Sir Winston Churchill (1874–1965) was a British politician, soldier and writer who served twice as Prime Minister (1940–1945 and 1951–1955). His leadership during the Second World War — and his speeches promising "blood, toil, tears and sweat" and that the country would "fight on the beaches" — are widely credited with sustaining British morale during the darkest months of the war.
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After the Allied victory in Europe, Churchill's Conservative party lost the 1945 general election to Labour. He returned to power in 1951 and retired in 1955. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his historical and biographical writing. He is buried at Bladon, near his birthplace at Blenheim Palace, and was given a state funeral in 1965.
You may be asked who led Britain in the Second World War (Churchill), or which prize for literature he won (the Nobel Prize).
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