and Scrub
The train across the Great Karoo Desert got Churchill to East London. He had to take another rough sea voyage to Natal, where he would try to get a train to Ladysmith. He was too late though — Ladysmith was closed off and the train only went as far as Estcourt. Estcourt had great significance for the Boers. There they had defeated the Zulus, the most powerful and militarily organized of the Bantu people the Boers encountered, at the Battle of Blood River in 1838. This allowed the Boers to establish themselves in their new lands, and it was considered almost sacred ground. There were 2,300 British soldiers camped there, with only a few cannons — too few to relieve Ladysmith, and they knew the Boers would attack them eventually. They were also more or less at the end of the line for rail travel, and Churchill ended up amongst them.
Part Three: Chance
Chapter 9: The Death Trap
Churchill found Estcourt dingy, and had to share a tent with two other journalists. One man, Amery, had been at Harrow with Churchill, worked for a very serious paper, had no sense of humor, and on the whole was not a Churchill fan. The other, Atkins, was an experienced campaigner and found Churchill's honest ambition somewhat like Teddy Roosevelt's, and not at all off-putting. Churchill was still itching to get in the thick of things. The only way to get closer to Ladysmith was by armored train out of Estcourt. This was a regular train with boilerplates welded on for protection, and crammed full of British soldiers and an artillery piece. It looked formidable, but since it was on a rail line, the Boers generally knew where it was at any given time. Churchill and the other journalists hitched a ride on this train to Colenso, only 13 miles from Ladysmith, and found it abandoned. Everyone rushed back.
Chapter 10: A Pity and a Blunder
Churchill ran into an old friend, Aylmer Haldane, who was a captain in one of the regiments in Estcourt. Shortly thereafter, the Boers started advancing on the camp. The commander, Colonel Long, dithered about retreating or holding fast, ended up sending his men out in the mud and rain to no effect, and the Boers didn't attack that day. Churchill and Atkins convinced him to hold his position, but the next day he figured he needed to get news from Ladysmith and sent the armored train to get it. Haldane had the unenviable job of commanding the highly exposed vehicle, and Churchill, wanting to be in the forefront with his friend, went with him.
Chapter 11: Into the Lion's Jaws
The Boers and British had very different views of fighting. Where the British viewed war as a matter of honor and gallantry, the Boers saw it as a grim, practical necessity. The Boers camouflaged themselves, built trenches, small stone shelters (called sangars), and used smokeless powder so they'd be undetectable as they fired from long range. The British had only just abandoned scarlet uniforms and wearing medals into battle, but still attacked in neat, orderly lines, which were highly visible. The armored train Churchill was on was also highly visible. Their engine smoke showed for miles, and Botha knew they were going to Colenso, so he had his men pile stones on the rails to derail the train on its way back. Should his ambush work, he had three thousand men and four field guns waiting for the train when it stopped.
Chapter 12: Grim Sullen Death
Boers were spotted along the line, and Haldane decided to head back. Then he got orders via telegraph to wait at the town of Frere, as Boers had been spotted on their return route, and it wasn't safe. But it was too late; the Boers were already springing their trap. Rapid-firing artillery (pom-pom guns) opened up on them as they returned. Haldane gave the order to speed up. Just as it occurred to Churchill that the Boers might want them to speed up, the train hit the stones on the rail. Everyone was thrown to the floor, and Churchill volunteered to see what happened. The front car was smashed, the armored car was 20 yards away on its side, and the third car was off the rails and blocking the engine. The soldiers who survived the crash were under heavy and accurate Boer fire. The driver wanted to run away, but Churchill convinced him to stay and ram the third car out of the way, clearing a path for the engine. Haldane organized a defense and returned fire, but his men were severely outnumbered and surrounded. For an hour, Churchill ran back and forth, encouraging the driver and giving reports to Haldane. The armored car got uncoupled and a shell hit the engine, setting it on fire. The only option was to get as many men as possible on the engine and run for it. Churchill and Haldane got a number of men on and got the engine moving, but Haldane fell off. Churchill ran back for him and found himself surrounded by Boers. He was ready to fight, but found he had lost his pistol. He had no choice but to surrender.
Part Four: Prisoners of War
Chapter 13: To Submit, to Obey, to Endure
The survivors who made it back were full of stories of Churchill's courage under fire. Churchill was frustrated, though, knowing he would be unable to fulfill his ambitions as a prisoner of war. He asked to be released as he was a correspondent, not a soldier, but the Boers had all seen him fighting and saving the train. Once they knew his name and realized they had the son of Lord Randolph Churchill, they separated him from the other prisoners. They put him back with the others only when boarding a train for Pretoria. The officer prisoners were put in a first class carriage and were extremely well treated. Churchill found Haldane there, and they began talking about escape, joined by an enlisted man named Brockie who was pretending to be an officer. They kept his secret, as he could speak Dutch and Zulu, and knew the countryside. They thought he would be useful in an escape, but for the time being the Boers were watching them closely.
Chapter 14: "I Regret to Inform You"
As soon as news of Winston's bravery got out, the papers were full of it. Talk started going around of his political career. Jennie Churchill, meanwhile, threw a lavish benefit party to outfit a hospital ship for South Africa. She had an entirely inappropriate young suitor, disapproved of by both her own family and the Prince of Wales, who was an officer in the army, and when she actually sailed in the ship for which she had fundraised (with a private suite for her), it was unclear who she was going to see.
Chapter 15: A City of the Dead
In Pretoria, the British officers were confined in a former teacher's college, while the enlisted men were housed in the buildings at an old racetrack. Churchill was briefly put in with the enlisted, as the Boers couldn't quite figure out his status, but through Haldane's efforts, he was put back with the officers. The Boers were aware that the British thought them half-savages, and bent over backwards to show how civilized they were. They allowed British prisoners to have their soldier servants, to chart the progress of the war on homemade maps, and to buy supplies and clothes from town. Despite these privileges, Churchill despised captivity and felt his opportunities were slipping away. He wrote letters to Louis de Souza, the Transvaal secretary of state for war, asking for his release as a non-combatant correspondent. The Boers were still mindful of his participation in the train battle and were not about to release him.
Chapter 16: Black Week
Churchill made friends with de Souza, who brought him fruit, snuck in whiskey, and arranged meetings to discuss his release. The other guards were not always so pleasant, including one named Malan who was the grandson of Kruger, president of the Transvaal. He enjoyed taunting the prisoners, but Churchill told him that if the British won there would be reprisals, and he left Churchill alone. During this time, the Boer commander was thrown from his horse and subsequently died. Louis Botha was promoted in his place, and he and other Boer commanders inflicted a series of defeats on the British that came to be known as "Black Week." From December 10–17, 1899, the Boers defeated the British at Stormberg, Magersfontein, and Colenso, inflicting 2,776 casualties. The guards were delighted, but the prisoners were downcast, and a pall fell over Britain. Many wondered if this signaled the end of the Empire. Queen Victoria said it was not, that they would press on. Churchill continued with his efforts at release. He met with Reitz, the Transvaal secretary of state, reiterating his correspondent status. Reitz had gotten reports of Churchill's action at the train and did not yield, but he did agree to send some articles to the Morning Post for their frustrated young correspondent. Churchill's last hope for release was a proposed prisoner exchange. When this did not materialize, he realized he'd never be released, and redoubled his resolve to escape.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Summary and Analysis of Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Worth Books. Copyright © 2017 Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Context,Overview,
Summary,
Timeline,
Cast of Characters,
Direct Quotes and Analysis,
Trivia,
What's That Word?,
Critical Response,
About Candice Millard,
For Your Information,
Bibliography,
Copyright,