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The Splendid and the Vile

Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Bombing of London

Erik Larson
Drawing together official records, diaries and memoirs, this day-to-day account follows Winston Churchill’s first tumultuous year as Prime Minister. As bombs rained down on London and a German invasion seemed imminent, he faced personal debt, family problems and opposition within his own party, while organizing the nation’s defence, shoring up its morale, and attempting to persuade US President Roosevelt to enter the war. Slightly off-mint
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RRP £10.99

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Product information:
  • Publisher: William Collins
  • Year: 2021
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 604pp
  • Illustrated: No
  • Dimensions: 197x128mm
  • ISBN: 9780008274986
  • Condition: New - Very Good
  • Weight: 0.4kg
Product code:
545079
Category tags:
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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 Times




A 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.
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