Biographers Dr Warren Dockter and David Lough discuss the hidden sides to the life and character of Britain’s great wartime leader Winston Churchill revealed in their latest books.

Dockter’s discovery of a letter to Churchill from his future sister-in-law lady Gwendoline Bertie while researching his book, Churchill and the Islamic World, was widely reported in the media last year.  In it, Lady Gwendoline urges Churchill: “Please don’t become converted to Islam; I have noticed in your disposition a tendency to orientalise Pasha-like tendencies.” In No More Champagne: Churchill and his Money, shortlisted for the Longman-History Today Book Prize 2016, Lough lifts the lid on Churchill’s business affairs and his precarious finances. Together, the two throw new light on the thoughts and private life of Britain’s most celebrated 20th-century statesman. 

Dockter is a research fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, and has written widely on Churchill. Lough studied history at Oxford before starting a career in financial markets and going on to found a business that advises families on investments and tax planning.

The event will be chaired by Professor Ashley Jackson, an expert in imperial and military history.

This event is part of the festival’s leadership programme sponsored by HSBC.