Montage of Magazine Covers
Featuring Winston Churchill
Churchill was featured on the cover of a multitude of international magazines, a sample of which appears here.
(Picture courtesy of Mark Weber, The Churchill Book Specialist, Tucson, Arizona, USA.)
TIME
1923-1951
Churchill graced the cover of TIME magazine eight times from 1923 to 1951. He was selected “Man of the Year” in 1941 and “Man of the Half Century” in 1950. Churchill shared a 1942 cover with Stalin and Roosevelt; only the latter, of all personalities featured on the cover in the history of TIME, appeared as often as Churchill. Einstein, who TIME selected as “Person of the Century” in 2000, appeared on the cover five times.
LIFE
LIFE magazine featured Churchill in considerable depth from 1940 until his death in 1965. The April 29, 1940, issue pictured Churchill as Britain’s “War Lord” (of the Admiralty). His life was chronicled in a three part series from May 21 to June 4, 1945. As a painter, he graced the LIFE cover on January 7, 1946. His World War II memoirs (ultimately published in six volumes as “The Second World War”) appeared in abridged form in 27 issues from April 19, 1948, to November 23, 1953. Churchill’s “History of the English Speaking Peoples,” likewise, was presented in abridged form in four parts spread over 14 issues from March 19, 1956, to March 10, 1958. LIFE, in its May 2, 1955 issue, commemorated Churchill's career in Parliament at the time of his retirement in 1955. Upon Churchill's death in January 1965, LIFE commemorated Churchill’s life and funeral in the January 29 and February 5 issues.
ILLUSTRATED
1945-1954
ILLUSTRATED was a UK weekly periodical issued every Wednesday. Churchill appeared on the cover of the May 19, 1945, issue commemorating VE-Day. A feature article on Churchill, “My Story” edited by his son, Randolph, started in the November 10, 1951, issue and ran through January 5, 1952. Part Seven focuses on Churchill’s paintings. The November 20, 1954, issue features an 80th birthday commemorative folio edited by Randolph Churchill and includes a magnificent color cartoon by Low and a sketch of Churchill by Graham Sutherland. Sutherland painted the now famous portrait of Churchill commissioned by both Houses of Parliament and presented to Churchill in honor of his 80th birthday. Clementine Churchill disliked the painting to such a degree that she ordered it destroyed.
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