Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* It is difficult to imagine a more challenging first year in office than that experienced by Winston Churchill in 1940. Hitler invaded Belgium and Holland on Churchill's first day in office, and the Dunkirk evacuation was only two weeks away. Yet, as Larson (Dead Wake, 2015) so artfully illustrates, it is equally difficult to imagine a leader more uniquely equipped for confronting Germany than Churchill. The broad outlines may be familiar to most readers: the relentless air raids by the Luftwaffe and the heavy burden that England had to bear before the other Allied powers joined the war. 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 draws heavily on the diaries and papers of Churchill's inner circle, especially daughter Mary and personal secretary James Colville, as well as correspondence with his trusted advisers: Lord Beaverbrook, physicist Frederick Lindemann, and General Hastings Lionel Ismay. Similarly, incorporating snippets from the diaries of German leaders Goring and Goebbels demonstrates how determined the Germans were to annihilate England, even as they expressed the grudging respect they came to have for Churchill. 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.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Larson, a library star, once again masterfully renders history immediate, suspenseful, and relevant. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.
Kirkus Reviews
The bestselling author deals with one of the most satisfying good-vs.-evil battles in history, the year (May 1940 to May 1941) during which Churchill and Britain held off Hitler. Bookshelves groan with histories of Britain's finest hour, but Larson (Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, 2015, etc.) employs a mildly unique strategy, combining an intense, almost day-to-day account of Churchill's actions with those of his family, two of his officials (Frederick Lindemann, who was Churchill's prime science adviser, and Lord Beaverbrook, minister of air production), and staff, including private secretary Jock Colville and bodyguard Walter Thompson. Since no one doubted they lived in extraordinary times and almost everyone kept journals and wrote letters, the author takes full advantage of an avalanche of material, much of which will be unfamiliar to readers. Churchill remains the central figure; his charisma, public persona, table talk, quirks, and sybaritic lifestyle retain their fascination. Authors have not ignored his indispensable wife, Clementine (Sonia Purnell's 2015 biography is particularly illuminating), but even history buffs will welco me Larson's attention to their four children, especially Mary, a perky adolescent and his favorite. He makes no attempt to rehabilitate Winston's only son, Randolph, a heavy-drinking spendthrift whose long-suffering wife, Pamela, finally consoled herself with a long affair with American representative Averell Harriman, which was no secret to the family and was entirely approved. Britain's isolation ended when Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, but Larson ends on May 10. The Blitz was in full swing, with a particularly destructive raid on London, but that day also saw Rudolf Hess, Hitler's second in command, fly to England and engage in a wacky attempt (planned since the previous autumn) to negotiate peace. Nothing came of Hess' action, but that day may also have marked the peak of the Blitz, which soon diminished as Germany concentrated its forces against the Soviet Union. A captivating history of Churchill's heroic year, with more than the usual emphasis on his intimates. Copyright Kirkus 2020 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Reviews
Library Journal Reviews
In this illuminating history, best-selling writer Larson (
PW Annex Reviews
Larson (