Like a fiery djinn, the hydrogen bomb hung over the House of Commons, shaping every speech, tingeing every mind. Reporting on his "diplomatic weekend" in Washington, Churchill admitted that the H-bomb had been the reason for it. He had been astonished and shocked at its devastating power. He had learned about it only last February from a speech by a U.S. Congressman.*
Churchill's prime achievement in Washington, he thought, was Eisenhower's statement that "the hope of the world lies in peaceful coexistence," which, nevertheless, "must not lead to appeasement that compels any...