Winston Churchill's inspiring leadership in the Second World War once put him above criticism. In recent years his record has come under attack. In this volume, the author makes sense of this extraordinary man and his long, controversial, colorful, contradictory and heroic career. What was at the heart of him? Was he a romantic or a realist? How central was his part in Britain's survival and in the defeat of Hitler? Best brings out both his strengths and his weaknesses, looking past the many received versions of Churchill in a biography that balances the private and the public man and offers a fresh insight into his character.