Winston Churchill was an inspirational statesman, writer, orator and leader who led Britain to victory in the Second World War. He served as Conservative Prime Minister twice - from 1940 to 1945 (before being defeated in the 1945 general election by the Labour leader Clement Attlee) and from 1951 to 1955.

Find a timeline here.

Noting the Churchill 2015 announcement in London, the Prime Minister David Cameron said : "Half a century after his death, Winston Churchill’s legacy continues to inspire not only the nation whose liberty he saved, but he entire world. 2015 is a year to remember Winston Churchill’s extraordinary life of achievement...to celebrate it anew and give thanks for his service."

A man of words :

Churchill’s reputation as an orator is based principally on his speeches and broadcasts as Prime Minister during the summer of 1940 during a particularly vital point in the Second World War, when Britain was under the threat of invasion. You’ll probably know lots of famous phrases or quotes from these speeches : ‘We shall fight on the beaches’, ‘This was their finest hour’ and ’Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’. His most well-known and most quoted speeches are those known usually as ‘Blood, toil, tears and sweat’ (13 May), ‘We Shall Fight on the Beaches’ (4 June) and ‘This was their Finest Hour’ (18 June), all of which were delivered in the House of Commons, though Churchill also broadcast the ‘Finest Hour’ speech over the BBC. He only made a total of five broadcasts to the nation during this vital stage of the Second World War (19 May, 17 June, 18 June, 14 July, 11 September), but these speeches conveyed Churchill’s determination and commitment, and they gave his country confidence.

You can listen to these speeches here

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender. Churchill, 4 June 1940

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. Churchill, 13 May 1940 (cited in Langworth, Churchill : In His Own Words)

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years men will still say ’This was their finest hour’. Churchill, broadcast, 18 June 1940

Churchill was a controversial leader, and many articles question his status as a hero. He is even called a "villain" by some of his detractors. You can read these articles here :

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 [3] You can visit these sites :

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