A qualified archivist, Allen Packwood, OBE, MPhil (Cantab), is the director of the Churchill Archives Centre—home to an extensive collection of papers by Sir Winston Churchill and nearly 600 of his contemporaries. He has been with the institution since 1995, working his way up to acting curator in 2001, then director the next year. He is also a Fellow of Churchill College and the Royal Historical Society.

Now widely accepted as a Churchill expert, Allen has played an instrumental role in sharing Sir Winston’s life and work with the world. This has included cocurating exhibitions for the US Library of Congress and New York’s Morgan Library & Museum, as well as organizing the 2009 Cold War and Its Legacy conference and Churchill 2015 event. He also spearheaded the inclusion of the Churchill Papers on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, and in 2018, released his first book, How Churchill Waged War, to rave reviews.