Qiu Weng's own writings are inevitable. He persisted in writing all his life and wrote many books. As early as 1898, when he was a 24-year-old army reporter, he published "The Documentary of the German Field Army in Marrakech: An Episode of Frontier Wars", and the following year he wrote "The War on the River" based on his personal experience. Later, he also published the novels Savorola: The Story of the Revolution in Lorania (1900), March of Ian Hamilton (1900) and My Journey to Africa (1908). These works help us to understand Qiu Weng's youth.
Perhaps the most noteworthy of Qiu Weng's early works is the biography of Lord Randolph Churchill, which he wrote for his father from 65438 to 0906. This book describes the political achievements of the Churchill family in a ostentatious way. In the same nature, Dukedom of Marlborough's four-volume biography Mabaro: His Life and Times was completed between 1933 and 1938. The famous Qi Huangong is the ancestor of Qiu Weng. My Early Life: Running Around (translated by Kang and Jiang Qian, published by Jiangsu People's Publishing House in September, 1930) received rave reviews, and Qiu Weng was extremely satisfied with it. In his later years, he recalled that this book was "the best book I have ever written". Then, Random Thoughts and Adventures, published by 1932, talked about his attitude and thoughts on important political issues, and reviewed some major events he experienced, such as the Battle of Sednay Street and the days with Kerry Duhamel Du Monceau. That important long article "Painting for Recreation" was also written in this year, and later a separate book was published. This article is very important for us to understand Qiu Weng's spiritual world.
Any article about Qiu Weng will mention the five-volume Memoirs of the First World War (translated by Wu, Liuli, Wang Tiesheng in 2002 and reprinted by Yilin Press in 20 13) and the six-volume Memoirs of the Second World War (translated by Wu Wanshen and Yilin in 2003). Wei Wendi's famous saying in Essays on Canon that "a writer is a great cause of the country and an immortal event" is fully worthy of these two books. If Qiu Weng knew Chinese, he might say in his usual arrogant tone, "The success of a certain life lies in Si." However, although Memoirs of World War II won the Nobel Prize in Literature for Qiu Weng, it was the four-volume English National History (translated by Xue Limin and Linlin of Southern Publishing House in 2004) that really showed his liberal arts level. It is said that on the eve of the Normandy landing, Churchill wrote a short note about the landing plan to the personnel of the Military Intelligence Bureau: "Why is it dense here?" Intense is the right thing to use here! You should read Fowler's dictionary of English usage. (Preface to Ge Chuanjun's Dictionary of English Idioms) Fowler's Dictionary of English Usage is the famous King's English, while The National History of English is a book about the origin and evolution of King's English. No matter how hard Chinese translation works, it is difficult to convey the essence.
We should have a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Qiu Weng, a great man of the great era. Even his own works reflect some aspects at most. Horton Mifflin, a British publishing house, has published Churchill's official biographies since 1983. * * The masterpiece The Emperor consists of eight volumes, each of which is 13400 pages thick. It describes Qiu Weng's magnificent life in detail, perhaps because there are too many volumes and there is no Chinese translation. William Manchester, who is famous for Glory and Dreams, once introduced Churchill's biography The Last Lion, which was well received by readers. Unfortunately, due to the author's death, only the first two parts of this trilogy biography have been completed, and the third part is continued by writer Paul Reid, with a thickness of more than 3,000 pages. It seems that there is no Chinese translation.
There are three biographies of Qiu Weng with moderate length: Winston Churchill by Henry Palin (Wordsworth, 1974) and Churchill: A Life by Martin Gilbert (Henry Holt Company). 1992), Churchill: the unrestrained giant by Norman Ross (Free Press, 1995), and Churchill by Ian S. Wood (St. Martin Press, 2000). The first three biographies have been translated into Chinese respectively: Churchill (by Henry Palin, translated by Shen Yongxing, latest revised edition by International Culture Publishing Company in June 2009), Churchill Biography (a series of biographies of famous people in the first century, by Martin Gilbert, translated by Ma Xin, published by Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House in June 2065438+2003), and. It is worth mentioning that Martin Gilbert was one of Qiu Weng's assistants before his death, and he also wrote the first two volumes of Churchill's official biography. This biography of Churchill written by him can be regarded as a simplified or condensed version of the official biography, and its authority is self-evident. In 20 13, when British Prime Minister David Cameron visited China, he presented five biographies of Premier Li Keqiang, which were impressively listed.
The following western related works will give priority to Chinese translation. (Good books are recommended at www.tuijianshu.net)
Francois Kyle Soddy's Love of Giants: Charles de Gaulle and Churchill (translated by Zhou Yihua, Huaxia Publishing House, 1990) is based on World War II and about 25 years after the war, and describes in detail more than 30 meetings between Charles de Gaulle and Churchill in the past 50 years, among which the contradiction between Britain and France is particularly intriguing. Jon mitcham's "Roosevelt and Churchill" (translated by Han Changqing and others, CITIC Publishing House, 2005) focuses on the relationship between Roosevelt and Churchill during World War II, and the author also distinguishes the friendship between the two leaders: some for personal feelings and some for political purposes. The book quotes the unpublished letters of Roosevelt's secret crush Lucy Rutherford, Pamela Churchill harriman's personal files, and interview records of several old people who have contacts with both leaders. In addition, the book Chiang Kai-shek and Churchill (Hubei People's Publishing House, 1998 edition), co-authored by Zhang Zongbao, Wang Song and Jiang Shimin, takes the relationship between Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek as a clue to study Sino-British diplomatic relations during the Republic of China, which is also worthy of attention.
The memoirs of Qiu Weng's long-time followers have also been published one after another, such as The Bodyguard Reveals Churchill by Walter Henry Thompson (translated by Ma Jichuang, Shandong People's Publishing House, 2000), The Early Life of Churchill by Celia Sanders (translated by Yue, Hainan Publishing House, 200 1) and Tracing Churchill: Winston. Liu Xin, Gong, Oriental Publishing House, 2006), Yili Abel's Memoirs of harriman: Dealing with Churchill and Stalin (Wu Shimin, Oriental Publishing House, 2008; As early as 1975, Shanghai People's Publishing House had published the translation of Compilation Group of Institute of Capitalist National Economy of Fudan University. In 1978, the translation of Sanlian Bookstore was renamed Special Envoy: Dealing with Churchill and Stalin) and The Diary of Churchill's Personal Doctor by Charles Macmorland Wilson (translated by Yuan Luzhuang and Tan Zhenhua, Shanghai People's Publishing House, Shanghai People's Publishing House). Among them, Churchill's early life is a memory of Qiu Weng's granddaughter Celia Sanders. This book contains a large number of letters, diaries and manuscripts from Churchill, his relatives and others. A Visit to Churchill records the life course of Saunders and Qiu Weng's daughter Mary Soames revisiting Churchill. Churchill's photos, road maps and paintings collected in the book are precious. Yili Abel, the author of Memoirs of harriman, is the dean of the School of Journalism of Columbia University and a famous journalist. He wrote this book based on the notes, memos, telegrams and other documents of the famous American diplomatic activist W Avril harriman, and described harriman's personal experience of going to Britain and the Soviet Union during and after World War II (194 1- 1946).
The aforementioned diary of Churchill's personal doctor written by Wilson revealed that Churchill was seriously ill in his later years, which caused an uproar in the West. According to Wilson's account, Qiu Weng suffered from heart disease, arteriosclerosis, motor aphasia and encephalopathy. But according to the book "Churchill's Black Dog" (translated by Anthony Stoll, Peking University Publishing House, August 20 14), what really troubled Qiu Weng for a long time and finally defeated him was actually depression-Qiu Weng called it "black dog", which was his own nickname, and his ancestors also suffered from depression for a long time. Although Churchill made a "look as fierce as a bulldog" under the lens of yousuf karsh, a famous photographer known as "Rembrandt in photography", it was only a deliberate performance, aiming to show the world determination and will. In fact, negative emotions such as loss, depression and despair have been accompanied by Qiu Weng. Historian David Coombs' Painting Career of Winston Churchill (Sir Winston Churchill learned about his life through his paintings, Chaucer Press) published in 2003 and "Sir Winston Churchill: His Life and His Painting" published in 2004 both mentioned that Qiu Weng had been an amateur since he picked up a brush at the age of 40. Winston Churchill: His Life as a Painter, Houghton Mifflin, published by his daughter Mary Soames in 1990, also said that painting gave Churchill the courage to relieve his depression. Qiu Weng once said with emotion, "If painting didn't give me spiritual support, I'm afraid I wouldn't live today." Only when several books are read together can we realize the weight of this sentence.
Speaking of painting, let me first introduce two books about Qiu Weng's interest in life: Dinner with Churchill: Policy Making at the Table, Pegasus Books, 20 13) and Churchill Style: The Art of Being Winston Churchill, abrams Image, 20 12). The previous book systematically introduced Qiu Weng's hobby of cigars, wine and food. The writer is Cita Stelzer, a senior journalist who has studied Qiu Weng's life. The latter book specializes in Qiu Weng's clothes and his favorite clothes, shoes and hats. The author is Barry Singer, who runs a bookstore specializing in Churchill himself and Churchill-related works. Unfortunately, these two books, including Davie Cooper's writings on Qiu Weng's painting career, have no Chinese translation.