John Ash analyses the key events which shaped and defined Winston Churchill’s first days as the wartime leader of Britain, who rallied a nation and empire in defiance, and forged an enduring, if controversial, legacy.
Never in the history of mankind, and certainly never in the history of Western Europe, have so many pivotal events been telescoped into just one hundred days. These were the first one hundred days of the Premiership of Winston Churchill, a period which is the main focus of the new Winston Churchill film, ‘Darkest Hour’. Directed by Joe Wright (who also directed ‘Atonement’), the film is due for release in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2018, with the lead role filled by Gary Oldman.
Whilst the story of Britain’s struggle across those dark and desperate days, and as war gathered momentum across Europe is well known, it is easy to forget or overlook the bewildering pace of the seismic events which had to be managed and dealt with by the British government on a daily basis. It was on the shoulder’s of Churchill that this weighty burden fell, and our blow-by-blow accounting of the key events across that hundred day period provides a backdrop of context for Joe Wright’s film. Coincidentall…
