The History

On the tenth of May 1940, hours before the German invasion of France and following an absolutely devastating military assault by Adolph Hitler against the Low Countries of Europe, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain submitted his resignation to King George VI of England. Chamberlain, recognizing that he was ill-equipped to lead the nation against Hitler, recommended the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, to the post.

At that moment in time, Churchill was wildly unpopular among Conservatives and Liberals alike. He would not have won a majority in any of the parties in the House of Commons, and the House of Lords was completely silent when it learned of his appointment. Most members of Parliament, terrified of Hitler’s seemingly unstoppable war machine, favored a negotiated peace with Germany, and pressed the newly appointed Churchill to consider an armistice. But Churchill disagreed. He felt that the only chance for freedom was for Britain to stand and fight. Recognizing that he would need to convince not only Parliament but also the people of the British Empire, Churchill made a commitment to himself and his peers to become a better communicator, a better listener, and a stronger, more inclusive leader. The strategies he put in place for accelerated self-development began showing positive results almost immediately. Parliament threw their support fully behind him, and the people braced for war. Putting his new approach to broader use, Churchill then began communicating across borders and across the seas through his dealings with Charles DeGaulle, Joseph Stalin, King Haakon VII of Norway, Georgios II of Greece, and, most famously, Franklin Roosevelt of the United States.

Through a combination of systems thinking and his expertise in multi-national intelligence, Churchill was able to keep resistance alive not only in the British Empire, but also in France, Poland, Norway, the Low Countries, Italy and Greece. He was instrumental in drafting the Allied counter-attacks from 1942 until 1945, and created the strategy whereby England would be the platform for both supporting the Soviet Union supply-line, and for liberating Western Europe from the Nazis.

In only five short years, from 1940 until 1945, Winston Churchill went from being a brash and abrasive politician to one of the most respected and beloved leaders of all time. He achieved this by committing to, and practicing, a number of techniques and strategies that helped him develop as a person, and which put him in the best possible position to succeed. It is those techniques and strategies that are brought to life in THE CHURCHILL CHRONICLES.