Sir Winston Churchill is regarded as one of the greatest orators of the 20th century. And now a new initiative means that schools, universities and libraries will be able to view his entire archive of speech drafts, letters and papers online for the first time.
Publishing house Bloomsbury has published the entire collection, which is based at Churchill College, Cambridge and totals almost one million documents, in digital format.
The archive includes everything from Churchill’s school reports and letters to his family to drafts of his famous wartime speeches and even his cigar bills.
Access to the archive is via subscription but certain documents can be viewed for free.
The site also features a range of lesson plans for secondary teachers. The lesson plans, written by Churchill experts and teachers, have been constructed around original documents within the Churchill Archive.
“There are few figures more important to the history of the 20th century than Winston Churchill,” said historian Dr David Woolner, from the Roosevelt Institute in New York. Making his archives accessible to scholars and students of history the world over is a crowning achievement, which will provide new generations with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of not only Churchill, but also the tumultuous times in which he lived.”
To find out more, go to www.churchillarchive.com