What strategic and political potential did Churchill see in America possessing the atomic bomb when the Soviet Union did not?

Did he really raise the idea of a nuclear attack on Moscow?

How did his views change once the Russians created their own nuclear weapons?

And why did he come to accept the idea of mutually assured destruction , that security must be "the twin brother of annihilation".

Join Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter for some explosive answers.

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Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter explore the dramatic and fascinating story of Winston Churchill's invovlement in the development and deployment of the atomic bomb.

How in the 1920s, reflecting his interest in science and science fiction, Churchill speculated on the possibilities of a super weapon which could destroy whole cities.

Churchill's backing for the creation of an atomic device by British scientists as early as 1941.

His decision to cede control of the manufacture of the bomb to the United States given its vastly greater industrial capacity.

But how Churchill also obtained US agreement that the bomb was a joint project. And therefore was required to give his permission before the bomb was used against Japan in 1945.

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In September 1946 in Zurich, Winston Churchill delivered one of the most resonant speeches of even his long career.

He called for the creation of "a kind of United States of Europe". A new Europe founded on the partnership of France and Germany, two nations which had been enemies in two brutal wars in Churchill's adult life. And he concluded with the rousing words: "Let Europe arise!"

Professor Richard Toye and Dr. Warren Dockter delve into the background to the speech and assess its impact, while asking what role Churchill saw for Britain in the new Europe he aspired to see come into being.

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