Jock Colville

Sir Jock Colville was a British civil servant and private secretary who served Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. He is best known for diaries that record government and court life during the Second World War.

Colville observed major decisions from close range while remaining attentive to personalities, routines and private conversations. His diaries are valuable sources, though they reflect the outlook and limitations of a well-connected establishment insider.

In Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile, Clementine Churchill, their youngest daughter Mary, private secretary John “Jock” Colville and other family members and advisers move between Downing Street, Chequers and Ditchley as raids, romances, quarrels and official decisions overlap. Diaries and wartime records show how Churchill’s leadership was experienced daily by those closest to him during Britain’s most dangerous year.