Why do bad things happen to good people? The current battle between superstitious and prejudiced forces from the past, against more enlightened modern ones, began when Winston Churchill was appointed colonial secretary in 1920. With the defeat of the shadowy Turkish Empire in 1918 by the Allies, he was challenged by three grim forces of menace and coercion: Communism, Fascism, and Islamist Fundamentalism. Each aimed to extinguish every spark of democratic freedom across the Middle East and the West. Since every new generation tends to rearrange the past, today’s new generation might want to know how it led to the present situation when subversives undermined democracy from within and without. Churchill’s Challenges describes how it really was.

This book combines a social and cultural history of 1918-1940 with a biography of Winston Churchill, to reveal how he responded to his society at that time, and his impact on it. His own character transformed just as dramatically from the eager and ambitious youth to the shrewd and successful politician he became. This account of the first half of Winston Churchill’s life will help readers focus on how the world developed as a consequence of his influence in each ministerial position he filled. It discusses how the changes in Churchill came about as a consequence of his experiences of the changing world with all its complexities. His decisions still impact world politics today.