ection>
Winston Churchill
My Early Life: The Autobiography
Published by
Books
- Advanced Digital Solutions & High-Quality eBook Formatting -
2018 OK Publishing
ISBN 978-80-272-4215-3
Table of Contents
Chapter IX Education at Bangalore
Chapter X The Malakand Field Force
Chapter XII The Tirah Expedition
Chapter XIII A Difficulty With Kitchener
Chapter XIV The Eve of Omdurman
Chapter XV The Sensations of a Cavalry Charge
Chapter XVIII With Buller to the Cape
Chapter XIX The Armoured Train
Chapter XXI I Escape from the Boers—I
Chapter XXII I Escape from the Boers—II
Chapter XXIII Back to the Army
Chapter XXV The Relief of Ladysmith
Chapter XXVI In the Orange Free State
Chapter XXVII Johannesburg and Pretoria
Chapter XXVIII The Khaki Election
Chapter XXIX The House of Commons
Author's Preface
Various accounts having appeared from time to time of my early life and adventures, and I myself having published thirty years ago stories of the several campaigns in which I took part, and having written later about particular episodes, I have thought it right to bring the whole together in a single complete story; and to tell the tale, such as it is, anew. I have therefore not only searched my memory, but have most carefully verified my facts from the records which I possess. I have tried, in each part of the quarter-century in which this tale lies, to show the point of view appropriate to my years, whether as a child, a schoolboy, a cadet, a subaltern, a war-correspondent, or a youthful politician. If these opinions conflict with those now generally accepted, they must be taken merely as representing a phase in my early life, and not in any respect, except where the context warrants, as modern pronouncements.
When I survey this work as a whole I find I have drawn a picture of a vanished age. The character of society, the foundations of politics, the methods of war, the outlook of youth, the scale of values, are all changed, and changed to an extent I should not have believed possible in so short a space without any violent domestic revolution. I cannot pretend to feel that they are in all respects changed for the better. I was a child of the Victorian era, when the structure of our country seemed firmly set, when its position in trade and on the seas was unrivalled, and when the realization of the greatness of our Empire and of our duty to preserve it was ever growing stronger. In those days the dominant forces in Great Britain were very sure of themselves and of their doctrines. They thought they could teach the world the art of government, and the science of economics. They were sure they were supreme at sea and consequently safe at home. They rested therefore sedately under the convictions of power and security. Very different is the aspect of these anxious and dubious times. Full allowance for such changes should be made by friendly readers.
I have thought that it might be of interest to the new generation to read a story of youthful endeavour, and I have set down candidly and with as much simplicity as possible my personal fortunes.
WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL.
CHARTWELL MANOR,
August, 1930.
Chapter I
Childhood
When does one first begin to remember? When do the waving lights and shadows of dawning consciousness cast their print upon the mind of a child? My earliest memories are Ireland. I can recall scenes and events in Ireland quite well, and sometimes dimly, even people. Yet I was born on November 30, 1874, and I left Ireland early in the year 1879. My father had gone to Ireland as