Before he became a politician Winston Churchill was first a soldier who had a lifelong obsession with all things military that not only shaped the man and war leader he later became but played a major role in the Allied victory in World War II. From Cuba to the Northwest Frontier, the Sudan, South Africa and World War I, Churchill's extraordinary military experiences were the training ground for the great role he was destined to play as Britain's war leader during the Second World War. Carlo D'Este examines Winston Churchill through the prism of his military service as both a soldier and a warlord: a descendant of Marlborough who, despite never having risen above the rank of lieutenant colonel, came eventually at age sixty-five to direct Britain's military campaigns as prime minister and defeated Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito for the democracies. Warlord is the definitive chronicle of Churchill's crucial role as one of the world's most renowned military leaders, from his early adventures on the North-West Frontier of colonial India and the Boer War through his extraordinary service in both World Wars. D'Este paints a masterful, unsparing portrait of one of history's most fascinating and influential leaders during what was arguably the most crucial event in human history.

Length: 70 Minutes

Lecture Date: May 7, 2009