Erik Larson has written some of the most popular history books of the last 20 years, including The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake. In 2020, he published The Splendid and the Vile, and the Iron Book Discussion Group will be tackling this saga of the Second World War in February (the first half of the book) and March (the second half of the book).

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BOOK DESCRIPTION: On Winston Churchill’s first day as Prime Minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally—and willing to fight to the end.

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Copies of The Splendid and the Vile can be picked up from the Book Discussion Shelf on our first floor, and it’s available digitally as an ebook (through Overdrive/Libby) and an audiobook (through Overdrive/Libby).

An in-person discussion of The Splendid and the Vile (covering the first 334 pages) will be held at the library on Tuesday, February 13, at 7:00 PM. No registration is required to attend.

And an online discussion of the book will be held via Zoom on February 15, at 3:00 PM. If you’d like to attend the online discussion, please register through our Event Calendar. Participants will receive an email with the login information for Zoom after registering.


Published on January 25, 2024.


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