The Gathering Storm by {author}: summary and why it matters
Winston Churchill's 1948 first volume of his war memoirs, covering the years of appeasement and the failure to stop Hitler.
Also known as The Second World War, Volume I
The book
| Author | Winston S. Churchill |
|---|---|
| First published | 1948 |
| First publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
| Kind of book | History and memoir |
What it argues
The first of six volumes opens with a moral of the work: in war, resolution; in defeat, defiance; in victory, magnanimity; in peace, goodwill. It covers the period from the end of the First World War to May 1940, when Churchill became prime minister.
Churchill describes the failure of the democracies to enforce the peace settlement, the rise of Nazi Germany, the weakness of disarmament and collective security, and the decisions at Munich. He presents himself as the lonely voice warning of the danger, and he says the war was an unnecessary one that could have been prevented by timely firmness.
The book is a work of history and self-defense, drawing on documents and on a team of assistants, and it is written in a style that earned Churchill the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953.
Why it matters
It shaped the picture of appeasement as a warning, which later conservative and other leaders have invoked on many occasions. Historians note that the volume gives Churchill the best lines and that his own record in the interwar period was mixed.
About the author
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) wrote The Second World War in six volumes between 1948 and 1953, during the years between his two terms as prime minister, working with research assistants, former officials and a team led by his adviser Bill Deakin. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his mastery of historical and biographical description.
Who should read it
Readers of history and rhetoric.
Sources
Profile last reviewed November 8, 2026