The Splendid and the Vile provides a great insight into a man who held his ground fast amidst danger and despair, a man who never knew the word “surrender”, who kept his optimism in the face of losses, to whom the world owes gratitude. It wasn’t a bed of roses for him, and he wasn’t young either. But he firmly believed that dawn would come if he held on. So he held on, bearing the terrible burden of responsibility and maintaining the morale of the British people with his eloquent oratory. And that man was Winston Churchill, whose defiance against fascism played a decisive role in world history.
The narrative concentrates on 1940 to 1941, the first year of Churchill as the Prime Minister. When he came to power in May 1940, the picture looked black for England with the failure of the Norwegian campaign and the imminent fall of France to the Nazis. Churchill shouldered a burden no British Prime Minister yet had. And that was the defence of the British Empire, especially English soil, from any Nazi invasion. When France fell to Germany in June 1940, the invasion was no longer a speculation. It was real and imminent. Control of the sea was the British strong defence, but now it was threatened because the Nazis could use the French fleet against the British. The Luftwaffe (the Nazi air force) could bomb England easily now that the French airfields were open to them. Europe had fallen; the British Empire stood alone, and the United States still held aloof.
Churchill had many battles to fight. He had to defend the nation militarily from the German threat of invasion. At the same time, he had to keep up the morale of the British people. And most importantly, he had to win US support. Churchill understood that, without the direct involvement of the US in the war, it could never be won. These were no easy tasks. But Churchill was never discouraged, even in the gloomiest hours. He wasn’t a magician who could ease the danger and destruction. He was just a human who refused to give up. As he said in his first speech as Prime Minister to the House of Commons, he had “nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat”. In the end, however, he won his battles. British citizens backed him, to which he was extremely grateful. Allied forces wiped out the Nazi regime, though at a greater human cost.
A greater part of the book’s narrative is dedicated to the Blitz, which occurred between September 1940 and May 1941. The death toll was massive, and the destruction was devastating. I couldn’t imagine how England endured it. Frustration gave rise to certain criticism, but overall, people’s courage did not falter. Churchill was grateful to his people. “I never gave them courage,” he said. “I was able to focus theirs.”
I have read many WWII-related books (fiction and nonfiction), but they have focused mostly on military operations, especially in the later years of the war, after the United States joined in and allied forces formed. This was the first time I have read about the early years of the war when England was very much on their own. Eric Larson delivers a good factual account of the inner workings and the political maneuvering of Churchill’s government. That’s not all. He also furnishes a good picture of the man himself. He always had my respect as a pivotal figure in world history. I have read some of his speeches. All these have given me the idea that Winston Churchill was a kind of superhero. Larson’s account paints a different picture. We see a vulnerable human who wept at the death of his fellow men and the destruction of British history, who despaired. But that vulnerable man was stubborn and did not know the word fear to the greater advantage of the world.
At the end of the book, Larson raises the question of whether even another could have done the same. Larson himself seems skeptical. After reading this portrait of Churchill, I very much doubt it. It takes a man like him with his bulldog stubbornness to fiercely cling to hope in the face of despair.
Rating: 4/5
