The late Sir Winston S. Churchill is, quite easily, one of my heroes, and the study of his life and legacy is one of my great personal interests.  If you are at all interested in Churchill's life - and legacy - here are some useful web and other resources to help you wade through the veritable mountain range of information out there ... and help you steer clear of the countless popular myths that are 'out there' regarding Churchill's life.  I'm a member of the International Churchill Society (Canada).

 
Your first stop is the official website of The Churchill Center.  The Churchill Center, located in Washington, D.C., aims to keep 'the record accurate and the memory green'.  There is a treasure trove of information here ~ don't miss the Person of the Century section.  As C.L. Sulzberger wrote, "Remember him, for he saved all of you."
I won't begin to list the many Churchill links that exist on the internet, as it's been done so well already.  Besides The Churchill Center, please check out Rafal Heydel-Mankoo's Churchill links page and Robert Courts' Winston Churchill page.

One of my email submissions to The Churchill Center's listserv was published in a recent edition of Finest Hour (No. 112, Autumn 2001), the quarterly journal of The Churchill Center & International Churchill Societies -- "Democracy Is No Harlot".

I've had a number of posts in my web log, The Campblog, regarding Churchill's life and legacy: Westboro Winston; Campbell Gallery acquisition; D-Day hero Geoff Barkway dies; Listservices; Straightjacket Winston, Unbound; Fulton 60 years on; Bookliness; The Vials of Wrath; Real vs Rubbish; Churchill's The World Crisis and 'that book meme'; my Oldham AFC footy shirt; On The Rance near St-Malo; comments relating to the Second World War; The Great Dominion: Winston Churchill in Canada, 1900-1954; In Command of History; Heirs and Masters; Churchill Memorial Gate at St. Paul's Cathedral; Churchill's 130th birthday; Savrola; 'the mortal need'; 'His Life Through His Paintings'; Ronald Cartland and Churchill's 'holiday time' speech; my Sept'04 trip to England and the 21st International Churchill Conference; Michael Dodds' novel 'Winston's War'; Temples of Freedom (a 9/11 remembrance); Churchill a homophobe?; the 'V' sign; Mr. Churchill Says; an act of abdication of duty; on Churchillian speech; Winston Review/frame some system of human relations; my letter to the Editor of the National Post; On History Distorted - the Coventry/ULTRA myth; link to Winston Review No.5; Churchill on our difficulties, "they come from within"; Winston Review No.2; The Flea's Winston Review of Blogs No.1 and Churchill's 'the causes of war' speech; receipt of The Wilderness Years dvd; my comments during Canada's June'04 election night; Churchill's castles of steel quote; Churchill's 1948 book 'Painting as a pastime'; Ronald Reagan's 1990 Brotherhood of Man speech; Churchill's visit to Minnesota; the subject of government support during wartime; USS Winston S. Churchill & Spitfire photo; hopes for the third book of William Manchester's "Last Lion" trilogy and Manchester's subsequent death; Churchill's alleged 'jaw jaw' remark; Churchill Centre response to Spectator article; Churchill on courage; Admiral Philip Vian; Canadian D-Day commemorative coin; Churchill, the Kurds and poison gas; Churchill on the Battle of Britain; Library of Congress Churchill Exhibit; Churchill myths ~ Churchill's Nazi-cursing parrot; Churchill, the Jews and WWII aerial bombing; Andrew Roberts' "Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership"; Churchill on William of Orange ('termagant'); Churchill on Pearl Harbor [more]; Ratting and re-ratting (crossing the floor); Churchill on Prime Ministers; Churchillian travel; Happy Birthday Winston! ~ why I'm a Churchillian; Churchill and the BBC, 'anonymous mugwumpery'; Finest Hour journal subscription; Churchill and preparing for battle ('Return of the King'); CBC showing The Gathering Storm; Painting as a Pastime; Head Coach, the Allies; the Temples of Man's Freedom; Churchill myths ~ rescuing Alexander Fleming; Churchill and the BBC; Churchill's My Early Life; Churchill myths ~ 'never, never, never...' speech; Churchill and D-Day; Churchill on winning at war; my comments on the naming of Royal Navy ships; Churchill and May Day; Citizen Churchill, state level; Churchill on war; Churchill's honorary citizenship of the United States (Apr09'63); the Anglosphere; Churchill on the progress of the Grand Fleet; Churchill myths ~ Churchill's voice double; Churchill's Sinews of Peace (aka 'Iron Curtain') speech; Churchill on democracy; Churchill's 'House of Many Mansions' speech (Jan20'40); David Cannadine interview; Churchill on Munich; Churchill on Oliver Cromwell; HBO's The Gathering Storm; Churchill on gathering storms; Christopher Hitchens' Churchill/Shelley canard; and, wondering why is there no Star Trek starship named for Churchill?

Churchill has come roaring back out of dusty history to rally and renew us thanks to you and your web log. -- An American in T.O. (Apr11'04)

A "Blog you should be reading." I have learned a great deal about a subject I never thought I would be interested in - Sir Winston Churchill -- Discount Blogger (May06'03)

Churchill scholar to the blogosphere and Churchill scholar to the Bloggish Enlightenment -- Ghost of a Flea (Aug'04)

Before Christmas '02, Jay Nordlinger posted a very interesting collection of readers' favourite first lines of novels or non-fiction books.    Some first lines were quite telling, others less so, and some were just plain funny.  This got me snooping around my own Churchill book collection for first lines, and here is my list of Churchillian First Lines.  If you know of any that I'm missing, please email me at 'mike -at- mikecampbell dot net' with the 'first line' along with book title, author, publisher, city, and year published.  I'll update the list whenever possible.

On my Historical Tour of Halifax page, I have some information on Winston Churchill, particularly with respect to his visits to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a photo of his statue outside the main branch of the city library.  Speaking of which, here is what's in my own Churchill library.

Another heroic figure from the Second World War is Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip S. Vian.  I've made some notes on his heroic and impressive Royal Navy career.  (Will add future installments.)