Winston Churchill: The Struggle for Survival, 1940-1965 – Taken from the Diaries of Lord Moran

First edition, first impression,  xx, 830pp, with black and white plate illustrations.  Red cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering on black relief on spine.  Chunky 8vo.  Cloth slightly rubbed and rounded on corners and spine ends.  A little shadowing and mild smudging on text block edges.  Internally neat, clean, bright and tight. In its original worn, chapped and toned dust wrapper, with some areas of minor loss around corners and spine ends and some mild marks, albeit still largely complete and protective.

Lord Moran,  Winston Churchill’s personal doctor for decades, published his biography shortly after Churchill’s death.  Controversial at the time, it was Moran who planted the seed that  Churchill was clinically depressive, and first revealed the term ‘black dog’ as a descriptor.  It explores much regarding Churchill’s physical and psychological state while coping with the strains of high office and war-time leadership.  Lady Churchill, Winston’s widow, was critical of what she perceived as a breach of doctor-patient confidentiality, but other historians have accepted Moran’s implications without question and at times without judgement.  A compelling portrait of a man of import.