Received an ARC of The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940 when Hitler invaded the Low Countries and within a couple of months France had fallen. Now Hitler was able to focus his efforts on the UK using the strategic France as a launching point. Not everyone was enamored with the new PM with his pink silk underwear, siren blue suit and cigars. He desperately needed US support but the Isolationist sentiment and the Neutrality Act tied FDR’s hands. The Splendid and Vile focuses on the time between 1940 and the bombing of Pearl Harbor with the US’s entry into the war. Larsen does an excellent job of portraying Churchill as he dances to keep Roosevelt believing the Brits can win and not portraying the desperation that might present the”Blitz” as a lost cause. Most of the facts are well known but it is the details that add to the history. After the war the Royal Family came out on the balcony to the cheering crowds, then went back into the palace only to reappear separating so Churchill could come out front and center to the grateful British population. However, I found the horror of the “Blitz” where’s “total of civilian deaths in 1940 and 1941, ... reached 44,652, with another 52,370 injured, of the dead 5,626 were children” more viscerally portrayed in books like Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Many Brits went to the rooftops to watch the splendid aerial display only to reminded of its vile origin. Good but not up to the level of Erik Larson’s other works.

Excellent! Erik Larson is already an auto-buy author for me and The Splendid and the Vile is everything you expect from Larson and more. He has a way of taking an event from history (that you think you know all about) and telling it in a way that makes you feel you were there and actually know the people. I was enjoying the book so much I didn't want it to end. This is a must read, especially for friends of Churchill, WWII, and historical narrative nonfiction. Five stars all the way.

I'm sorry to say that I could NOT get through this. Holy moly, it's dense and long and booooring. The day-by-day, event-by-event telling of this story just got the better of me.

And I'm an Erik Larson fan, for the most part. But ooooof, I can't recommend this to anyone but WWII completists.

Erik Larson never disappoints!! From the vivid, detailed descriptions of people, places and events his books bring history alive and make me feel I understand it better. I only had a rudimentary understanding of Churchill and this time in English history, and I wasn't sure I wanted to read a whole book about it but I did, I enjoyed every page of it and Larson laid it out wonderfully, brought it to life.

Erik Larson, to no surprise, paints history with a human and detailed touch. Yet another find book from this author.

Just finished an advanced reader copy of Erik Larson's latest work. Thanks to NetGalley for the copy!

I have read all of Erik Larson's previous works so I am clearly biased. He is such as wonderful writer and storyteller. His books are a complete pleasure to read. His latest is no exception to that rule! I am sucker for all Churchill stories to begin with.

I can't imagine that anyone even a. new reader of Larson's work would be anything but delighted with this one. I learned so much from this story. New sources and Erik Larson's touch make this one a must read for any WWII student.

This will be a real hit with his current fans and will win many new ones I'm certain. You will see what it was like to live in Britain at the start of the war. You will become familiar with Churchill's habits.

Highly recommend!

I have always admired the British for standing up to Hitler’s forces in WWII, after almost all of Europe had fallen under Nazi control. How did they endure the almost nightly bombing raids? This book focuses on Churchill’s first year (1940-1941) as British Prime Minister, the Battle of Britain, and what life was like for Churchill, his family, and his inner circle. As Larson states in his introductory notes to readers:

<I>“Mine is a more intimate account that delves into how Churchill and his circle went about surviving on a daily basis: the dark moments and the light, the romantic entanglements and debacles, the sorrows and laughter, and the odd little episodes that reveal how life was really lived under Hitler’s tempest of steel.”</I>

Larson draws upon memoirs, diaries, letters, recently declassified material, and many other sources documented in the appendix. He artfully weaves personal stories into the larger tapestry of significant events, Churchill’s famous speeches, and the escalating war with Nazi Germany. He shows Churchill’s active pursuit of involvement by the United States, along with the obstacles. The reader gains insight into Churchill as a person, including his leadership style, daily routines, and eccentricities.

Mary Churchill’s diary and previously unpublished excerpts from John Colville’s journal provide material for many personal anecdotes. I found it interesting that Mary, Churchill’s seventeen-year-old daughter, acts as most would expect of an adventurous teen, even while her parents try to protect her by sending her away from London. Larson also mines German sources, such as Goebbels’ journal and fighter pilot Adolf Galland’s recollections.

A few highlights include:
- The need to camouflage Chequers, the country house supplied to the Prime Minister, where he entertained family, colleagues, and dignitaries
- Professor Frederick Lindemann’s scientific ideas to assist in the war effort
- Rudolf Hess’ flight to Scotland

<i>The Splendid and the Vile</i> is a masterful work of narrative non-fiction and is up to the high standards I have come to expect from Erik Larson. I have previously read five of the author’s works and this one is of the same superior quality. Larson puts the “story” in history. Highly recommended!