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"They [the dictators] are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home - all the more powerful because forbidden - terrify them."

On 16 October 1938, Churchill broadcast directly to the United States. The Munich Crisis had just ended, with Germany being allowed to occupy part of Czechoslovakia. Churchill's message was simple. America could no longer afford to ignore what was happening in Europe, and there was still time to stand together and defend democracy against dictatorship.

This page comes from near the end of the broadcast. You can see from Churchill's own annotations how carefully he worked on this vital text, trying to get his message across to Britain's key ally in the coming war. For instance, there is the comic effect of the "little mouse of thought", making the dictators seem faintly ridiculous, reinforced by the replacement of "They make every effort to quench thoughts and words" with the more powerful "They make frantic efforts to bar out thoughts and words".

This page forms the centerpiece of the Archives Centre's exhibition in New York, "Churchill: The Power of Words", running from June 8 until September 23 2012. Information on this exhibition, featuring speaking notes from some of Churchill's most famous speeches, his personal and official correspondence, public statements, artefacts and recordings from the great wartime broadcasts, is available here, and more details can be found in this press release on the exhibition.