This month I read “The Splendid and the Vile,” a recent book about the lives of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his family during “the blitz” — the ceaseless bombing of English civilians by Germany’s air corps during World War II.
I suppose the book was an odd choice.
I was looking for a distraction from today’s world; from the daily drumbeat of the socio-political divisions that have crawled out from under the rocks in our nation; from the trauma of the seemingly never-ending pandemic that follows us into a third year with no sure road in sight back to some version of normalcy.
Written by Eric Larson, who combines phenomenal storytelling ability with solid academic research, the book is a page-turner.
The narrative begins with Churchill’s elevation to Prime Minister on May 10, 1940. The story is by and large a personal one, told primarily through the diaries and letters of Churchill’s extended family — but also through the personal writings of both the families of other government officials and those of private citizens.
German leaders were determined to conquer Great Britain by air rather than via a land invasion, in order to save ground forces and armored equipment for a planned attack on Russia. At first, they directed their bombing at military targets, but when those attacks didn’t bring about the quick surrender the Nazi leadership expected, they concentrated the bombing on cities and civilians to create terror.
The Nazi theory was that the average English civilian was too weak of character and resolve to last more than a few weeks — months at most — before turning on its own government and demanding a surrender.
To add to the horror, the bombs mainly were falling on English cities at night. A new German vectoring technology enabled bombers to find targets without visual recognition. Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force fighter planes did not have the technology to attack the bombers in the dark and anti-aircraft guns were largely ineffective.
The bombing would continue for nearly four years, although the intensity would lessen somewhat after the United States entered the war in December 1941, adding its air corps to the defense and also diverting German attention to the war elsewhere.
But the crux of the story Larson tells is the Battle of Britain was not won primarily because Britain had a better air corps, or because the United States eventually entered the war.
The war was won by the will, strength of character and selfless determination of the majority of everyday English citizens.
The emphasis is on “majority,” because that willingness to live with darkened streets, air raid drills, severe rationing of food and materials was not universal. Neither was the psychological toughness required to see whole sections of cities flattened and the remains of friends and relatives buried — sometimes in mass graves.
War profiteers, political opportunists, traitors and anti-government extremists were working hard to take advantage of the pain for their own selfish purposes.
Yet, England did survive. In fact, it won. Enough good people arose to overcome both the evil from outside and the evil from within.
I guess that is why I felt so elated when I finished reading Larson’s book.
I believe America is that kind of nation.
We enter 2022 with disease and death all around — with health care systems and medical staffs near the breaking point. With a significant minority still refusing to take the simple actions needed to fight the disease.
We enter 2022 with one political party locked in a personality cult, with many senators and members of Congress afraid to stand for “the right” out of fear of a wrong-headed minority of voters led by the egomaniacal rantings of a former president.
We enter 2022 with another political party whose “big tent” has been turned into a circus tent where single-issue politics, out-of-balance regional loyalties and an unwillingness to accept compromise create stagnation — making the “perfect” the enemy of the “good.”
Yet, I believe we are a nation where — just like England in the blitz — the good majority will take the day. Representative democracy will be preserved and strengthened. Liberty with responsibility and justice for all will move closer to reality.
We are weary of the fight. We are worn out and discouraged by the setbacks. We are shocked and disheartened by the calls for violence and insurrection.
But, we will make it through this day, this month, this year and this decade — because we are Americans and that is what patriotic Americans do.
