JanB's Reviews > The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

“Never was there such a contrast of natural splendor and human vileness.” (John Colville’s diary entry about the peculiar beauty of watching bombs fall over the city)

What better time than during a pandemic to read about the unrelenting courage of a people during one of the darkest periods of history? During the Blitz, Londoners endured fifty-seven consecutive nights of bombing. Tens of thousands of people died. How did the people endure such a terrifying ordeal? What was it like living day after day knowing that during the night the bombs would rain down and you might be one of the many who would die?

How did they endure? Churchill’s determination, unrelenting optimism, and eloquent speeches encouraged the people and gave them hope. He emboldened them to realize the part they played in this moment in history. Amid the sheer terror of the relentless bombings, Churchill was an extraordinary leader and a beacon of hope.

Churchill was a brilliant orator who never wavered in telling the people the hard truth, but always followed it with optimism and an unwavering conviction that England would prevail. His courage was inspiring and his is a picture of true leadership. But he was also a man who had his flaws, quirks, and idiosyncrasies. There was opposition to appointing him as Prime Minister, but at this particular moment in history he was the right man for the job and he got it right.

Covering Winston Churchill’s first year in office, between May 1940 and May 1941, Larson, known for his exhaustive research, used personal journals, archival documents, and intelligence reports. Through these we learn of the everyday lives of ordinary citizens, as well as those of Churchill, his family, and the people closest to him. No family is perfect, including Churchill’s. The stories of his wife Clementine, his daughter Mary (who ended up being one of my favorite characters!) , his son Randall, and daughter-in-law Pamela, provided much of the human interest stories, making this such a readable book. Though the subject is grim, there’s no shortage of humorous stories.

Plenty of books have been written about WWII and The Blitz, but only Erik Larson can tell it in an original way that makes history come alive. I felt as if I lived this story with these characters. It reads like a thrilling novel, but every word, every conversation, is true, and I wasn’t ready for the book to end. Larson writes history for people who think they don’t like history.

This is a true gem, don’t miss it!

* I received a digital copy of the book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.