The Splendid and the Vile
By Erik Larson
My Rating: Four Stars
This book is non-fiction- not a typical go-to for me, but it was Erik Larson, the author of the wonderful book The Devil in the White City, so I had to check it out, and I am so glad that I did.
Heavily researched and based completely on written records painstakingly uncovered by Larson, (even the sources and acknowledgements in the back of the book offer great little snippets to add to the text) this retelling of the events surrounding England’s involvement in WWII read more like a great piece of fiction.
Larson never lost my interest and I plowed through these 500+ pages in a few days. The book is based around Winston Churchill and his coming to power at a time when Hitler was knocking on the door of England during one of the world’s greatest atrocities. I learned so much more than any history lesson by reading this book, and Larson includes many of Churchill’s family members, friends, foes and associates various biographical stories- allowing for differing perspectives and storylines which were revealing and captivating, and certainly helped to keep the pace, the whole way through.
The book is action packed: the RAF and the Luftwaffe battling with explosions in the sky above London, fires tearing apart whole towns, and your heart will race like watching a movie, all while reading quietly in your comfy chair.
There are underlying love stories, drama, affairs, naked meetings, 24 inch cigars and nonstop sensational firsthand recounting of the events of the time. Did you know, for example, that Churchill would regularly hold meetings while in a bath?
At the moment, being as we are all fighting an unseen threat, Covid19, this book was a wonderful shift in perspective- at least for me, comparing our current leader, Trump, and his position of power and his Fox News interviews to Churchill’s radio broadcasts over the first couple of years of the war and Roosevelt’s fireside chats.
Seeing the people of London reacting to utter devastation of a very visible threat as compared to an unseen virus, this book really provided me with some much-needed insight. I personally found the juxtaposition fascinating in how in 1940 during a war, the need for leadership and how the decisions of a few can affect the masses, it was both disturbing and revealing.
I highly recommend this book for anyone struggling to make sense of the world right now, or anyone who has even a remote interest in history or the makings of a leader- I promise you will gain something from reading this wonderful book.
This book will absolutely be one to stick with me for years and I heartily recommend it.
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