Andrew Connell

Duty and Destiny

History & Biography

“So much of Winston Churchill’s life and character defies simple classification, and his religion is no exception. In this meticulously researched and authoritative study, Gary Scott Smith goes beyond the public rhetoric—steeped, as he shows, in biblical and liturgical allusions—to discern the elements of the private faith which underpinned much of Churchill’s life. He argues persuasively that while Churchill was neither the unbeliever nor the orthodox Christian that different writers have claimed, his faith, although in many ways an enigma, was nonetheless real and important. It is indeed, as the author says, a ‘complex, colorful, and compelling’ story.”