Winston Churchill's family was always the private "citadel of the heart", a source of pride and vital influence, shaping his all-important sense of destiny. But the citadel was flawed - as if each new generation of this family passed on to the next a curse bringing tragedy and scandal.

​At least seven of Churchill's ancestors suffered from chronic depression and his father died insane. Two of his children were flamboyantly alcoholic and his adored wife, Clementine, suffered long periods of acute nervous tension.