Introduction: A dog called Churchill -- The offer from Hitler -- The non-Churchill universe -- Rogue elephant -- The Randolph factor -- No act too daring or too noble -- The great dictator -- He mobilised the English language -- A proper human heart -- My darling Clementine -- The making of John Bull -- 'The most advanced politician of the time' -- No glory in slaughter -- The ships that walked -- The 100-horsepower mental engine -- Playing roulette with history -- An icy ruthlessness -- The wooing of America -- The giant of the shrunken island -- The cold war and how he won it -- Churchill the European -- Maker of the modern Middle East -- The meaning of his name today -- The Churchill factor.