In the first volume of an ambitious and stunningly-written four-volume biography, Sir Winston Churchill discusses the early career and stratospheric rise to fortune of his illustrious ancestor. John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, may have been eclipsed in history by his more well-known descendant. But in his time, Marlborough was considered one of England’s foremost military leaders.The first installment pays particular attention to personal details of Marlborough’s life, and the important role several women played in his success—including his sister, his wife, the Duchess of Cleveland, and Queen Anne herself. Sir Winston Churchill breathes life into these personal connections in an attempt to showcase Marlborough not only as a luminary figure in British history, but also to bring him to life once again in the mind of the reader.About the AuthorSir Winston S. Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 “for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.”Over a 64-year span, Churchill published over 40 books, many multi-volume definitive accounts of historical events to which he was a witness and participant. All are beautifully written and as accessible and relevant today as when first published.During his fifty-year political career, Churchill served twice as Prime Minister in addition to other prominent positions—including President of the Board of Trade, First Lord of the Admiralty, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Home Secretary. In the 1930s, Churchill was one of the first to recognize the danger of the rising Nazi power in Germany and to campaign for rearmament in Britain. His leadership and inspired broadcasts and speeches during World War II helped strengthen British resistance to Adolf Hitler—and played an important part in the Allies’ eventual triumph.One of the most inspiring wartime leaders of modern history, Churchill was also an orator, a historian, a journalist, and an artist. All of these aspects of Churchill are fully represented in this collection of his works.