Winston Churchill’s legacy a balanced perspective lecture by Professor Veronon Bogdanor

Winston Churchill’s legacy, a balanced perspective, a video lecture to help us all. What is it and how do we get a balanced perspective of the man and his deeds and what he achieved and left for the rest of us to benefit from post 1965 and onwards into our future?

 There are a host of views and opinions that get expressed by one and all on Winston Churchill and in later years the revisionists have tended to skew one way or the other regarding Churchill and his legacy. But to get a balanced view on this the 50th anniversary of Winston’s State Funeral seems quite important. 

Its a life’s work just to cover all that Winston packed into his life, let along to make a judgement or form an opinion. In the 20th Century would Winston be one of your top 10 most important and influential people? I think he would be on mine and certainly Winston often tops polls as being one of our most important Brits. But is that British sentimentality, is it how we want to remember it and how can we glean a more balanced perspective in a reasonable amount of time?

This video lecture we believe is a great starting point. We could not possibly do justice to this complex subject without seeking such a perspective. Even surveying the literature on Churchill never mind his own works is a considerable project in itself. The lecture was given by Vernon Bogdanor, the video is set below. Thanks to the Professor and of course the fantastic Gresham College part of educational history itself going back some 400 years. Simply fantastic.

For more about Gresham and the impeccable credentials of Professor Vernon Bogdanor scroll down but if you want a great starting point for a review of Winston then this lecture is a great starting point.  Clear some time get comfortable and enjoy… For more on our own collection about Winston Churchill Polymath click here but whatever you do do bookmark the video and when you can watch it in full.

This lecture was given by the Professor Vernon Bogdanor at the Museum of London 22 January 2015, it was also broadcast on BBC parliament following the replay of Winston’s State Funeral.

Professor Vernon Bogdanor FBA CBE probably knows a thing or two about balanced views and political legacies

Professor Vernon Bogdanor FBA CBE suggests we should look at the net effect, the balance sheet, the full picture of Winston’s life work. Vernon Bodanor should know he is “Emeritus Gresham Professor of Law, current Visiting Gresham Professor of Political History, Research Professor at King’s College London, a Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and Professor of Government Oxford University. He has advised governments and was a fellow of Brasenose College and is also Professor of Government at Oxford University. In short he knows a thing or two.

Gresham College – 400 Years of Public Engagement

Gresham College is itself a treasured product of our history and a successful merchant and early visionary Sir Thomas Gresham who was himself the son of a past Lord Mayor of London. He survived his own children and hence generously endowed the college, lucky for us. It hosts free lectures for the general public on a range of themes and subjects. It has been doing this steadily for 400 years. Not all of those years have also benefited from YouTube but luckily for us the lectures are recorded and sometimes supplemented with additional materials including transcripts, slides and more. What a joy!

For more on Winston Churchill and some of the finds we discover and for a view on our 20th Century collection click here.