Winston Churchill was seen even in his own lifetime as a historic figure, one of the great men of world history, commemorated all across the world (but especially among the English-speaking peoples) in statues, memorials, streets and schools named after him, and in a plethora of stamps, medals, plates, and other such memorabilia. By his own effort and willpower, Churchill inspired the West in the fights against Fascism and Communism in the 1940s, the consequences of which remain very much with us today, while his name and his legend are still invoked by a wide range of contemporary statesmen. This course of lectures explores Churchill’s extraordinary life and his remarkable range of skills and achievements in a sixty-year-long public life. It seeks to answer the question, “What was it that was great in Winston Churchill?”

“The Great War” as it was known at the time was also said to be the “war to end all wars.” It seized all of Europe and much of the rest of the world in its grip of death and destruction. The first truly modern war, it changed how war-and peace-would be conducted throughout the remainder of the twentieth century and even to the present. The Great War was a time of “firsts” and opened the door to the modern era. Almost all the major developed countries had a role to play in this war, as they never had before. This was the first time for fighting on land, at sea, and in the air. Modern weapons and munitions were developed in previously unimaginable quantities. By the end of the war, international politics, the relationships between the individual and the state, gender relations, and the role of artists and the media were all drastically changed. World War I laid the foundation for the modern world. This course examines the major events of the war to further understand how they led to the shaping of this new world.