Hero & Hero Worship

I WAS WINSTON CHURCHILL'S PRIVATE SECRETARY--Phyllis Moir--Wilfred Funk ($2).

BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS--Winston S. Churchill--Putnam ($3).

Phyllis Moir (pronounced Moyer) was a Churchill admirer long before Dunkirk. In her gawky girlhood he had been a "Walter Scott hero come to life." Later he became the "Peter Pan of British Politics." And finally, "the impact of his personality was so shattering that I felt, when I left his service, that this had been the private secretaryship to end all private secretaryships." Net result: I Was Winston Churchill's Private Secretary is a short, thin, intimate sketch infused with adolescent adoration.

From her position in the wings, Secretary Moir has seen Winnie strut the stage with nothing but a towel about his middle. She has heard him bawl for his mail, his secretary and a scotch & soda all in one breath. She tells of how he took up painting to assuage the bitterness that followed Gallipoli, how in his younger years he had stage-door-johnnied Ethel Barrymore (with little success). But though she is sometimes astute about her idol ("He is 'over-engined' for peace perhaps but perfectly engined, I think, for war"), Winston Churchill remains for Phyllis Moir more Peter Pan than politico, more Rob Roy than statesman.

Best picture of Churchill the Statesman is gained through his own words. Out this week, Blood, Sweat, and Tears is a collection of his public pronouncements from May 1938 to February 1941. They throw into high relief the massive stability and conviction, aged through years of politics into an enlightened Toryism, that fought almost singlehanded against the indecision and bloodlessness that spawned Munich. In their simple eloquence they mirror (and helped cause) the reawakening of a people's faith. Excerpts:

>After Munich: "I will begin by saying what everybody would like to ignore or forget . . . namely, that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat."

>January 1940: "Come then: let us to the task. . . . Fill the armies, rule the air, pour out the munitions, strangle the U-boats, sweep the mines, plow the land, build the ships, guard the streets, succor the wounded, uplift the downcast, and honor the brave."

>On becoming Prime Minister: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

>Speaking of increased British-U.S. cooperation before the destroyer deal: "For my own part, looking out upon the future, I do not view the process with any misgivings. I could not stop it if I wished; no one can stop it. Like the Mississippi, it just keeps rolling along. Let it roll. Let it roll on full flood, inexorable, irresistible, benignant, to broader lands and better days."

>To the defeated French people: "Good night, then: sleep to gather strength for the morning. For the morning will come. . . . Vive la France! Long live also the forward march of the common people in all the lands towards their just and true inheritance, and toward the broader and fuller age."

>To Roosevelt: "We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools, and we will finish the job."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.