Item IE LMOD 705 - 1940 Brendan Bracken and Winston Churchill

Photographic paper, ink. 46 x 58 cm

31/08/2011

A black and white photograph of Winston Churchill being followed by Brendan Braken out of 10 Downing Street by Central Press. With Braken's signature also in the bottom of the frame. From Getty 'Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) leaves Downing Street in London with Irish journalist and Conservative politician Brendan Braken (1901 – 1958).'

Winston Churchill leaves 10 Downing Street with his ‘faithful chela,’ Brendan Bracken. One of the most mysterious Dubliners of the 20th Century, Bracken was an adventurer who tried to disguise his roots (Dublin/Tipperary), claiming instead to be Australian. A Tory MP at the age of 28, he published both the Economist and the Financial Times, and was loyal to Churchill when the latter had been cast into the political wilderness after the First World War. In 1940, when Ireland practiced scrupulous neutrality, Brendan Bracken played a key role in Churchill’s succession as Prime Minister, and went on to serve as Minister of Information for three years. Viscount Bracken died in 1958 at the age of 57. He is the subject of an excellent biography by fellow Dubliner Charles Lysaght.

Artefact signed by Brendan Bracken, TW bought signature on ebay!