amberinhonduras's review against another edition
4.0
Slower than other books I've read of his but very eye opening to how people could convince themselves to turn a blind eye to Hitler's evil.
jenyth's review against another edition
4.0
Not something I usually go for but the extensive quotations from contemporary sources/diaries made it feel very real & was such an interesting way into a period of history!
jbelang85's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. This was a great book which, while covered a lot of territory other big Churchill books have, had some other interesting stories and unique insights. The only reason I don't give it a full 5 stars is that there are some unusual, 1 paragraph chapters. The stories about the people around Churchill was really interesting as were the stories from the Mass Observation diaries. Also, I never knew the story about Hess.
samarakroeger's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
4.0
shoutout to my good friend insomnia for letting me read this long ass book in one night! <3
clearly I have been sleeping (not literally, unfortunately) on Erik Larson’s writing. The subjects, titles, and covers of his books all scream “middle aged dad who only reads ~serious~ nonfiction” to me (bonus points if it is about war, especially WWII). Only a truly skilled narrative nonfiction writer could get me to read 600 pages about a year in Churchill’s life, a subject I have zero natural inclination towards. So now I will be reading his other books, naturally. So much for my plan to read this to make me fall asleep from boredom :-/
clearly I have been sleeping (not literally, unfortunately) on Erik Larson’s writing. The subjects, titles, and covers of his books all scream “middle aged dad who only reads ~serious~ nonfiction” to me (bonus points if it is about war, especially WWII). Only a truly skilled narrative nonfiction writer could get me to read 600 pages about a year in Churchill’s life, a subject I have zero natural inclination towards. So now I will be reading his other books, naturally. So much for my plan to read this to make me fall asleep from boredom :-/
cdemi12's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
This isn’t the kind of book I’d usually read, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. I don’t like topics of war and history, but the lens of British History and the eccentricities of Churchill made it more enjoyable. Some parts dragged, but I also learned a lot about the war, especially the first year. I was shocked by how the end of the book sped through the end of the blitz to Pearl Harbor to the war’s end, but it makes sense now looking back on the subtitle and focus of Larson’s story.