RaveLincoln Star JournalErik Larson’s latest book, The Splendid and the Vile, contains an optimistic message for today’s anxiety-challenged readers ... The book is hefty enough to last through a two-week quarantine and is peppered with enough new facts, including the tonnage of marmalade destroyed by Nazi bombs, to make the pages turn rapidly ... Readers will discover a trove of equally unfamiliar facts and incidents described by Larson, who drew extensively from the diaries kept by many of his book’s subjects ... he has provided a uniquely Anglophilic book ... This book showcases the marvelous ability of the human species to adapt to stress ... Larson’s book becomes the perfect panacea to alleviate our present society’s angst.
Robert Kurson
RaveLincoln Journal StarRobert Kurson is a writer with the ability to use historical facts to build a suspenseful narrative ... Readers discouraged by our present contentious society need to read Kurson’s chapter summarizing the tumultuous events of 1968. He makes a valid point that Apollo 8’s success not only salvaged the space program but also managed to relieve the pessimism regarding the future into which the country had plunged ... The reader will be comforted to find that these men have all lived long and successful lives following their historic mission and that their character traits should not be considered unique among our fellow citizens.
