Lukacs studied Churchill throughout his life, with his interest tracing back to 1940 when he was just sixteen years old. At that time, he lived in Hungary and greatly admired Churchill's leadership. When German troops invaded in 1944, Lukács was forced to serve in a Hungarian labor battalion. He soon found a way to escape into hiding until the war ended.
After the war, he studied history at the University of Budapest and graduated with a doctorate in 1946. Realizing that Hungary was transitioning into a communist state, he left for America, where he secured a position as a part-time assistant lecturer in the history department at Columbia University in New York City. Later, he transferred to Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia and continued his career as a history professor for the next 47 years.
A historian and political author, Conrad Black recalled a conversation with Lukacs highlighting the height of gratitude for America’s spirit and conviction.
“He once told me that when he appeared at the federal building in Valley Forge during the Korean War to hand in his income-tax return, the official who received it said that of all the scores of people who had appeared in the last couple of days for the same purpose, John Lukacs was the only one who was smiling, and asked the reason for that. John replied that he was a refugee from Hungary, that he knew what the United States had done for the defeat of Nazism and fascism and the deterrence of international Communism, and that he calculated that his modest income might yield enough tax revenue to buy one shell for the main armament of an Iowa-class battleship and he was proud to provide it.”
Wilkes County Public Library will be showing the film "The Darkest Hour," a 2017 British biographical war drama, at 1:00 p.m. on January 4. The movie stars Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill during his early days as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, focusing on the May 1940 war cabinet crisis amidst the Second World War. The title of the film refers to a phrase that describes the early days of the war, which is widely attributed to Churchill.
Netflix has released a new series about Churchill's war years. The life of Churchill is fascinating, and I am especially amazed by his way with words and his prolific writing. It is said that Churchill wrote six million words, more than Shakespeare and Dickins put together, and that five million of those words were spoken in speeches!
The Reading Trap meets at noon on January 9 at Traphill Branch Library to discuss all things Churchillian, especially Lukacs’s book Five Days in London. Join us as we sample some of Churchill’s favorite dishes and converse about this great leader.