Browse by Category

Browse by Author



Paperback, 288 pages

Price: £13.00

This product
is currently unavailable

If It`s Not Impossible... The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton

He saved 669 children from the Holocaust, 50 years later they discovered his identity

Author: Barbara Winton

Product code: B464

There are around 6000 people alive today because of Nicholas Winton - descendants of endangered Jewish children who in 1939 he rescued from the Nazis. Here his daughter sets out to look at the character, motivation and life of this noted humanitarian.

Some of the children know of his existence and the part he played in their history, many others do not. It was a short event in his life but a critical one for those whose lives were saved. For him that intervention was over in a flash and other adventures supplanted it.  Only much later did this episode re-emerge in his life and ever since has brought him visitors from all over the world anxious to learn his story.

This book lays out that story in detail, exploring the motivation and early experiences that led to him acting to save young lives, while others looked the other way. His motto "If something is not impossible, then there must be a way to do it" led him to follow his own convictions and undertake an operation others had dismissed as unnecessary or too difficult.  His life thereafter was full of exploits stimulated by similar motivation which, though not so consequential, remain testimony to his character. 

His daughter has painstakingly sifted through her father`s papers and talked to family and friends to construct a detailed account of his whole life.  It explores the influences on his character as well as the historical events he was caught up in. Taken from his historical letters and writings, Winton`s own words are introduced to convey the atmosphere of many of his diverse experiences.

“A delightful book about a wonderful man. Those of us who came on a Kindertransport from Prague and owe our lives to Nicky will be so grateful to Barbara for writing something so special.”
Lord Alf Dubs, ex-Labour minister and ‘rescued child’

“There are some people that just stand out in history. Sir Nicholas Winton is one of them… The story in these pages is not one that inspires observation it is one that demands action…  It is, indeed, a reminder that we can all – regardless of our past or present – make an impactful difference.”
From the Foreward by Dr Stephen D Smith, Executive Director, USC Shoah Foundation, UNESCO Chair on Genocide Education

About the Author

Barbara Winton

Born in 1953 and is the daughter of Nicholas and Grete Winton. She lives in rural Herefordshire with her husband, Stephen Watson, with whom she has two children. She has inherited two main traits from her father: a love of gardening and a zest for intense discussions about world affairs.