Changes

===Early life===

===Early life===

Churchill was a younger son of the top aristocracy.  He was born in 1874 to Lord [[Randolph Churchill]] and an American mother.  

Churchill was a younger son of the top aristocracy.  He was born in 1874 to Lord [[Randolph Churchill]] and an American mother.  

Winston's father, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849–1895) was a third son of a poor English duke with a very famous family name; Randolph became a prominent Conservative politician.  He married Jennie Jerome (1854–1921), the daughter of American millionaire Leonard Jerome. She was of colonial American stock of English ancestry and brought a dowry of £50,000. Churchill was born in [[Blenheim Palace]], the palace of the dukes of Marlborough. He had one brother, John Strange Churchill (1880–1947). The parents' marriage faltered, in part because of Lord Randolph's debilitating disease (which resembled syphilis); Lady Randolph became notorious for her romantic attachments, becoming known as "Lady Jane Snatcher." She liked Winston, but largely ignored him.<ref>. H. L. Le May, "Churchill, Jeanette (Lady Randolph Churchill) (1854–1921)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,''  2004;  [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.cc.uic.edu/view/article/37282, online] </ref>  His mother later became his ardent ally, helping him achieve key assignments as a war reporter and smoothing his career in politics.  The son idealized his always-absent mother. "She shone for me like the Evening Star," Churchill later wrote. "I loved her dearly—but at a distance." <ref> Jenkins, p. 8</ref>   

Winston's father, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849–1895) was a third son of a poor English duke with a very famous family name; Randolph became a prominent Conservative politician.  He married Jennie Jerome (1854–1921), the daughter of American millionaire Leonard Jerome. She was of colonial American stock of English ancestry and brought a dowry of £50,000. Churchill was born in [[Blenheim Palace]], the palace of the dukes of Marlborough. He had one brother, John Strange Churchill (1880–1947). The parents' marriage faltered, in part because of Lord Randolph's debilitating disease (which resembled syphilis); Lady Randolph became notorious for her romantic attachments, becoming known as "Lady Jane Snatcher." She liked Winston, but largely ignored him.<ref>. H. L. Le May, "Churchill, Jeanette (Lady Randolph Churchill) (1854–1921)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,''  2004;  [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.cc.uic.edu/view/article/37282, online] </ref>  His mother later became his ardent ally, helping him achieve key assignments as a war reporter and smoothing his career in politics.  The son idealized his always-absent mother. "She shone for me like the Evening Star," Churchill later wrote. "I loved her dearly—but at a distance." <ref> Jenkins, ''Churchill,'' p. 8</ref>   

Winston spent a typical upper-class childhood in the hands of nurses and headmasters at a succession of private schools from the age of eight. While he was no more neglected than most boys of his age and class, his sensitive nature suffered as a result of his parents' aloofness and he always regretted his failure to achieve a close relationship with his father, who died in 1895 at the age of only 45.  

Winston spent a typical upper-class childhood in the hands of nurses and headmasters at a succession of private schools from the age of eight. While he was no more neglected than most boys of his age and class, his sensitive nature suffered as a result of his parents' aloofness and he always regretted his failure to achieve a close relationship with his father, who died in 1895 at the age of only 45 and Winston was 21. Churchill rarely spoke with his father, who served as Secretary of state for India, Leader of the House and chancellor of the exchequer. However the son systematically adopted his father's ideas and political positions, and thereby became well known in political circles.  

 

Churchill rarely spoke with his father, who served as Secretary of state for India, Leader of the House and chancellor of the exchequer; he died when Winston was 21. However the son systematically adopted his father's ideas and political positions, and thereby became well known in political circles.  

He entered Harrow School in 1888 with a track for the Army. Churchill had an independent and rebellious nature; he lacked self-discipline and displayed slovenly or unruly behaviour. His grades were poor apart from English and history; he avoided team sports but was a fencing champion. His father did not think he was smart enough for Oxford, so he went to the military academy at Sandhurst in 1893.  He excelled at tactics, fortifications and horsemanship,  graduating twentieth out of a class of 130 in 1894; he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant cavalry officer in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, where he excelled at polo.

He entered Harrow School in 1888 with a track for the Army. Churchill had an independent and rebellious nature; he lacked self-discipline and displayed slovenly or unruly behaviour. His grades were poor apart from English and history; he avoided team sports but was a fencing champion. His father did not think he was smart enough for Oxford, so he went to the military academy at Sandhurst in 1893.  He excelled at tactics, fortifications and horsemanship,  graduating twentieth out of a class of 130 in 1894; he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant cavalry officer in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, where he excelled at polo.

===Military experience===

===Military experience===

Posted to Bangalore, India, in 1896, he ignored local conditions. His duties were done well before noon; apart from polo he did not socialize with his peers, who considered the slender, short, highly ambitious young man to be pushy, bumptious and not a proper gentleman.In 1902 the intellectual Beatrice Webb found him "egotistical, bumptious, shallow-minded and reactionary, but with a certain personal magnetism, great pluck and some originality, not of intellect but of character. More of the American speculator than the English aristocrat." <ref> Jenkins, p. 148</ref> Churchill became an intellectual, as he immersed  himself in the classics, devouring the works of Adam Smith, Gibbon, Macaulay, Hallam, Lecky, and Darwin. He carefully studied the parliamentary debates of the 1870s to 1890s, adding to them his own imaginary speeches. He never learned Latin or Greek so he fashioned a prose style modeled on the two finest writers among English historians, Gibbon and Macaulay.  A book on the evolution of civilization that ridiculed Christianity<ref>Winwood Reade ''Martyrdom of Man'' (1872)</ref> led to his loss of religious faith; he believed in evolution and the inevitability of progress.  

Posted to Bangalore, India, in 1896, he ignored local conditions. His duties were done well before noon; apart from polo he did not socialize with his peers, who considered the slender, short, highly ambitious young man to be pushy, bumptious and not a proper gentleman.In 1902 the intellectual Beatrice Webb found him "egotistical, bumptious, shallow-minded and reactionary, but with a certain personal magnetism, great pluck and some originality, not of intellect but of character. More of the American speculator than the English aristocrat." <ref> Jenkins, ''Churchill,'' p. 148</ref> Churchill became an intellectual, as he immersed  himself in the classics, devouring the works of Adam Smith, Gibbon, Macaulay, Hallam, Lecky, and Darwin. He carefully studied the parliamentary debates of the 1870s to 1890s, adding to them his own imaginary speeches. He never learned Latin or Greek so he fashioned a prose style modeled on the two finest writers among English historians, Gibbon and Macaulay.  A book on the evolution of civilization that ridiculed Christianity<ref>Winwood Reade ''Martyrdom of Man'' (1872)</ref> led to his loss of religious faith; he believed in evolution and the inevitability of progress.  

Between 1897 and 1900, with the aid of his mother's lobbying in London, Churchill fought in three imperial wars while doubling as a war correspondent and writing three books.  In 1897 he joined three brigades in fighting a Pathan tribe. His lively account of the skirmishes proved he could write for the popular press; he received £5 per column from the ''Daily Telegraph'' and soon became the highest paid war correspondent in the world.

Between 1897 and 1900, with the aid of his mother's lobbying in London, Churchill fought in three imperial wars while doubling as a war correspondent and writing three books.  In 1897 he joined three brigades in fighting a Pathan tribe. His lively account of the skirmishes proved he could write for the popular press; he received £5 per column from the ''Daily Telegraph'' and soon became the highest paid war correspondent in the world.