The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

Churchill enjoys a close association with the Prof, his scientific adviser and an austere vegetarian who “unite[d] against him any body of men with whom he came in contact” (68). Some officials resent the influence the Prof has on Churchill and how this association complicates their own work lives. 

The Prof’s protégé Dr. Reginald V. Jones tells him that the Germans have found a way to guide aircraft using radio waves or beams and find targets with a “startling degree of precision” (74). He argues that the Germans could use this beam navigation method to guide a bomber from Germany to Britain, which would give them a huge advantage in the air war. The RAF must now devise a way to interfere with the German beams.

Churchill flies to France in a final attempt to convince French leaders to stand firm against the Germans. However, Reynaud explains that everything depends on the action of the United States. The French are clearly “bent on surrender” (73).

Having thus far resided at the Admiralty House, the Churchills now move into 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s residence. Churchill urges Roosevelt to help France by declaring America’s willingness to enter the war, but Roosevelt is constrained by his country’s neutrality laws and the isolationism of the American public.