Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874-1965) was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. A noted statesman and orator, he was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a Nobel Prize-winning writer, and an artist. During his army career, Churchill saw combat in India, in the Sudan and the Second Boer War. He gained fame and notoriety as a war correspondent and through contemporary books he wrote describing the campaigns. In 1940, he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led Britain to victory against the Axis powers. Churchill was always noted for his speeches, which became a great inspiration to the British people and embattled Allied forces. After losing the 1945 election, he became leader of the opposition. In 1951, he again became Prime Minister before finally retiring in 1955. His works include: Savrola (1899), The River War (1902), Lord Randolph Churchill (1906), My African Journey (1908), Liberalism and the Social Problem (1909), The People's Rights (1910), The Fighting Line (1916) and My Early Life (1930).