Erik Larson has done it again. The author of five national bestsellers, including In the Garden of Beasts and Isaac’s Storm, his latest is The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance during the Blitz. Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports – some released only recently – he writes about the first year of Churchill’s prime ministership (May, 1940 – May 1941) when London and the rest of Great Britain endured the aerial assault of the Luftwaffe, designed to force the British to surrender.

Between September 7, 1940, when the first large-scale attack on central London occurred, and Sunday morning, May 11, 1941, when the Blitz came to an end, nearly 29,000 of its citizens were killed, and 28,556 seriously injured. No other British city experienced such losses, but throughout the United Kingdom the total of civilian deaths in 1940 and 1941, including those in London reached 44,652, with another 52,370 injured. Of the dead, 5,626 were children.

Homes were blasted, incendiary bombs set fire to all sections, air raid shelters, power plants, churches, the docks, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, the Law Courts, St. Thomas Hospital, and the historic House of Commons. Fire consumed a large portion of the famous roof of Westminster Hall, built in the eleventh century by King William Rufus (William II). Flames raced through the British Museum, destroying an estimated 250,000 books and the ancient history sections. My first church, All Souls, Langham Place was hit and the next door Queen’s Hall, London’s principal concert venue was destroyed. Even Buckingham Palace was bombed.

Through it all Churchill was defiant and inspired the country with his eloquence and courage, while not discounting the personal cost or hiding the seriousness of their plight. He pursued President Roosevelt to persuade him to offer support through Lend-Lease and to bring the United States alongside them in the fight against Hitler. He knew that only an Anglo-American alliance would bring victory. That did not happen until the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941 brought the United States into the war.

Reading this account during the present pandemic reminded me that every generation faces a crisis of confidence against an enemy that seeks to destroy them. True leadership is essential to provide morale and the resolve to persevere and to overcome the challenges we face. The biblical story tells us that there is always a battle between good and evil in the world. Sometimes it seems as though evil triumphs. The suffering of the cross precedes the resurrection. Our way of life, our faith, our hopes are constantly threatened by events beyond our control. There seems to be nowhere to hide. We hunker down and endure what is thrown at us. Yet, we know that eventually we will prevail. In the meantime we humble ourselves confess our sins, and turn to prayer for strength and for hope knowing that God is in control of the destiny of the nations. Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28;20).