Episode Details

In the run-up to the Second World War, Winston Churchill's Kent home, Chartwell, was transformed from a cosy country pile to an informal Home Office, as the politician invited influential guests to come for dinner, drinks.... and off-the-record discussions. From 'Lawrence of Arabia' to Albert Einstein, Katherine Carter tells Ellie Cawthorne how these visitors shaped Churchill's views about the looming prospect of war.

(Ad) Katherine Carter is the author Churchill's Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm (Yale University Press, 2024). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Churchills-Citadel-Chartwell-Gatherings-Before/dp/0300270194/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.

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