Winston Churchill, the novelist, was born in St. Louis, Missouri,
November 10, 1871. He received his early education at the Smith academy
in that city, and when seventeen years of age was appointed a cadet of
the United States naval academy at Annapolis. Graduating therefrom in
1891, he joined the cruiser San Francisco, but his tastes being more
literary than naval he resigned and became a member of the staff of
the Army and Navy Journal, of New York. In 1895 he was made editor of
the Cosmopolitan magazine, but a few months later resolved to identify
himself with independent work on original lines. His first book, The
Celebrity, won recognition and a certain amount of popularity. Mr.
Churchill’s reputation as a novelist rests for the most part on Richard
Carvel and its sequel, The Crisis, which is hardly less popular than
was its predecessor.