Probably the most interesting aspect of Churchill's life in politics in the 1930's is how much you can see the hand of the DS in Great Britain before the war. Otherwise, I think they would have been much better prepared to deal with Hitler. Churchill was constantly sounding the alarm about Nazi ambitions, yet the people in power always seemed to side with Hitler while making excuses about how it's best for everyone.
There's just so many parallels to today (and over the past 50 years) it's uncanny. You just have to blur the national boundaries and political parties - it's all there.
It's fascinating stuff... I've only met one history teacher that kept my respect, the rest, from junior high to university all peddled the same bullshit.
I have a great friend who studied history in college. If his dad hadn't opposed him following his heart (you need to get a practical education), he would be one of those guys you see on TV adding color to the past. He not only knows the big events and the players, but he's read so many random books about history, that he's picked up a lot of colorful information that makes it come alive.
One time we took a trip to Monticello (Jefferson's place), and while on the tour, we were at the back of the group and I got a better tour than anyone else. My buddy knew details about Jefferson, and the people he associated with (names and dates), that really made the tour. Just one example - Jefferson had a friend (sorry I don't remember the names or dates), who often came to visit, usually brought along a socialite from the DC area, and they stayed in the bedroom that we were touring. Not something you typically read about in the history books about Jefferson.
Might ask him about the invisible connection between England and France during the Revolution... All the text books and eggheads have them as being enemies, but I don't think it was that simple - more likely to me that they were fed instructions and were positioned accordingly to make the whole independence look more real than it was.
Interesting question. If I remember it the next time we chat, I'll ask him about it. He'll probably know about a couple of obscure figures who traveled back and forth.
What is interesting about The Last Lion are the people who you almost never hear about - the unelected officials - who take it upon themselves to shape foreign policy. Sound familiar? It was "unheard of" to not deliver messages sent from foreign dignitaries to elected officials, or to modify statements, but Manchester has writes about a number of times where that occurred. Some of them are not hard to prove later, after the records are released. There was a release of many secret Nazi documents in the 60's, along with some from GB and the US, and some of the best WWII historical books came after that.
Combine that with what people experienced "on the ground" during the war, and today looks a lot like then. This time, at least for now, they are using masks and vaccines in place of bullets. And I strongly suspect we would be at war if our military hadn't intervened. 9/11, Iraq, and Afghanistan seems like they were planned to rile up the US, and then weaken the military and our resolve, before the big event.