Churchill: The blood sweat and tears behind his finest hour speech
Activer le mode zenSam Jones
"Winston Churchill had been prime minister for five weeks when, 70 years ago tomorrow, he ordered a nation winded from Dunkirk to hold its nerve as France collapsed and the Luftwaffe prepared to invade the skies of southern England.
"The speech he delivered on 18 June 1940 did not disappoint. "The Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation," he warned. "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that, if the British empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: 'This was their finest hour'."
"Impressive as the address was, its genesis was not an easy one. An examination of the speech held at Cambridge University's Churchill Archives Centre reveals that he drafted and redrafted the speech until he felt his words did justice to the situation."
Pour citer cette ressource :
"Churchill: The blood sweat and tears behind his finest hour speech", La Clé des Langues [en ligne], Lyon, ENS de LYON/DGESCO (ISSN 2107-7029), juin 2010. Consulté le 20/04/2024. URL: https://cle.ens-lyon.fr/anglais/archives/archives-revue-de-presse/churchill-the-blood-sweat-and-tears-behind-his-finest-hour-speech