Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955.

He was a natural warrior and so made an excellent wartime leader. He was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. Churchill won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.

Churchill was born into the family of the Dukes of Marlborough, long known for their leadership in battles of the past. He was not only clever, but had a very attractive personality, and this made it easier for him to get his message over to the people at large.

Churchill warned about Nazi Germany many years before the war started and campaigned for Britain and other countries to build up their forces. But few listened in time. Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940. He refused to consider defeat, surrender, or a compromise peace, and this inspired British people. He made many very famous speeches and radio broadcasts which he cleverly directed not just at the British, but at the American people, too. He was also partly of American heritage, and this made it easier for him to seek the help of the Americans under President Roosevelt.

After the war, Churchill retired in 1955. Churchill is thought of as being among the most important people in British history.