Great Britain

Great Britain is where the vast majority of The Splendid and the Vile takes place. Various locations in the country are featured, but the most prominent are London, Coventry, and the country homes visited by Churchill and the members of his entourage. Great Britain is a place but it also becomes a symbol in the book as one of the few nations that were still fighting on against Hitler in this period. Great Britain, therefore, becomes symbolic of the anti-thesis to fascism, representing freedom from Nazi tyranny. In this book, Britain is portrayed as the only nation fighting Hitler after the French surrender until the United States entered the war over a year later in December 1941. This contributes to the mystique of how the country is portrayed as a lone nation fighting a seemingly impossible battle alone in order to preserve its independence and values. In...