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  • Finest Hour

    ACTION THIS DAY

    May 03, 2021 5 minutes

    125 YEARS AGO SPRING 1896 • AGE 21 “A MOST AGREEABLE SIX MONTHS”

    Churchill admits in My Early Life that, after he returned from Cuba and prior to departing for India in September 1896, he spent the spring and summer in idle pursuits, primarily polo as well as social engagements designed to enhance his prospects for a career in politics:

    I now passed a most agreeable six months; in fact they formed almost the only idle spell I have ever had. I was able to live at home with my mother….We played polo at Hurlingham and Ranelagh.…I had now five quite good ponies, and was considered to show promise.

    I gave myself over to the amusements of the London Season. In those days English Society still existed in its old form. It was a brilliant and powerful body, with standards of

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