Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill's early life at the turn of the twentieth century was dominated by his father's early death. His devastating sense of loss led to a fierce determination to succeed. He joined the army, fought in numerous wars, swapped soldiering for journalism, quickly became famous, all before going into politics, becoming an MP at just 25. But he could never escape his father's ghost.

Winston Churchill's early career in politics was a rollercoaster ride. He rose rapidly through the ranks of power. But during the First World War, he was blamed for one of the worst military disasters in British history. He suddenly saw his career in tatters. Then he decided to rehabilitate himself by serving and fighting at the front, before returning to politics as the soldiers' friend.

In the run-up to the Second World War, Winston Churchill, now in his sixties, seemed out of touch on many key issues. When he warned people about Nazi Germany, many believed he was also wrong about that. But Churchill was soon proved right about Hitler, and when the British government collapsed, he was asked to be prime minister. His bulldog spirit was just what the country needed.

To win the Second World War, Churchill need to build a difficult alliance with the superpowers of America and Russia, as well as fighting Hitler's forces. This required all his skills as a communicator, organizer and negotiator. The supreme effort that he put into keeping the Allies on side almost killed him, but it also gave him the chance to lead his country to victory over the Nazis.

Having won the Second World War, Winston Churchill was far from done. In the summer of 1945, he asked British voters for another five years as Prime Minister. But the election campaign was a step too far for Churchill, who was broken after the pressures of five years as Britain's war leader. He lost the election, but didn't lose his faith in the British people's right to choose.

During the swinging sixties, after he'd retired from politics, Winston Churchill enjoyed the glamorous lifestyle his enormous fame made possible. But this also endangered his legacy. His grandiose, old-fashioned and imperial attitude grated in an era of egalitarianism and decolonization. But then came Churchill's funeral, an epic commemoration which sealed his place in history.