Winston Churchill: The Making of History's Greatest Briton Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill is remembered by British history as a great wartime leader, the man who was called to action in the darkest of hours and led the nation to victory. However, why do people believe this? How did this image get created? How did the narratives of public history cause this to be accepted? British media since 1940 has cultivated a public image of Churchill which leads him to be celebrated as Britain greatest ever historical figure. This essay will investigate the way in which Churchill's historical narrative has been presented as public history across multiple forms of media, including the analysis of biographies written about Churchill and his image in film and television, beginning with the wartime propaganda of World War II. The ultimate question is, how did this image of Churchill in public history get created, and how has it been maintained so effectively to mean that, even decades after his death, he is still remembered as history's greatest Briton? Churchill was voted in 2002 to be the "greatest Briton ever" with a massive 456,498 out of 1,622,247 votes1. He outftperformed in the poll British public figures such as Brunel, 1 BBC 2002 Poll found on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/11 november/25/greatbritons final.shtml Victory for Churchill as he wins the battle of the Britons Winston Churchill was voted the greatest Briton ever in the muchftawaited result of the BBC poll which has seen the nation engaged in passionate debate. In the last six weeks the great debate, which reached its climax in a live studio discussion broadcast on BBC TWO last night (Sunday 24 Novembertt, has generated more than one and a half million votes. The final breakdown of votes is as follows: Total votes: 1,622,248 1. Churchill 456,498 2. Brunel 398,526 3. Diana 225,584 4. Darwin 112,496 5. Shakespeare 109,919
Diana, Darwin and Shakespeare, and on his own took about 30% of the total vote. The same year, John Ramsden wrote a book entitled Man of the Century: Winston Churchill and his Legacy since 19452 in which he praised Churchill throughout the book as glowingly as he presents in the title. The fact that Churchill continues to be praised even in 21st century media creates the question of why, even generations after his death, Churchill continues to be a British icon, whilst subsequent prime ministers and public figures have steadily diminished from view. 2017's Churchill starring Brian Cox ended with the text "[Churchill] is often acclaimed as the greatest Briton of all time", again referencing this claim to Churchill's national greatness. The stream of films portraying Churchill as an iconic public figure has continued in recent decades perhaps more than ever, 2002's The Gathering Storm focused on Churchill's wilderness years, depending on the idea that Churchill's life story is famous enough that viewers are all still expected to recognise a narrative of a less significant period of his life. Another recent film, 2017's Darkest Hour focused its drama primarily on Churchill's