August 3 2020

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

As always, Erik Larson highlights not only events but personalities and relationships in his fascinating documentary of the Battle of Britain, and mainly about the leader who was faced with daily agonizing decisions amid new horrors of war.  From the unlikely British evacuation at Dunkirk to America's finally coming aboard as a full ally, Prime Minister Winston Churchill is truly the right man at the right time in history.  Initially one of the few leaders (in the UK and on the continent) to face up to Hitler, Churchill leads his people as they face near nightly bombing raids and ever alarming events abroad.

Among the case of characters is the very effective Max Beaverbrook (in charge of production of aircraft and a fierce ally of Churchill's), war minister "Pug" Ismay, John Colville (one of Churchill's secretaries, whose notes are an important source of personal information for this book), and two American representatives of FDR: sickly (but sharp) Harry Hopkins and dashing Averill Harriman, who keep the president up to date on the war efforts and try to convince FDR to join the allied cause.

Churchill's family, especially Clementine, daughter Mary (those diary also provides important material) and daughter-in-law Pamela - who are mostly present at the PM's three residences : 10 Downing St, Checquers (PM retreat), and Ditchley (country getaway and home of Lord and Lady Tree) - play supporting roles, with Mary (whose diary relates much of her 17-year-old's crushes and concerns) coming aboard as a war officer manning an actual gun in southern England.  English citizens were invited to keep personal diaries of the war, and Larson also draws on several of these, giving his account a fresh and personal feel.

Larson also brings the German leaders alive, particularly the vain Herman Goerring and propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, as well as a German ace pilot trying to do his job in a horrible war.

My respect for Winston Churchill continues to grow.  He is portrayed as having odd personal habits (he was a late riser and an early drinker) but he was surely the man of the hour.   If not for Churchill, most of Europe might be fascist or Nazi today.