So I’ve read the book ”My Early Life” by Winston S. Churchill. And yes, that’s the famous British prime minister, he choose to use the “S” (which is short for his middle name Spencer) in his name as not to get confused with the American writer Winston Churchill who was active at the same time. The two had a very interesting letter conversation where they discussed the matter, in which you can read the really symbolic wit of the famous prime minister (you can find the letter he wrote here¹, the American Churchills response is equally witty).

In the book Churchill writes about his own experiences growing up, and you can almost hear his characteristic voice when you’re reading. It’s really interesting getting to know about his upbringing and early career as most people only know of his accomplishments during the Second World War, and for those accomplishments he is perhaps correctly recognized as “the man of the twentieth century”, as some acclaim him. Since most people know him only as one of the great leaders during the Second World War most of his accomplishments are somewhat forgotten, and perhaps that is why he is remembered in such a good way. Looking back at some of his political views and actions (which he doesn’t really go into in the book) as a person from the twenty-first century it might seem like he was actually a cruel or sinister man, however one must remember that he is certainly a product of his time – and the actions that we remember him by certainly are worthy of making him famous. But for example, during the great famine in the Bengal region of India (1943-1944) Churchill stated to the Secretary of State for India “I hate Indians”, "They are a beastly people with a beastly religion" and he declared that the famine was their own fault for "breeding like rabbits”².Hardly the words that made him an icon, and few probably know that he said them. 
During the First World War, when he was First Lord of the Admiralty, he sent thousands to their deaths needlessly, which of course wasn’t uncommon during those times but the ideas he pushed for tended to end badly, most notably in the Gallipoli campaign³ (Gallipoli is a peninsula close to Istanbul) which eventually made him lose his post and he became politically ostracized for some time. On top of what we today would call his barbaric tendencies he was by all sources a raging alcoholic who drank obscene amounts daily.

To summarize, he was a witty and brilliant leader who also was very human with many faults, but he probably will, and should, be remembered as one the great leaders of time.

(Give the book a read if you want to learn more of Churchill the human, and not the character!)

References

1.       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill_as_writer#Confusion_with_the_American_novelist_of_the_same_name)

2.       http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2031992,00.html

3.       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign