The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
Erik Larson
Crown (February 2020)

Popular narrative nonfiction of the very highest order

Having read all of Erik Larson’s previous books, I have stopped trying to decide if he is a master storyteller who knows a great deal about history or a great historian who can tell a riveting story. My answer is “Yes. He is both.”

In his latest book, Larson focuses on Winston Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister from May 10, 1940, until May 10, 1941, “which coincided with the German air campaign as it evolved from the sporadic, seemingly aimless raids to a full-on assault against the city of London.” In life as in accounts of his life, Churchill dominates the narrative. He is lovable in some situations and insufferable in many others. He has a few moments of doubt but always, somehow, quickly returns to form with a determination that enabled his country to survive its “darkest hour.”

Among Larson’s greatest talents is his ability to bring relatively minor historical figures to life. In alpha order, they include Lord Beaverbrook (head of aircraft production and a Churchill confidante), Churchill’s wife Clementine and Pamela Churchill (wife of son Randolp Churchill), Major General Hastings Ismay, “Pug” or “Secret Circle” (Churchill’s military chief of staff), Frederick Lindemann, “Prof” (Churchill’s iconocast-in-residence), (John (“Jock”) Colville (one of two Churchill secretaries), Joseph Goebbels (Hitler’s chief propagandist), Hermann Göring (chief of the Luftwaffe), Harry Hopkins (FDR’s emissary and confidante), and William Averell Harriman (Corporate mogul, coordinator of U.S. aid, and FDR’s “observer” in London).. They especially as qwell as many others enrich and enlighten the course of events.

Early in the book, Larson cites the fact the new prime minister went to bed that night at 10 Downing Street, “Alive with a thrilling sense of challenge and opportunity…He felt great relief. ‘At last I had the authority to give directions over the whole scene. I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and this trial…Although impatient for the morning I slept soundly and had no need for cheering dreams. Facts are better than dreams.” Whatever awaited him, Churchill knew he was ready…and no one else on the planet was better prepared to be and do whatever was necessary to achieve “the ultimate victory.”

As is also true of Erik Larson’s other books, The Splendid and the Vile is as entertaining as it is informative. When I began to read the final chapter, there was again a sense of dread as I reluctantly approached what I knew would be “Finis.”

Those book lovers who are currently limited in terms of where they can go and what they can do should seriously consider getting lost in any of those written by Erik Larson and Hilary Mantel. These “magic carpets” await….