Editor Emma Soames, Winston Churchill’s Granddaughter, in conversation with Steph Hinnershitz, PhD

You may pre-order your copy of the book here.

This program is a partnered program between The National WWII Museum’s Institute for the Study of War and Democracy and the Churchill Society of New Orleans in honor of Orlin Corey, who was a friend and champion of both organizations.

Join us for a conversation on a unique and evocative portrait of World War II—and a charming coming-of-age story—from the private diaries of Winston Churchill's youngest daughter, Mary.

“I am not a great or important personage, but this will be the diary of an ordinary person's life in war time. Though I may never live to read it again, perhaps it may not prove altogether uninteresting as a record of my life.”

In 1939, 17-year-old Mary found herself in an extraordinary position at an extraordinary time: it was the outbreak of World War II and her father, Winston Churchill, had been appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Within months he would become prime minister.

The young Mary Churchill was uniquely placed to observe this remarkable, historical moment, and her diaries—most of which have never been published until now—provide an immediate view of the great events of the war, as well as exchanges and intimate moments with her father. But these diaries also capture what it was like to be a young woman during wartime.

Emma Soames (editor) is a broadcaster and columnist who has been editor of The Literary Review, Tatler, and the Daily Telegraph magazine. She is the second child of Mary and Christopher Soames and is her mother's Literary Executor, and she is a granddaughter of Winston and Clementine Churchill.