During the Second World War, Winston Churchill won two resounding victories. The first was a victory over Nazi Germany, the second a victory over the legion of skeptics who had derided his judgment, denied his claims to greatness, and excluded him from high office on the grounds that he was sure to be a danger to King and Country. Churchill was the only British politician of the twentieth century to become an enduring national hero. The curious thing is that it happened at the age of 65, at a time when he was considered to be a spent force, with a track-record of disastrous decisions. All but the most hostile of his adversaries conceded that he possessed great abilities, remarkable eloquence, and a streak of genius. But it was almost universally agreed that he was a shameless egotist, an opportunist without principles or convictions, an unreliable colleague, an erratic policy-maker who lacked judgment, and a reckless amateur strategist with a dangerous passion for war and bloodshed. At one time or another in his career, he had offended every party and faction in the land, yet despite this he became the embodiment of national unity, an uncrowned king who threatened to eclipse the monarchy. In this incisive new biography, Paul Addison tells the story of Churchill's life in parallel with the history of his reputation. He seeks to explain why Churchill was transformed into a national hero, and why his heroic status has endured ever since in spite of the attempts of iconoclasts to debunk him. He argues that we are now in a position to reach beyond the mythology - both positive and negative - to see the real Winston Churchill, a warrior-statesman whose qualities were remarkably consistent through all the vicissitudes of his career. `Review from previous edition the best short book on Britain's wartime PM' Daily Express`This is a highly readable short biography of a hero with feet of clay' Lloyd's List`gloriously readable style and lightly-worn scholarship' Scotsman`short but masterly book . . . intriguing, penetrating and thoughtful' Mail on Sunday`a considerable achievement . . . could be read with profit and enjoyment by anyone interested in modern history' Independent`a treat . . . full of arresting insights . . . scrupulously accurate in areas where other biographers frequently trip' Finest Hour: Journal of the Churchill Centre and Societies Paul Addison is an Honorary Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Two World Wars at the University of Edinburgh.