“It was magnificent and terrible: the spasmodic drone of enemy aircraft overhead; the thunder of gunfire, sometimes close, sometimes in the distance; the illumination, like that of electric trains in peace-time, as the guns fired; and the myriad stars, real and artificial, in the firmament. Never was there such a contrast of natural splendor and human vileness.” —John Colville via Erik Larson, The Splendid and The Vile
“I never gave them [Britons] courage. I was only able to focus theirs.” — Sir Winston Churchill, 1941
For a hot lil’ second, I was an English major and a History minor. Like Tracy and Rachel, I was a resident of 27 Palace Court for a semester abroad and became captivated by the city and its history. The major and minor didn’t stick, but the fascination with all things London did. When I heard that Erik Larson was writing a book about Churchill’s experiences with the Blitz, I almost started salivating.
The Splendid and the Vile takes a complete 365-day view of Churchill’s first year in office. From May 10, 1940 when he was sworn in as Prime Minister through May 10, 1941, Larson dives into Churchill’s cabinet and how they weathered German’s year-long aerial blitzkrieg. Through years of research in London and Washington DC, Larson cites from multiple personal journals from prominent players in the War, such as John Colville (one of Churchill’s private secretaries), Mary Churchill and even Joseph Goebbels, one of Hitler’s evil henchmen. I loved that this wasn’t just a history lesson—Larson weaves together their stories with the facts, keeping us interested in the characters and their storylines on top of the history lesson. A perfect marriage of English and History. (Seriously, can Larson just write textbooks? I think we’d all have learned a lot more in school!).
Even better, the book is dedicated to the first year of Churchill’s leadership to give us a comprehensive look into the German blitzkrieg and how desperately Hitler wanted Churchill to call for a peace treaty. As I started the book, I was a little bummed that we wouldn’t be reviewing all of his devout years in office. By the end, I was satisfied that it was only a year. There are A LOT of WWII books out there and I feel as though this was one area that I hadn’t learned about. Thanks to Larson, I now feel that I understand it better.
The hype is real–Larson truly delivered a hit! If I could give half a star, I would give it 4.5 out of 5. I learned a lot from reading The Splendid and the Vile. For those that aren’t as devout to a physical book as I am, it would be a great listen. A little long, but worth the time.
P.S. If you read my last post, this book made Barack’s list. Seems like reason enough to read Larson’s latest, no?