Play Book Tag discussion

I have read several of Larson's books, and while this one was not my favorite, I did enjoy it. Once again, Larson has taken a unique time/event, and dug down to the level of daily life to present a unique perspective. Now I have not read any other books on Churchill, but I enjoyed this one probably because I would not read a more conventional biography. By including his family and closest advisors in the narrative, the book still showed Winston Churchill as the prime minister, the politician, and the man with the impossible job of guiding the UK through the darkest days of the war. But you also saw and felt the Battle of Britain through the eyes of the ordinary people. I could not help but think about Ukraine, where people are also facing bombing raids every day. One of the sources Larson drew upon was the diaries from the Mass Observation project. From Wikipedia: Mass-Observation originally aimed to record everyday life in Britain through a panel of around 500 untrained volunteer observers who either maintained diaries or replied to open-ended questionnaires (known as directives). I found this fascinating and appreciated all the quotes from these journals that were included in the text. The book also attempted a 360 view of Churchill's first year as PM, by including brief glimpses of Hitler's and Roosevelt's thinking and actions. Until reading this book, I had not known about Hess' solo flight into Britain to try to get Churchill to agree to some sort of treaty with Hitler. I learned a great deal and got a good look at Churchill as a leader and unique man who somehow got the job done.

Made my top ten the year I read it, glad you enjoyed it!