In 1891, a 16-year-old Winston Churchill had a prophetic conversation with his schoolmate. Asked if he would ever go into politics, Churchill replied:
“Well, I can see vast changes coming over a now peaceful world; great upheavals, terrible struggles; wars such as one cannot imagine; and I tell you London will be in danger — London will be attacked and I shall be very prominent in the defence of London.”
“How can you talk like that?” his friend Muirland replied. “We are for ever safe from invasion, since the days of Napoleon.”
Churchill’s response?
“I see further ahead than you do. I see into the future. This country will be subjected somehow, to a tremendous invasion, by what means I do not know, but I tell you…”
“I shall be in command of the defences of London and I shall save London and England from disaster.”
To say he was prophetic is an understatement. Of course, Churchill did go on to save London and England from disaster — and for doing so he is rightly considered one of the most incredible figures of the 20th century.
To learn more about his life and leadership, I invited the world-famous historian Lord Andrew Roberts to visit me in Italy for a conversation. We got to discuss his book Churchill: Walking with Destiny, which is largely regarded as the most authoritative single-volume biography of Churchill ever written.
In this conversation, we break apart his unique sense of destiny and what created it, and set the record straight on modern-day allegations often hurled against him — from racism to alcoholism.
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Walking with Destiny
The subtitle “Walking with Destiny” comes from a line in Churchill’s war memoirs where he detailed what happened on the day he was made Prime Minister. The full excerpt follows:
I was taken immediately to the King. His Majesty received me most graciously and bade me sit down. He looked at me searching and quizzically for some moments, and then said, “I suppose you don’t know why I have sent for you?” Adopting his mood, I replied, “Sir, I simply couldn’t imagine why.” He laughed and said, “I want to ask you to form a Government.” I said I would certainly do so.
At last I had the authority to give directions over the whole scene. I felt as though I was walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.
Churchill was 65 years old when he became Prime Minister, and the moment seemed to fulfill the prediction he made in his teens. It was indeed on him to “save London and England from disaster” — and that’s exactly what he did.
Lessons from the Life of Churchill
We discussed all aspects of Churchill’s life — from his upbringing as an aristocrat to his fighting in the trenches of WWI, and the many mistakes he made and learned from on the way to becoming Prime Minister.
Churchill’s experiences as a young man allowed him to predict the three greatest threats to civilization in the 20th century, and gave him the courage to stick to his beliefs when everyone doubted him. They are precisely what enabled him to later lead his nation to victory.
Of course, Churchill was no perfect human, and it’s now quite common to hear modern-day criticism regarding his private life and views — especially his attitude toward race. On this point, Andrew has a pretty revealing response.
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