by Erik Larson, 2020, Crown, sold by Random House

This book basically highlights the first year of Winston Churchill’s rule as prime minister from May of 1941. Like Larson’s other books, he contrasts what is going on in one venue versus another, this time contrasting Churchill’s world in England with Hitler’s in Germany.

The book focuses on the personal lives of Churchill, his family, and his closest advisors and aides.  Much of the information is derived from personal diaries and other written sources from that time.  On the other hand, Larson doesn’t glean as much information from those sources in Germany and, therefore, the comparison between the two individual’s is heavily weighted toward what went on in Churchill’s world.

While the book was somewhat interesting, it didn’t really grab me.  There are a lot of passages that were pretty mundane such as John Colville’s pursuit of his girlfriend who had little romantic interest in him.  These were taken from previously unpublished sections of his diary and really don’t add much in my opinion.

I had previously read Citizens of London by Lynne Olson which was about Averell Harriman, Edward R. Murrow, and John Winant and their experiences in London during the war.  This book also had quite a bit of information about their connections to the Churchill family, but I thought the book was much more compelling than Larson’s book.