From their first recorded meeting in 1901, the lives of two of the most celebrated statesmen of the twentieth century, Lloyd George and Churchill, were inextricably intertwined. For almost fifty years, surviving disputes and arguments, their shared passion for politics bound them together. It was a friendship that endured until Lloyd George’s death in 1945.

In March of that year, visibly moved, Churchill announced the former premier’s death to the House of Commons, concluding 'I do not think we can do any more business today'. That night he worked into the small hours on the tribute he was to deliver the following day. In it