April 8, 2025
The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
An examination of the five months between Abraham Lincoln's election and the start of the Civil War. I have enjoyed Larson's other books a great deal, but for me, this one didn't measure up to his earlier works. I think the sheer volume of research and the number of characters causes the narrative to bog down. Normally Larson's books are gripping page turners, but I had to work to finish this one.
May 3, 2021
The Splendid and the Vile: a Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson
On Winston Churchill's first day as prime minister, Adolph Hitler invaded Poland. It only got worse from there: for the next 12 months, Hitler's Luftwaffe systematically bombed England almost every night, killing 45,000 Britons. It was particularly bad on the nights when there was a full moon. Churchill held the country together and gave the British hope.
Usually we hear about how Churchill was respected and loved, but he was both admired and reviled by the British. This is also a family saga about Churchill's wife Clementine, his son Randolph and his unhappy wife Pamela, Pamela's American lover, and the youngest Churchill daughter Mary, who chafed under her parents' refusal to let her play a more active role in the war.
Erik Larson writes wonderful narrative nonfiction that is far from traditional history books. Never dry, always fascinating.
Chequers, Churchill's country home
