| Description | Letters from Winston Churchill [Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer (1874-1965) Knight, statesman and historian] to Neville Chamberlain; copies of letters from Chamberlain to Churchill; and correspondence between Winston Churchill and Anne Chamberlain. Some other items related to the correspondence with Churchill, including correspondence with civil servants regarding Churchill's letters; some reports and other papers connected with the correspondence, are also included.
The letters relate to various political and governmental matters and matters connected with the Second World War. The letters during the Second World War include Churchill's letters regarding his ideas for fighting the war; discussion of events in the war at sea; letters concerning Chamberlain's inclusion in Churchill's new government; and letters regarding Chamberlain's resignation as Lord President of the Council. Other topics include: Churchill's scheme for the reduction of rates in various industries and Chamberlain's poor law and local government reforms, 1927-1928; tariffs, 1929; Chamberlain becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1931; the National Defence Contribution, 1937; a dispute between Churchill and Chamberlain regarding their speeches in the House of Commons, 1938; preparation for war, 1939; the Italian invasion of Albania, 1939; and Churchill's suggestion of a coalition government with the Labour and Liberal parties, 1939.
Original signed letters from Chamberlain to Churchill and copies or drafts of many letters from Churchill to Chamberlain are held at the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College in Cambridge |