Taylor Downing - Churchill's War Lab

I bought Churchill's War Lab at a used book sale last week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. From the title and the book description, I expected it to be almost entirely focused on Churchill's involvement with the science and technology of war, but it looked at far more. Rather than being restricted to science and technology, Downing examined Churchill's personal role in the war as a whole.


One thing that I appreciated about Churchill's War Lab was that although Downing is clearly a supporter of Churchill, he does not fall into the trap of trying to portray him purely as a military genius and savior. Instead, Downing presents Churchill's many bad qualities (his stubbornness, his petulance, his sometimes rash actions, and occasional poor judgements) alongside his virtues (his ability to rally the morale of the people and his farsightedness in terms of how history would unfold, for example), and generally does not try to excuse them.

One of Downing's biggest focuses is on the level of micromanagement that Churchill employed. Throughout the war, he tried to be involved in as many decisions as possible. In some cases, this caused enormous friction with his Chiefs of Staff and his generals, but at other times his personal interest pushed through developments that would change the course of the war (like the development of the tank in World War One, or recalling General Hobart and allowing him to develop his specialized armour). As a side note, it was very interesting to see how while Churchill involved himself as much as possible in military matters and was accustomed to getting his own way, he also insisted on being surrounded by generals and advisers who were willing to stand up to him and argue their points.

What I found most interesting about Churchill's War Lab was how involved Churchill was in the development of new war technologies and techniques. Starting with the innovation of the tank in World War One, Churchill was generally very open to new thinking, making himself available to scientists (including Professor Lindemann, his personal scientific adviser). He instigated the development of mulberry harbours, and also pushed for the development of the SOE in order to harass the Germans with commando raids. Even when he was not directly involved with specific innovations, he created an atmosphere in which new ideas were fostered and military chiefs were encouraged to try new things and adopt new technologies.

I would highly recommend Churchill's War Lab. It provides a relatively fair (but obviously pro-Churchill) look at Churchill's development as a military and political leader and his direct role in the course of World War Two. It was well-written and very interesting.