BookLife Review by Carol O'Day: The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (Erik Larson, author)
Non-fiction, Winston Churchill, 1940, WWII, The Blitz, Chequers, Clementine Churchill, Randolph Churchill, Mary Churchill, diaries, the War Rooms.
And now, in honor of the May 10th (84th) anniversary of the start of Winston Churchill’s first term as Prime Minister of England, something a little different. The Splendid and the Vile: a Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz, is Erik Larson’s (The Devil in the White City) 2020 work detailing the first year of Winston’s Churchill’s tenure as Prime Minister of England. There are periods and people in history about which and whom a well-educated person is well-advised to have at least a passing knowledge. Winston Churchill at the start (and arguably throughout) World War II is one such person at one such time.
Larson, a master teller of history stories, relies on family and friends’ diaries, war documents, archival news stories and letters, among other sources, to color in the Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister in a way that gives substance and flavor to the man and the time that penetrates beneath and surrounds the now-famous anecdotes, speeches and pivotal moments that Churchill and all of England faced during The Blitz, Germany’s intensive bombing of London and greater United Kingdom during WWII. The sections about the creation and operation of the War Rooms for military and political communications, intelligence and strategy was fascinating. After reading the book, I visited the War Rooms in London and had an enhanced appreciation for the role they played in the war because of this book. Similarly, Larson’s illumination of Churchill’s ongoing discussions with Franklin Roosevelt shed new light for me. I had not fully appreciated how diligently Churchill worked to enlist Roosevelt and the U.S. in the war, and how slow to the table the U.S. was.
There were parts of the book that seemed less pivotal and operated more as social color. The book included many personal reflections and anecdotes, and had a bit of the “how the sausage was made” feel at times. While Churchill’s daughter, Mary, is an interesting character in her own right, there was a bit too much of Mary’s diary in the book for my taste, with her (albeit age-appropriate) reflections on the ways she might contribute to the war effort, what to wear where, who was coming to the country home for the weekend, and her dating life. While not uninteresting, these portions did little truly expand our understanding of Churchill’s role in history, other than to remind us that he was also a father and family man. We do learn more, if only glancingly, details about Churchill’s wife Clementine, including some of the specific ways in which she helped the war effort, such as visiting the subterranean tube or metro stations and making recommendations about conditions and necessary improvements for sanitation. The diaries of Churchill’s aide, who essentially lived in a Chequers, added context and value about the political figures and powers moving around in Churchill’s orbit. Though not surprising or new information, there was significant mention of Churchill’s fondness for a dry martini, champagne at dinner and brandy thereafter. Perhaps a habit of the times, one does wonder whether the beverages enhanced Churchill’s speech writing or inhibited it, and what impact, if any, it had on the power brokers around the table at his dinners.
The Splendid and the Vile should be understood as limited in its scope. It does not purport or pretend to be either a comprehensive and exhaustive biography of Churchill or an encyclopedic recounting of England’s politics and strategic decisions during Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister. Instead, it colors in the lines of the life of the monumental man in that momentous year. It adds depth to the man and the moment and makes the heroic figure just a cocktail or two more human. It is also a delightful opportunity to discover the origins of a few of his most famous speeches.
Purchase The Splendid and the Vile, a Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz here