For our second Succeed2gether's Montclair Literary Festival at Home event, we welcome Erik Larson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake, to talk about his latest book, The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz with longtime Montclair resident and bestselling author, Christina Baker Kline.

On Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next 12 months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons (30,000 of them Londoners) and destroying two million homes. It was up to Churchill to hold the country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally – that she was willing to fight to the end.

The Splendid and the Vile takes readers out of today’s political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership, when – in the face of unrelenting horror – Churchill’s eloquence, strategic brilliance, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together.

This is part of Succeed2gether's Montclair Literary Festival at Home series and replaces the event originally planned for Saturday March 28 at 6:30 pm.

If you are joining the online event only, you can buy The Splendid and the Vile from Festival partner Watchung Booksellers here. Shipping or contactless pick-up only.

Succeed2gether’s fourth annual Montclair Literary Festival was scheduled for March 25 to 29, 2020. Due to the current health crisis, Festival Day is now planned for Saturday September 12, 2020. The program will feature around 80 authors in over 30 free events, book talks, children's activities, and more.

The festival is a fundraiser for Montclair-based non-profit Succeed2gether, which offers after-school one-on-one tutoring and enrichment classes with the aim of closing the education opportunity gap in Essex County. You can read more about Succeed2gether and the festival at www.succeed2gether.org.

The festival organizing committee wishes to thank event partners Succeed2gether staff, Montclair Public Library, First Congregational Church, and Watchung Booksellers, and festival sponsors Rao's, Montclair State University, West of Hudson Realty Group, and community members.

Erik Larson "The Splendid and the Vile" with Christina Baker Kline