English
This is a story of greatness – the story of how a man, matched to a moment in history, becomes agiant. How that same man, denied his appointment with destiny, would otherwise have been footnoted as a poor strategist, a disastrous chancellor of the exchequer, and an unreformed Imperialist.
For Winston Churchill, the war made the difference. And what a difference it made!
This is a series about relationships: Churchill and his ministers, Churchill and his generals,
Churchill and his allies, Churchill and the public, Churchill and the cause of victory. To understand how one man played such a significant role in 20th century history, we revisit his early life that informed his later decisions; we explore his speeches; we illustrate through rich and diverse archive the war he fought, the choices he made, the mistakes he made, and the plans that were over-ruled by increasingly dominant allies.
We explore aspects of his premiership, that history, with its preference for simple stories, ignores – Churchill was not a consistently popular premier, he faced down votes of no confidence in the House of Commons, and rumours of those jostling to replace him.
A range of experts on the war years, and on the life of Winston Churchill, illuminate a story that also includes Churchill’s own words, and those of his contemporaries. From the lowest to the loftiest, they all had a view of Winston Churchill, which is why he will be one of history’s enduring figures, always to be named, debated, and admired when they tell the story of the Second World War – Winston Churchill’s War.
