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

by Erik Larson

ALSO THAT WEDNESDAY, LORD BEAVERBROOK submitted yet another resignation to Churchill. “I have taken the decision to retire from the Government,” he wrote. “The only explanation I will offer is ill health.” He tempered this with an acknowledgment of their long-standing friendship. “It is with devotion and with affection that I bring my official association to a close.” He added: “Leave me still the personal relations.” Churchill at last assented. As minister of aircraft production, Beaverbrook had succeeded beyond all expectations, while also poisoning beyond salvation the relationship between MAP and the Air Ministry. The time had indeed come for Beaverbrook to leave the post, but Churchill was not yet willing to let his friend make a complete exit, and Beaverbrook, as so often before, was not yet willing, either.