The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

Although I’m not done with this book, I wanted to mark its publication date with a special but short message: Read it!

While I have learned about WW II in school and have read many novels set during this time period, I don’t think that I ever grasped the extremely precarious position that Great Britain found itself in at the start of 1940.  Most of Europe had fallen, and Hitler had his eye on the British Isles for his next conquest.

In Larson’s account, Winston Churchill’s tremendous resolve is the characteristic that shines through during his first year as prime minister, which also coincided with Great Britain’s entry into World War II.  How close to complete annihilation this country stood is breathtaking, and the war would have gone very differently without the courageous leadership of this man.

This is a hefty volume that covers just this one year, but it is a compelling account of the time, since it includes much personal information, with writings from Churchill’s secretaries, as well as diaries and letters from Churchill’s family, particularly his youngest child Mary who was 17 at the time; from common people, some of whom wrote for a special governmental project documenting the war; from statesmen who were working for Churchill; from war correspondents; and from Germans, including the combat pilot and flying ace Adolf Galland. 

There are glorious descriptions of people watching the air battles from behind their curtains at night, sitting in their gardens or lying in fields near the English Channel.  Larson has created a very strong sense of being there, contrasting the terrible beauty of it all.  The title of the book comes from Churchill’s young secretary John Colville, who described the amazing lights and flashes of London being bombed with the utter devastation that followed.

Perhaps what makes it so intensely readable is the combination of military information with the mundane details of daily life, such as how people relied on tea for sustenance and the strength to deal with the trauma of living in a war zone.

Hitler’s plan for Britain was to get them to surrender—to accept a peaceful treaty—without the war in the air that ended up happening.  What Churchill accomplished is jaw-dropping.  Put it on your reading list!

Thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for an advance copy.