With regard to Anthony Storr and his theories, the following is among excerpts from *The Last Lion,* volume 3 *Defender of the Realm 1940-1965, *by William Manchester and Paul Reid, running in *Finest Hour* 158, Spring 2013, to be published in early April:
*Finest Hour*’s definitive review, by Warren F. Kimball, will appear in the next issue, but in answer to the many questions by readers, I distill here some of the passages that particularly impressed me, and perhaps our readers as well. RML *Preamble: The Depressive* *On the psychoanalysis of Anthony Storr, originator of the “Black Dog” thesis, in his essay “The Man,” in A.J.P. Taylor, ed., *Churchill: Four Faces and the Man *(London: Allen Lane, 1969):* It is part of the contradictory nature of Churchill that he manifested various symptoms of depression—risk taking, excessive drinking, mood swings—not intermittently, but regularly (even daily), lifelong. A fierce determinism informs Storr’s thinking. His Churchill is a creative genius driven by subconscious influences who somehow, instinctively, pursues hobbies and interests beneficial to his mental health because not to do so would invite his depression, always swimming just below the surface, to rise up and drag him down into the darkness. Storr’s Churchill is nothing more than the sum of his genes and his childhood environment….He ascribes to Churchill an “iron will” in pursuit of his therapeutic pastimes, but for Storr even Churchill’s will is both a product of and a prophylactic against the influences of genes and environment. This is a lot of tautological nonsense akin to claiming that absent the joy Churchill found in life he would have found no joy in life. Storr’s determinism removes the moral quotient from Churchill and his actions. Winston Churchill believed in the exercise of free will, and in the acceptance of responsibility for the consequences. Those, like Storr, who stuff Churchill into a determinist mould, deny themselves the mystery of his myriad personality quirks, the power of his will, and the pleasure of his company. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
