To say that Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a great man would be an understatement. He was so many things: he was a statesman, a soldier, a historian, and much more. He led Great Britain to victory over Hitler and the Nazis in World War II, only to be shunted aside by the English public as his ancestor, John Churchill had been before him.
One of the great portrayals of Churchill in film is that of Gary Oldman (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Dark Knight trilogy,) in the 2017 film Darkest Hour. I’d say possibly one of the best scenes in the film was Churchill’s speech in Parliament, in which he says famously, “We shall never surrender!”
The sad thing is, if I’m remembering correctly, people didn’t like the film, because they don’t like Churchill. That’s sad. Churchill was not just “an imperialist,” or “a colonialist.” He was one of the greatest leaders in the history of the West, able to stand on his own two feet, look Adolf Hitler in the face, draw the line in the sand and say, “No. This is as far as you go.”
I encourage anyone reading this to research Churchill, and come to your own conclusions. Also, if you like history, I would recommend his history books to you: A History of the English Speaking Peoples, the Second World War, Marlborough: His Life and Times etc. I should warn you, however, some of those books are only for avid readers, who could easily finish Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
In closing, just let me say again, if you don’t know Churchill (and, admittedly, even I don’t know much about him,) just read some biographies of him. You may find it, not only enlightening, but maybe even entertaining.
TeawiththeDukeofWellington 