At the turn of the 20th century, Winston Churchill was the most popular novelist in the United States, the J.K Rowling of his day - his second novel, Richard Carvel, sold a phenomenal two million copies, and his extraordinary fame forced the British Winston Churchill - the future prime minister whom we associate with the name today -to use his middle name to avoid confusion with his American counterpart. From his early historical romances, Churchill moved on to political and social fiction.

He was born in St. Louis, educated at Annapolis, and served in the U.S. Navy. His later fiction reflected his interest in social issues, and he was active in New Hampshire state politics, serving as a legislator and running an unsuccessful campaign for governor.