KNYSNA NEWS - The Knysna Literary Festival kicked off on 9 March at WHET restaurant with a presentation by Richard Steyn who discussed his book, Churchill and Smuts.
The programme mentions, "The remarkable, and often touching friendship between Winston Churchill and Jan Smuts is a rich study in contrasts. This is a fascinating account of two remarkable men in war and peace: one the leader of the Empire, the other the leader of a small fractious member of that Empire who nevertheless rose to global prominence."
Not to be outdone by this intro, Richard Steyn played a decades-old recording where Churchill addresses Smuts in front of hundreds of members in the British Parliament, calling him an honourable and distinguished man, and Smuts replied all the same about Churchill.
Steyn said that when he was first approached to write a book about Churchill and Smuts, he initially thought there would not be enough material to put it together.
“I looked into it and there was more than enough information out there for me to compile this remarkable story.”
Steyn said the book is essentially the story of three wars, namely the Anglo Boer War - the aftermath rather than the war itself, and World War 1 and 2.
“There is a third person who is mentioned time and time again, and that person is Mahatma Gandhi.”
The first two chapters deal with the extraordinary differences between these two men's upbringing.
Steyn then gave a brief overview of the book, the aftermath of the wars and the rise to power by Churchill and Smuts, the influence they had on each other and the special bond and friendship they shared.
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