The Splendid and the Vile

A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

By: Erik Larson

Narrated by: John Lee, Erik Larson

Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

The number one New York Times best-selling author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake delivers a fresh and compelling portrait of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz.

NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2020 BY The Washington Post • HuffPost • The Seattle Times • Lit Hub • The Week • PopSugar

On Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next 12 months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally - and willing to fight to the end.

In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people "the art of being fearless." It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it’s also an intimate domestic drama, set against the backdrop of Churchill’s prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and, of course, 10 Downing Street in London.

Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports - some released only recently - Larson provides a new lens on London’s darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their youngest daughter, Mary, who chafes against her parents’ wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela’s illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the advisers in Churchill’s "Secret Circle", to whom he turns in the hardest moments.

The Splendid and the Vile takes listeners out of today’s political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership, when, in the face of unrelenting horror, Churchill’s eloquence, courage, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together.

This audiobook includes a recording of Winston Churchill's 1941 Christmas Eve speech.

©2020 Erik Larson (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"What Larson brilliantly provides are the finer details of the effects on England as he focuses on the family and home of its dynamic, idiosyncratic, and indefatigable leader.... Larson's skill at integrating vast research and talent for capturing compelling human dramas culminate in an inspirational portrait of one of history’s finest, most fearless leaders." (Booklist, starred review)

"A captivating history of Churchill’s heroic year, with more than the usual emphasis on his intimates." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

"The kind of page-turner you always want in a history book but rarely get...Larson gives the reader a ‘you are there’ sense of the intensity of Churchill’s work with his team on life-and-death challenges - and solving them at a pace I found to be mind-blowing." (Bill Gates, GatesNotes)

Great story; narrator terrible

The narrator is so affected, exaggerated, and draws such attention to himself that he detracts from a marvelous story. What unfortunate casting.

Intriguing story

Erik Larson writes a great story. Someone else should have read it. John Lee sing songs his way through the book. I stuck it out because of the story.

The Narrator is suboptimal, but Churchill!!!

The narrator is suboptimal, and tiresome, but the story is well done, and the strength and vigor of Churchill shines through. Strength in impossible times....a story for today.

Nobody does it better!

I can’t think of any writing better history right now. You generally know how it’s going to turn out, but still can’t wait to turn the page and find out for sure! The details, and the anecdotes are remarkable. Combined with John Lee’s narration, these books are a must. I hate getting to the end!

Horrible horrible horrible narration!!!

The speaker's habit of speaking very loudly for the first part of a sentence then followed by barely whispering the end of sentence drove me crazy - ruined what otherwise would have been a very interesting book. Couldn't they find a narrator who spoke normally like most every other audible book I bought?

The narrator was unbearable

I almost always listen to a sample of the audio before I buy a book, but in this case I was so eager to read it that I forgot. Mistake. This narrator’s reading of The Splendid and the Vile was horrible. His breathy and overly-dramatic reading was really annoying and distracting. He also had this weird way of sort of tailing off at the end of sentences that drove me nuts.

Wonderful

The story is that of the ages.
The man was a giant mind and heart wrapped up in a boy.
The presentation was masterful.

Sublime Non Fiction

So well written it almost rolls like a novel but every bit of it real history devoid of undocumented narrative. Such masterful command of known material into a fresh medium writing is a testament to human storytelling and it’s potential for accuracy. Homer would be proud.

The Amazing and the Lyrical - please read

Reading this during the ascent of CV19, creates a longing for leadership, cpetency, and compassion, the clearly rare combination found in any crisis of magnitude. Mr. Larsen's prose and storytelling--using such personal and rarely plumbed extant source material--provide an amazing and lyrical book. Ending the Audible edition with the recording of Churchill's Christmas Tree address--1941--is nothing short of miraculous and extraordinarily poignant. Please read and use this book to measure and guide our common understanding of leadership in the crisis of an age.

This book is why I listen to Audible.

Great story, beautifully performed. 100% satisfied and enthusiastically recommended. I might even listen to it again- it's that good, and that well-written.