Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile commemorates Winston Churchill’s first term as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The time frame duration of the novel goes through his actions, as well as what was happening around England at the time, which was the Battle of Britain and more globally, World War II. Erik Larson successfully argued that Winston Churchill was an effective leader during his leadership, and helped England get through World War II. The book is structured into 7 parts, with the addition of a prologue and an epilogue. The prologue at the beginning of the novel tells us what is expected to happen at some point. At the end of the book, there is an epilogue, which describes what happened to all the important characters after …show more content…
This book also helps reinforce the argument because since the parts are chronological in terms of Churchill’s first year as Prime Minister, then you can read that as time progresses, Winston Churchill proves more and more that he is an effective leader. The Splendid and The Vile displays multiperspectivity and uses a variety of primary sources. The novel offers sources that support Erik Larson’s argument. This includes many people’s diaries, letters, speeches, and other writings; like secretaries journaling from cabinet meetings, or trials. The most effective evidence that helped Larson’s argument were writings from meetings that secretaries wrote, and speeches. Nevertheless, these were the most effective because these accounts said what Winston Churchill was planning on doing to be an effective leader. For example, Ian Jacob wrote as secretary in the War Cabinet, “‘What we know is that the Prime Minister provided leadership of such outstanding quality that people almost reveled in the dangers of the situation and gloried in standing alone” (483). This account explains that the author proves his thesis because in this quote, Ian Jacob is writing about how Winston Churchill