Alan Frederick “Tommy” Lascelles had a remarkable career serving four sovereigns of Great Britain from George V to Queen Elizabeth II in the role of Private Secretary or Assistant Private Secretary. From the death of a monarch, through the abdication of another, World War II, the death of a second monarch and the ascension of a young woman to the throne, Tommy was there closely observing everything. Was he the malevolent martinet as portrayed by Pip Torrens in the Netflix series “The Crown” or was he merely wholly dedicated to preserving the Monarchy by guiding the Monarch?

On April 9, 1963, President Kennedy signed a House Resolution proclaiming Sir Winston Churchill an Honorary Citizen of the United States. This program will examine and explore Churchill's life-long admiration for America and his belief that a "special relationship" between Britain and the United States would benefit both countries and the greater world. We invite ESU members and guests around the world to celebrate National Winston Churchill Day on April 9th with our guest speaker, Timothy Riley, Director and Chief Curator of America’s National Churchill Museum. This ESU Happy Hour is sponsored by the ESU Kansas City Branch. ESU Happy Hour programs are online, free, and open to all members and the public.

Perhaps our best teacher on the nature of power – how it is acquired, exercised, and lost – is none other than William Shakespeare. An incisive observer of human nature, Shakespeare educates us on the qualities that make a successful leader and warns how power can corrupt a leader’s moral compass. Four centuries after his death, Shakespeare’s plays continue to inspire and relate to a 21st-century audience, and we can learn more about our contemporary political leaders through the lens of his characters.

The 1990s found agrarian societies in Pakistan undergoing profound transitions, not unlike the American South in the first part of the twentieth century. William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” captures the stark confrontation between waning Southern aristocracy (the Compson family) and the ascendant middle class represented by the Snopes family.

Sixteenth century European historians will find this ESU Happy Hour fascinating and one of tremendous significance. The Great Siege of Malta, a four-month battle from May 18 to September 11, 1565, is considered one of the most ferocious conflicts in military history. Rarely have the odds been so unequal and the stakes so high.