‘By far the most lucid, comprehensive and authoritative account of Churchill that has been offered in a single volume’ Daily Telegraph

Drawing on decades of unprecedented access to Winston Churchill’s family and estate, this classic bestseller remains the definitive biography of Britain’s greatest prime minister. At once intimate and vastly ambitious, it transforms our understanding of who Churchill was and what he accomplished.

‘A masterpiece of scholarship . . . Explores the strategic labyrinths of two world wars with an enviable clarity.’ Guardian

‘Gilbert is, above all, a marshaller of material on a gigantic scale . . . The nakedness of the narrative proclaims its honesty, its unpretentiousness and its erudition.’ The Times

‘One of the greatest histories of our time.’ Margaret Thatcher

‘Genuinely riveting . . . Genius, courage, generosity, humour and imagination shine through.’ Financial Times

‘A stupendous book. He has told the truth.’ A. J. P. Taylor

‘The greatest adventure story of the century.’ Sunday Telegraph