The Complete Churchill

Martin Gilbert looks at the life of Winston Churchill. Profiles the British war leader's life from his birth in 1874 to his inauguration as Prime Minister in May 1940. It explains the events that moulded the ambitious young politician and transformed him from a political failure in 1915 to the choice of the majority as the only leader able to stand up to Adolf Hitler. Part 1: Renegade and Turncoat Follows Churchill's life through his early political career to his inauguration as prime minister. Part 2: To Conquer or to Die Examines how Churchill became the symbol of the country's struggle for survival through the crises of Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Part 3: Beginning of the End Focuses on Churchill's policies from 1943 to the end of the war, a crucial period that saw the Allied invasion of Sicily, D-Day and his second Moscow visit. Always keen to meddle in military strategy, he also engaged in highly sensitive negotiations with the Russians - until forced to acknowledge Britain's economic and military limitations. Part 4: Never Despair Recounting events from his finest hour on VE Day to the stroke that signalled the end of his political career in 1955.