Hi, non-fiction fans.
I’ve got a good one for you this week. It’s the true story of an extraordinary leader who took over the reins of his country in the midst of an existential disaster. Somehow he managed to redirect industrial production to meet critical needs and convince the public that they could survive a brutal attack from a seemingly overpowering enemy.
No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. It’s the story of Winston Churchill during the German bombing blitz of Britain in 1940. As he assumed power from a disgraced Prime Minister who had tried to placate Hitler, Germany had overrun Europe and forced British forces into an ignominious retreat across the Channel. How Churchill managed to ramp up production, not of something relatively simple like ventilators, but combat aircraft, was a marvel. And how he got population to remain hopeful through daily aerial bombing attacks is a lesson of leadership for all time. From Erik Larson, author of Devil in the White City.
Click to buy:
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz