{"product_id":"becoming-winston-churchill-the-untold-story-of-young-winston-and-his-american-mentor-9781846450051","title":"Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Young Winston and His American Mentor","description":"\u003cp\u003eToday a forgotten figure  Bourke Cockran was acclaimed during his lifetime as Americas greatest orator. He was also the lover of Jenny Churchill - Winstons mother - after the death of Lord Randolph. And  for twelve years (1895 to 1906)  he was the young Winstons mentor. Until now  the story of the extraordinary and crucial relationship between them has not been told. At one level  the story is about politics  exploring the ways the young Churchill adopted Cockrans political and economic views - on democracy  capitalism  the Gold Standard  Free Trade  Socialism: issues that Churchill was to make his own. On another level  the story is biographical  chronicling the meetings between the men  and reproducing - for the first time in full - their private correspondence. It is the story of Churchill growing up. On yet another level  it is historical  vividly evoking the late Victorian and Edwardian eras  when Churchill was often in the thick of the action - fighting at the Khyber Pass in India or escaping from a Boer camp in Pretoria (and becoming a household name as a consequence) - all the while keeping up his correspondence with Cockran. The drama of such events is part of the books irresistible appeal.  The book is written with a dramatic flair  bringing out the personalities of the two men. Each section begins  like a historical novel  with a recreation of a crucial moment in their lives. The general narrative is chronologically structured  with a powerful momentum  tracing the two mens growing intimacy over the years and interweaving their letters and meetings with the historical events in which they were involved. The story began in 1895 in New York  where Cockran took the young Winston under his wing. The following years  marked by turmoil in Cuba and Ireland  included the 1896 Presidential election  the great public debate about the gold standard and Cockrans private insistence to Churchill that principle must always be placed over party (something Churchill was to remember later when he crossed the floor of the House). 1899 saw Churchills involvement in the Boer War  and his dramatic escape from a Boer prison camp  followed by his election to Parliament  visits to Cockran in America and  between 1901 and 1906  hard political fighting over the crucial issue of free trade  over which Churchill eventually left the Conservatives to join the Liberal party. The final years of Churchill and Cockrans friendship were dramatised by a number of public events - the American occupation of the Philippines  the victory of the Liberal Party in the British General Election  the First World War  about which they continued to correspond - but dominated by private ones: Cockrans remarriage  the death of Churchills mother  and Churchills own marriage. Throughout  the two men remained close  and  to the end  Cockrans influence on Churchill was unique and profound.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67600111140917,"sku":"ByrdShop_1846450055","price":51.28,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781846450051.jpg?v=1790965709","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/becoming-winston-churchill-the-untold-story-of-young-winston-and-his-american-mentor-9781846450051","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}