No More Champagne: Churchill and His Money
Presented by David Lough, Best-selling Author
The popular image of Winston Churchill—grandson of a duke, born at Blenheim Palace, drinking champagne and smoking a cigar—conjures up an image of a man of wealth and substance. In truth, Britain’s most celebrated modern statesman lived for most of his life on a financial cliff edge. He had to take risks, speculate wildly on shares, and write constantly to fund his lifestyle. Indeed in 1898 Churchill wrote “The only thing that worries me in life is money.”
Churchill with David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, c. 1910 ©Buyenlarge/Getty Images
With unprecedented access to Churchill’s private records, historian and financier David Lough was able to create the first fully researched narrative of Churchill’s private finances and business affairs. Mr. Lough will lecture and disclose the scale of Churchill’s financial risk-taking, his ability to talk or write himself out of the tightest corners, and also expose the links between the private Churchill and the public figure.
Depicting Churchill’s financial endeavors across his lifetime, Mr. Lough will also illustrate the cultural shift in Britain as aristocratic inheritances often waned and a new class of business entrepreneurs emerged, forging fortunes in railways, mining, finance, and other industries.
Mr. Lough’s remarkable tale of Churchill’s success despite his monetary shortcomings only makes the story of one of the most successful political figures of the 20th century more fascinating
A part of the Royal Oak Foundation's Fall 2017 Lecture Series.
St. George’s Society members receive $10 OFF the standard ticket price!
Main Image: Winston and Clementine Churchill, 1914 Photo: ©Mary Evans Picture Library 2008