FOREWORD

So much has been written about every aspect of Winston Churchill’s life that it is surprising that one important area—his relationship with Scotland—has commanded so little attention. That is why it is important that this set of essays in Finest Hour starts to rectify this and rescues Churchill’s Scottish connections from the condescension of posterity.

Churchill’s wife Clementine was born of a Scottish family. His First World War regiment was Scottish. For fourteen years he served as a Scottish Member of Parliament. But there was a political reason why Churchill had no reason to love Scotland. After serving fourteen years from 1908 to 1922 as Member of Parliament for the jute city of Dundee, he was unceremoniously dumped by the East of Scotland electors. Humiliated—he came fourth