Blanco-White Series: The bulldog and the bull: Churchill and Spain. Lecture by Dr. Peter Martland
Throughout a long life of public service Sir Winston Churchill had an equally long, but not well known direct and indirect relationship to Spain; for example, not only was he closely related to the Duke of Alba, he also took part in the Spanish colonial war in Cuba. However, this relationship came to a head in the Second World War when as Prime Minister he successfully maintained Spanish neutrality and the integrity of Britain’s position on the key strategic naval and military Rock of Gibraltar. This talk explores these important direct and indirect links to Spain and how the greatest Briton of the 20th century managed them.
This lecture by Dr Peter Martland originally marked the opening of Churchill and Spain, an exhibition put on in Cambridge (Churchill College) by the British Spanish Society in October 2018.
Dr Peter Martland was born in St Helens, Lancashire. He took his undergraduate degree and subsequently a PhD at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Originally an economic historian focusing on the history of the recording industry he now specialises in Anglo-American intelligence and security studies. He is the author of six book and has contributed to many more: the first being Since records began: the first 100 years of EMI (1997) and in the same genre Recording history: the British record industry 1888-1931 (2013). He has also written in the field of intelligence and security history including Lord Haw Haw: the English voice of Nazi Germany (2003) based on the extensive MI5 files. He was part of Professor Christopher Andrew’s research team for the authorised history of MI5 Defence of the Realm (2009). He has also penned many articles for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
RSVP here.
