Book Log 2020 #64: The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

This is, to my mind, a kind of sequel to In the Garden of Beasts, where Larson recounts the early days of Nazi Germany through the eyes of the US ambassador to Germany and his daughter. In that book, the characters were initially fascinated, and in some cases thrilled, by the energy and spirit of the Nazis, only to become horrified when their intentions became clear.

In this book, the Nazis have already started to put their intentions into action - they've invaded large parts of Europe and are starting to look across the English Channel - and newly-elected prime minister Winston Churchill has to figure out how to not only resist, but to get the help necessary to defeat the Nazis.

To do this, we get an in-depth look at the decisions Churchill made that bolstered public sentiment and the will to fight back. Along with this we get an intimate look at the personal lives of the Churchills, and how the choices made to fight the war had individual repercussions for each member of the family.

I did like this book quite a bit, just as I like pretty much all of Larson's books. I didn't know a great deal about Churchill prior to reading (and probably still don't know that much about him), but the book did give me a greater appreciation for him.