The Churchills: A Family Portrait

By Celia and John Lee

Beautiful and powerful, the Churchills dominated world politics for generations – but like every family they have their secrets…

Winston Churchill is arguably the most famous Briton, but a shroud of mystery still surrounds him and his family. Myths propagated by Winston’s political enemies persist to this day, yet the truth is just as compelling. His younger brother John (Jack) has been largely forgotten but played a crucial role both in Winston’s successes and in holding the family together financially. 

From the allegations of their father Lord Randolph’s syphilis and Winston’s seemingly endless struggle to succeed as a politician, to their mother Jennie’s social successes and Jack’s dashed ambitions, Celia and John Lee use never-before-seen archives of hundreds of family letters to cut through the rumours and lies, and get to the truth about the life of the former Prime Minister and his relationship with his family. 

In The Churchills: A Family Portrait, the reader is provided the first, fully inclusive study of this remarkable family.