Churchill, the e-book years: 40 digital volumes by wartime Prime Minister to be made available next year

By Daniel Bates

Published: 19:14 EST, 18 June 2012 | Updated: 19:15 EST, 18 June 2012


Winston Churchill's works are being made available as e-books with the vast majority going digital for the first time in Britain.

Some forty volumes will be made downloadable from now until next Spring including his famous 'A History of the English Speaking Peoples'.

The deal has been done by New York based publishers RosettaBooks but Churchill's works will be available throughout the world, including the UK.

Sir Winston Churchill's famous 'A History of the English Speaking Peoples' is among the volumes being made available on e-book readers

Sir Winston Churchill's famous 'A History of the English Speaking Peoples' is among the volumes being made available on e-book readers

The volumes will cost between £5 and £6 each and the first seven are set to go on sale on July 1.

In addition to being a statesman and politician Churchill was also a prolific writer and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.

The judges at the time praised his 'mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values'.

The works are likely to be made available on e-readers such as the Kindle and the Kobo ,though further details have not been announced.

In an unusual move, RosettaBooks has made a deal that covers global rights and not just individual countries.

Some of Churchill's works have been digitised before including his six-volume history of World War II but were only available in North America.

Churchill's works will be digitised so they can be read on e-book devices like the Kindle

Churchill's works will be digitised so they can be read on e-book devices like the Kindle

RosettaBooks Chief Executive Arthur Klebanoff said that Churchill's writing stood the test of time because of its sheer quality.

He said: 'There are only two American figures who have done something comparable, Teddy Roosevelt who wrote 50 books and Richard Nixon who wrote around 10.

'It's wildly unusual to have a world leader who is also a writer, especially when they were such an important figure for 60 years.

'And Churchill was an extraordinary writer. You could open one of his books at a random chapter and read it aloud and you'll find it's beautifully written.

'He didn't just win the Nobel Prize for Literature, he won it for a good reason.'

Gordon Wise, of London-based Curtis Brown Group, who represents the Churchill estate, said he was excited to be bringing more of the former Prime Minister's writings into the digital age.

He said: 'Rosetta made a very strong commitment to the whole project, both in the start-up and for the longer term, with a highly competitive and ambitious package that we felt could not be bettered'.

Mr Wise added a separate deal had been reached to digitise Churchill's papers currently being held at the Churchill Archive Centre in Cambridge.


 

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