Churchill: A Profile in Greatness

Winston Churchill’s entry into the world was characteristic. He was born in the humble surroundings of a Ladies’ Cloak Room, but the Cloak Room was in a Palace. He was also born prematurely, an omen of the impetuosity that was to mark his whole life.

To be a cadet member of a great British family is not the happiest of fates. Winston Churchill inherited the luster of the family name, but precious little else. He was at home in the daunting splendors of Blenheim, but it was never his. (Blenheim was built by Vanbrugh, the dramatist who suffered much harassment from Sarah, the avaricious first Duchess, to whom he referred frequently and with feeling as “the bitch.”)

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Colm Brogan

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Winston Churchill’s entry into the world was characteristic. He was born in the humble surroundings of a Ladies’ Cloak Room, but the Cloak Room was in a Palace. He was also born prematurely, an omen of the impetuosity that was to mark his whole life.

To be a cadet member of a great British family is not the happiest of fates. Winston Churchill inherited the luster of the family name, but precious little else. He was at home in the daunting splendors of Blenheim, but it was never his. (Blenheim was built by Vanbrugh, the dramatist who suffered much harassment from Sarah, the avaricious first Duchess, to whom he referred frequently and with feeling as “the bitch.”)