THE 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER‘Every time Churchill took to the airwaves it
was as if he were injecting adrenaline-soaked courage directly into the
British people … Larson tells the story of how that feat was accomplished …
Fresh, fast and deeply moving.’ New York TimesA STARTLING, GRIPPING PORTRAIT
OF WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE ALIVE IN BRITAIN DURING THE BLITZ, AND WHAT IT WAS
LIKE TO BE AROUND CHURCHILL.On Winston Churchill’s first day as prime
minister, 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, the Nazis would wage a relentless bombing campaign,
killing 45,000 Britons and destroying two million homes.In The Splendid and
the Vile, Erik Larson gives a new and brilliantly cinematic account of how
Britain’s most iconic leader set about unifying the nation at its most
vulnerable moment, and teaching ‘the art of being fearless.’Drawing on once-
secret intelligence reports and diaries, 1 bestselling author Larson takes
readers from the shelled streets of London to Churchill’s own chambers, giving
a vivid vision of true leadership, when – in the face of unrelenting horror –
a leader of eloquence, strategic brilliance and perseverance bound a country,
and a family, together. Read mor
