And so, his stance on this led him, unfortunately, to make what we would today consider to be totally unacceptable racist jokes. But something that was taken for granted by the scientific establishment of the day, and for the most of the early part of his life. Something that we know today to be completely absurd and, indeed, obscene. He was born in 1874 when Charles Darwin was still alive, and he conformed to the view that was held by the scientific community at the time, that the white races were in a sort of hierarchy, at the top of a hierarchy of races. He’s out of fashion because of his views on race. But why is he out of fashion, and why should he always be relevant no matter what time or culture we find ourselves in, in terms of this being a man whose accomplishments and whose voice speak to the ages and not just to Britain in the mid-20th century? I’d be curious on the status of his statue in London as of today. And today, obviously, there have been the attacks on some of his statues.

Tooley: Churchill is, amazingly, a little bit out of fashion. I enjoyed it so much, and thank you so much for joining us. We’re based in Washington, DC, but I’m sitting in suburban Alexandria, Virginia today on the federal holiday Columbus Day with the wonderful opportunity to speak with British historian Andrew Roberts about his outstanding biography of Winston Churchill, Walking with Destiny, which, I was just explaining to Andrew, brought me into a sense of mourning that the book had to end. Tooley: Hello this is Mark Tooley, editor of Providence: A Journal of Christianity & American Foreign Policy, as well as president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. British historian Andrews Roberts discusses his magnificent new biography of Winston Churchill, including his political incorrectness by contemporary standards, his views on “Christian civilization,” his relations with FDR and Stalin, his ability to speak to the ages, and his affirmation of liberty for all people.

Churchill walking with destiny review