The Splendid and the Vile

 Larson, Erik. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. 2020. 585p. ISBN 978-0-385-34871-3. Available at 940.54 LAR on the library shelves.

On the 10th of May, 1940, Winston Churchill becomes the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the British defeat to the German army in Norway. That same day, Hitler's forces invade Holland and Belgium, forcing France to the defensive as the Germans overrun the heavily fortified French border. Committed to fight to the end, Churchill is unable to prevent the French army's collapse and the subsequent surrender. The British manage to evacuate most of its expeditionary corp as well as large parts of the French army surrounded at Dunkirk. 

Vowing to destroy the British's will to fight on while planning an invasion, Hitler orders Goering and the German Air Force to obliterate British air defenses. Led by a relentless Churchill, the government takes control of aircraft production and manages to double, then triple, the numbers of monthly airplanes put in service. As the Germans expand their war efforts and increase the number and intensity of bombings, the British fight back and begin dropping bombs on German targets. As cities are inadvertently hit, the war takes a deadlier turn and soon London is under constant attack, while other British cities are also reduced to rubble.

With the country preparing for invasion, Churchill actively courts the Americans, knowing that Britain cannot win the war without American intervention. Britain must survive long enough for the Americans to be dragged in the war. The relentless pounding of London and continued military losses compound Churchill's headaches. Can the British resist a determined German air assault?

Told from primary sources including the diaries of Churchill's daughters and one of his personal secretary, The Splendid and the Vile reveals a much personal approach to war than most histories of the Blitz. Focused on the one year where the Luftwaffe relentlessly dropped tons of bombs, killing over 45,000 people and causing until economic and structural damage, this book explores the impacts on the lives of ordinary people who lived through the Blitz, as well as follow the reactions and decisions made by Churchill and his entourage during that fateful year. Fans of history will love reading how Churchill galvanized the British people in fighting what seemed to be a lost cause.