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The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
by Larson, Erik
Availability:
$10.49
Used
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Trade Paperback
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9780385348737
Overview
Overview
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake delivers an intimate chronicle of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz--an inspiring portrait of courage and leadership in a time of unprecedented crisis "One of [Erik Larson's] best books yet . . . perfectly timed for the moment."--Time - "A bravura performance by one of America's greatest storytellers."--NPR NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review - Time - Vogue - NPR - The Washington Post - Chicago Tribune - The Globe & Mail - Fortune - Bloomberg - New York Post - The New York Public Library - Kirkus Reviews - LibraryReads - PopMatters On Winston Churchill's first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally--and willing to fight to the end. In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people "the art of being fearless." It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it's also an intimate domestic drama, set against the backdrop of Churchill's prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and of course 10 Downing Street in London. Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports--some released only recently--Larson provides a new lens on London's darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their youngest daughter, Mary, who chafes against her parents' wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela's illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the advisers in Churchill's "Secret Circle," to whom he turns in the hardest moments. The Splendid and the Vile takes readers out of today's political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership, when, in the face of unrelenting horror, Churchill's eloquence, courage, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together.
- Format: TradePaperback
- Author: Larson, Erik
- ISBN: 9780385348737
- Condition: Used
- Dimensions: 8.00 x 1.25
- Number Of Pages: 624
- Publication Year: 2022
Customer Reviews
Rating Snapshot
5 ★
75%
4 ★
15%
3 ★
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2 ★
10%
1 ★
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20 Ratings
0
0% Would Recommend
0 Recommendations
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Churchill
Jennan S. - 4 years agoGreat informative book, condition was very good! Arrived as promised!
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This book likely includes information unavailable previously as important files have attained the age where they can be opened
Susan F. - 5 years 9 months agothis an excellent book about an important time in the history of civilization, well researched and well written as are all Erik Larson's books. History is important as it greatly effects the present.
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Worth the longer read
DeAnne H. - 5 years 9 months agoEntertainingly detailed. Delves into the notes and diaries of the time and engagingly puts them in context.
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Not My Cup of Tea
Cathe J. - 5 years 10 months agoLaborious to read. I had great hope of adding to my lack of historical knowledge of Churchill and I gave up after only a couple of chapters. My husband, who loves history slogged his way through it and agreed it is a slow read.
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WW2 history
Ross L. - 5 years 11 months agoVery well written and documented. If you are a student of history, you'll need to read this book.