An Evening with...Candice Millard                   
"I've always been interested in the idea of self-reinvention." 
                                                                        --Candice Millard


Great leaders are born, not made and one name stands alone as a virtual synonym for leadership - Winston Churchill, said Candice Millard, introducing her newest book, Hero of the Empire.

"Winston Churchill was a master politician and one of the most famous people in history but we don't talk about what created him," she added, speaking to a large audience at Unity Temple in Kansas City, MO. 

As a way of discovering what drove Churchill to such political heights, Millard researched his early years. By the time Churchill was 24 years old, he had been in three wars. He loved the gallantry of the military and was fascinated by power. "He (Churchill) was the first to sign up and the first to show off," Millard said. "He worked as a journalist and was a very good writer." Hero of the Empire is the story of what happened when Winston Churchill was hired to cover the Second Boer War as a correspondent and was subsequently captured and held as a prisoner of war. Churchill hated every minute of captivity, said Millard.

After his escape and return to England, Churchill was nearly unstoppable. He ran for a seat in Parliament and won. As a man and leader, Churchill was far from perfect, Millard said. He could an elitist and arrogant, but from him "we get lessons on grit and the power of words," she added. "He lived for 90 years. It was a crowded life." 

His crowded life is well documented. Millard traveled to England and South Africa to research Churchill's life during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) and his rise to political power.  She was happy to find a wealth of primary sources which are "important for narrative non-fiction," she said. "This is such a great story."

Digging into history isn't new to Millard.  Her first book, River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey chronicled TR's exploration of the Amazon River. Her second book, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President examined James Garfield's presidency, assassination attempt and later death, largely because of deplorable medical care. Hero of the Empire joins these earlier books as a New York Times bestseller. 

When the former National Geographic editor isn't researching or writing, she enjoys reading novelists Ian McEwan and Hilary Mantel. Millard's favorite non-fiction writers are no surprise - both are noted historians - Stacy Shiff (Cleopatra) and Nathaniel Philbrick (Valiant Ambition). Millard said it was "a thrill" to meet acclaimed historian David McCullough (The Wright Brothers) at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. 

There are already ideas for the next book but a final decision will be made in early 2017 when her book tour is finished, Millard said. Although the topic will almost certainly be history, Millard maintains she is not a historian, instead, she "writes about history."

For more information about the life of Winston Churchill, browse the website of the Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri:  https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/ 

                   "Writing a book is an adventure" - Winston Churchill

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