Rich Elvers's Blog

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Splendid review

The Splendid and the Vile is an eye opening and exhilarating historical narrative.

Not really knowing a lot about Churchhill, I was quickly charmed by his colourful character, childlike enthusiasm, stubborn resolve and by the scent of his ever-present cigars. I found myself wandering the halls of 10 Downing late at night, wondering and worrying with Winston and and his assistant John Colville as he got subtly and inexorably seduced by this new PM while still longing for the intellectual dignity of Neville Chamberlain.

The thing that really struck me about Londoners' strength in the face of the blitz was the common humanity and adaptability with which we all face our tribulations.

Similar to the way we all handled the pandemic lockdown, adapting, navigating our way through the new normal, Londoners endured terrifying nights of incendiaries and explosive bombs by going out to dinner and underground bars as though this was the new normal. Because it was. And it is.

The grim acceptance, morbid humour, and ability to just live life under the blitz seemed an apt and powerful parallel that I felt the book opened a door to the past through which I slipped each night, and gained strength and hope from the inhabitants of London and Churchill's inner circle.

What a wonderful revelation about the human spirit it is to discover the shared human nature through events separated by 80 years.

Every time I read one of Larson's books, from In the Garden of Beasts to Dead Wake, I'm transported into another world and I gain an insight and understanding of historical events on such a deeper level that I realize we rarely see what's really happening by reading the news or wikipedia's shallow recounting.

When I closed closed the cover on the Splendid and the Vile, I felt exhausted, exhilarated and sad that it was over, much like Mary Churchill and the rest of the gang at 10 Downing Street.




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The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz