'There never was a Churchill from John of Marlborough down who had either morals or principles', so said Gladstone. From the First Duke of Marlborough — soldier of genius, restless empire-builder and cuckolder of Charles II — onwards, the Churchills have been politicians, gamblers and profligates, heroes and womanisers. The Churchills is a richly layered portrait of an extraordinary set of men and women — grandly ambitious, regularly impecunious, impulsive, arrogant and brave. And towering above the Churchill clan is the figure of Winston — his failures and his triumphs shown in a new and revealing context — ultimately our 'greatest Briton'.