He was distant from his father, but Winston Churchill was shaped by his close relationship with his mother, strong-willed American socialite Jenny Jerome. Beginning in 1881—when Churchill was just six—and 1921, the year of Jenny's death, many of these intimate letters between two gifted writers are a pleasure to read in their own right, but this correspondence also traces Churchill's emotional, intellectual, and political development over a 40-year period as he gradually became a statesman. His great-grandson, Randolph Churchill, provides the foreword, while David Lough includes annotations, commentary, and photographs.