Book review: Inside the fractious relationship between Winston Churchill and his son Randolph

Despite Winston showing intense affection for his son as a child, Randolph’s relationship with his prime minister father was mostly fractious for most of his adult life

Randolph Churchill (centre), with his parents, statesman Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill in 1939. Picture: Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

POPULAR leaders are frequently depicted in biographies as having lived near-perfect private family lives. Of course, people realise that this is unlikely, but there is frequently no serious questioning.

Winston Churchill is usually depicted as having saved Britain and the British Empire during World War II. He certainly deserves enormous credit for saving Britain, but serious questions could be asked about his role in saving the British Empire.