The Churchill-Eisenhower Correspondence, 1953-1955

During the period when Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill held office as U.S. president and British prime minister, they kept up a regular correspondence apart from official communiques. Though revealing little of a personal nature, the letters--here in their first publication--provide insight into their views on the Soviet Union, German rearmament, the European Defense Community, the Korean armistice, the Quemoy-Matsu crisis and the development of atomic weapons. Boyle, a lecturer on American history at the University of Nottingham in England, supplies sufficient information for readers to understand the context of such exchanges. On the surface, the letters reflect the ``special relationship'' between the U.S. and Britain dating back to WW II, but in substantial policy matters, they reveal a gap growing between the two nations. Churchill's efforts to secure atomic information for Britain fell far short of his expectations, for instance, and he was unsuccessful in drawing Eisenhower into joint negotiations with the Egyptians. Nor did the prime minister, apparently, exert much influence over American policy in the Far East. Photos. (Oct.)