January 1, 1970

Churchill lived a long life, over ninety years – years in which the world saw enormous change; social, cultural and political. He was born in 1874, when Victoria was still on the throne, the British Empire was at its height and Disraeli was in office as Prime Minister. He died in 1965, in the midst of the ‘swinging sixties’ (in the same year that the Beatles were given MBEs by the Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson), when astronauts made the first space walks and Martin Luther King was fighting for black rights.

These world themes will give you a sense of what was going on in the world at the time that Churchill was growing up, flexing his muscles as a young soldier and politician, leading Britain through the Second World War and during his second premiership and his final years. By learning about what ordinary people were doing and what was taking place on the broader world stage over these ninety years, you can gain a sense of the wider world in which Churchill lived and on which he had such a great impact.