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The Clarity of Hindsight
The Words that Define World War IIIN THE PROCESS of trying to find the best agent or acquisition editor for TO SO FEW, some have suggested a vanguard non-fiction book to document the history that is the backdrop for the TO SO FEW series. Afterconsiderable research in the U.S. and UK, it seemed like a reasonable suggestion. Hindsight places key documents, speeches, treaties and other words that define the essence of World War II into the context of surrounding events. Understanding the events the shaped and illuminated the words helps us bring those words and events to relevance in our lives today.
The outline for The Clarity of Hindsight is available.
The Bibliography for The Clarity of Hindsight.
The Bibliography for TO SO FEW is also available.[30.1.01]
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Writing began: 1st Draft completed: 2nd Draft completed: Critique completed: Manuscript submitted: Publication: |
11.May.2000 20.August.2002 3.April.2003 6.March.2004 15.September.2004 TBD |
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Winston Churchill gradually began to turn his intellectual and rhetorical attention from India to the developing situation in Germany. In the House of Commons, he delivered the first of many warnings regarding Germany's burgeoning nationalism, militarism and ominous intolerance. Note the date of this speech – two months prior to Hitler's ascendancy. Churchill saw the growing militancy in Germany with the same extraordinary clarity that he saw Hitler and Nazism. Seven years prior to the greatest war in human history Winston Churchill described the facts and what those facts meant to Britain, the world and peace. He consistently and eloquently illuminated the path the world traveled and the consequences of those choices. He also clearly saw the importance the United States played in world politics. "They (Hitler Youth ) are looking for weapons, and, when they have the weapons, believe me they will then ask for the return of lost territories and lost colonies." The consequences of the humiliating and debilitating terms of the Versailles Treaty were coming due. Churchill did not just sound the clarion; he offered a very simple solution. "The removal of the just grievances of the vanquished ought to precede the disarmament of the victors." Further, he drew focus upon the influence of the United States as a guarantor of peace – peace through strength – despite her absence from the League of Nations. Even in this, Churchill apologized for his "pessimism," when in fact and viewed in the clarity of hindsight, his observations and insight were the essence of realism.For the frankness and directness that Churchill saw world events, he was ostracized by his colleagues, laughed at by the media, and called a warmonger. And yet, he would not be deterred. He withstood the isolation and ridicule. History would all too soon record the wisdom he brought to the world stage.