Winston Churchill

Biography

Churchill craved history and then bent it: a soldier-correspondent in Britain's colonial wars, a minister in both world wars, and — after a decade warning about Hitler — the indispensable man of 1940. Voted out in 1945, he returned for a second premiership and wrote the histories that fixed his version of events.

British statesman who, as wartime prime minister, rallied Britain during its darkest hours of the Second World War.

Known for

Leading Britain through the Second World War.

Notable works & defining projects

• Second World War leadership
• The Second World War (six-volume history)
• Wartime speeches

Notable achievements

• Served as prime minister during the Second World War (1940-1945) and again from 1951 to 1955
• Won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his historical writing
• Gave the famous 'We shall fight on the beaches' speech in June 1940

Timeline

1. 1900Elected to Parliament for the first time
2. 1940Became prime minister as Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany
3. 1953Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature

Did you know?

• He escaped from a Boer prisoner-of-war camp in 1899, a stunt that first made him famous in Britain
• He was also a prolific painter and an enthusiastic amateur bricklayer