Temple Mountain

I'm a little surprised that I haven't read any Erik Larson yet. I've been hearing good things from friends and family members about "The Devil and the White City" for some time now, and I've enjoyed dipping into other works of novelistic histories (as opposed to historical novels). My friend Dan recently mentioned that his favorite book so far this year was "The Splendid and the Vile", which was enough of a recommendation for me to finally pick it up.

This is a very focused book that almost entirely limits itself to describing the first year of Winston Churchill's term as Prime Minister, which included the fall of France and evacuation from Dunkirk, the increasingly brutal attacks of the Luftwaffe as part of The Blitz, and his wooing of America to provide support through the Lend-Lease Act. While centered on Churchill, it also looks at the members of his circle, including family, employees, and key advisors, as well as occasional glimpses at ordinary English folk; across the Channel, we get periodic reports from Goring, Goebbels and Hess.

The book feels pretty evenly balanced between grand matters of strategy (particular in how Churchill processed decisions and enacted them) and slice-of-life vignettes that seek to convey what it felt like to live in England at this time. I was slightly surprised by just how much of the book is focused on the Blitz; there is some occasional mention of U-Boat combat in the Atlantic and codebreaking at Bletchley Park, but probably less than 1% as many words as that devoted to raids, defenses and counter-raids. On further reflection, though, that does make sense, since Churchill and the rest of his government personally experienced the bombings; naval warfare in the Atlantic was similarly important, but did not directly impact their lives.

While this isn't necessarily a topical book, I did find it particularly resonant while massive bombing campaigns against civilian infrastructure continue in Ukraine and Gaza. You get a strong sense for the fear of attacks, the horror of mangled bodies and demolished homes, as well as the stiffening resolve to carry on and the desire to hit back.

I think I was already familiar with a lot of the information from this book, but really enjoyed how it was presented. Churchill comes across as very eccentric: working for hours out of his bathtub, surrounded by secretaries and ministers; wandering down the halls in a one-piece romper suit; putting military marches on the record player and demonstrating rifle maneuvers to party guests at 2AM. We see how he tries out some of his famous oratory in personal conversations to see what kind of a response it gets before deploying those phrases in his famous speeches.

Of course, I learned a lot too. One major character is The Prof, another smart and eccentric person, a devoted vegetarian who helps explain complicated concepts in a simple manner. The Prof is a helpful resource, but also seems to send Churchill down wild goose chases, in particular some fanciful inventions like balloon-tethered aerial mines. Those ideas sound ridiculous; but at the time they probably seemed much less ridiculous than, say, the navigation beams Germany was deploying.

A few of the "side-stories" kind of plodded for me. In particular there's a long-running and kind of interminable "plot" for Colville, one of Churchill's secretaries. Colville has unrequited feelings for a woman, wants to join the RAF, and eventually does it after getting contact lenses. That's it; but more words are spent on that than the Battle of the Atlantic, North Africa, the Middle East, Yugoslavia and Greece combined. I'm sure some other people will enjoy that story, but personally I found it the least interesting and longest of the book.

Overall, I thought this was a good, fresh look at one of the most famous people in history. It definitely isn't a hagiography, but Larson clearly is entertained by Churchill and admires his courage and strength in the face of adversity. It's an interesting combination of humanizing someone while showing their larger-than-life, almost mythical qualities.