Churchill and Hitler

I have no idea whether Erik Larson was thinking about Trump when he set out to write about Hitler. (Something tells me he was thinking about Trump.)

One of the most satisfying kinds of stories is: good fights against evil. Evil wears a mask, for a bit. Good sniffs out clues. Villains are identified; the problem is contained; order is restored.

Erik Larson made his name with "The Devil in the White City," about a serial killer in Chicago. The new book, "The Splendid and the Vile," gives us a different kind of killer (again, it's Hitler), and the "detective" is unusually charismatic. The detective is Winston Churchill--who writes and speaks as well as a gifted novelist, has a talent for making grim realities seem inspiring, and refuses (refuses, refuses) to give up.

Larson's book plunges you into Churchill's semi-Victorian world, in which his wife, Clementine, gives him moral scoldings via handwritten letter. (This made me think of Abigail with John Adams.) Churchill can't keep track of pedestrian matters--for example, his bank account--because he needs to be sure England wins France's fleet, and Germany's secret new bomb-delivery innovation is thwarted, and FDR understands just how cowardly America's non-action seems, on a global scale.

Meanwhile, Hitler is irritated in Germany; he had believed the defeat of England would follow very quickly after the defeat of France; he had believed a quick turn to the Eastern front, the grand prize, would be possible.

As others have said, the book has many breathtaking details. Coffin makers worried that there would be a British shortage on coffin wood. An act of defiance--for a Brit--was sitting in a public park, or stretching out and taking a nap on a bench. If Churchill read a speech over the radio with a cigar in his mouth, the public would worry that he had lost his mind, or suffered a stroke. Hard to imagine.

I'm happy to have chosen this book--which seems geared toward bucking you up in trying times. Erik Larson is a savvy writer, a savvy hunter for gripping topics. Recommended.

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