Last Hope Island

Last Hope Island: Britain's Brotherhood with Occupied Europe, and the Unsung Heroes Who Turned the Tide of War- Lynne Olson
Random House
Release Date: April 25, 2017

Rating (out of 5):
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Synopsis: When the Nazi blitzkrieg rolled over continental Europe in the early days of World War II, the city of London became a refuge for the governments and armed forces of six occupied nations who escaped there to continue the fight. So, too, did General Charles de Gaulle, the self-appointed representative of free France.     

As the only European democracy still holding out against Hitler, Britain became known to occupied countries as “Last Hope Island.” Getting there, one young emigré declared, was “like getting to heaven.”

In this epic, character-driven narrative, acclaimed historian Lynne Olson takes us back to those perilous days when the British and their European guests joined forces to combat the mightiest military force in history. Here we meet the courageous King Haakon of Norway, whose distinctive “H7” monogram became a symbol of his country’s resistance to Nazi rule, and his fiery Dutch counterpart, Queen Wilhelmina, whose antifascist radio broadcasts rallied the spirits of her defeated people. Here, too, is the Earl of Suffolk, a swashbuckling British aristocrat whose rescue of two nuclear physicists from France helped make the Manhattan Project possible.

Last Hope Island also recounts some of the Europeans’ heretofore unsung exploits that helped tilt the balance against the Axis: the crucial efforts of Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain; the vital role played by French and Polish code breakers in cracking the Germans’ reputedly indecipherable Enigma code; and the flood of top-secret intelligence about German operations—gathered by spies throughout occupied Europe—that helped ensure the success of the 1944 Allied invasion.

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Last Hope Island is a powerfully written amalgamation of stories of a Europe occupied by Nazi Germany and the men, women, and governments who joined forces to resist a common enemy.  I was fascinated to learn these new aspects to World War II- many of them unknown or poorly understood by myself and (probably) many others.  Olson takes a dauntingly large saga and humanizes it, introducing us to King Haakon of Norway and the Dutch Queen Wilhemina, both standing strong against Hitler and becoming symbols of strength for their countries.  We meet heroes like Andree de Jongh and the de Nooij sisters, among others who helped smuggle Allied soldiers out to safety or hid wounded soldiers, protecting them from Nazis.  Especially important are the stories of Polish and Czech soldiers and pilots who helped turn the Battle of Britain, the Polish cryptographers who broke the "unbreakable" Enigma code and the intelligence agents who smuggled out information vital for the D-Day beach landings.

Olson does her best not to idolize or whitewash any of the history she examines.  Along with the heroic victories are plenty of defeats, and Olson takes an honest look at the British and American leaders who refused to accept assistance or believe information coming from Europeans- leading to such disasters as the Allied defeat at Arnhem in 1944.  The popular myth of Britain's Secret Service as being a brilliant and unbeatable spy operation is smashed to bits as Olson examines MI6 and the Special Operations Executive (SOE).  Originally underfunded operations recruiting young aristocrats and providing little to no training before sending them into the field, the groups seemed to put more emphasis on fighting each other for credit and funding than focusing on improving their intelligence operations to defeat Hitler. 

The BBC gets special notice in Last Hope Island, as a beacon of hope as well as providing the public with a separation from propaganda and focusing on telling the news- the truth, the whole truth, no matter how awful it might be.  I found the chapters focusing on the BBC especially poignant and inspirational because they focused on the every day, and inspiring and encouraging people through even small actions.  The story of the "avalanche of Vs" might seem like the kind of thing you'd see in a movie, but was a perfect example of how a small action could help people feel like they were not just giving up.  In a world as inundated with news as ours is, Last Hope Island helps us understand the power of the radio when it was almost the only way of connecting with the outside world.

Lynne Olson does a wonderful job of immersing the reader in the world of Occupied Europe and wartime London, and the mindset of the people living there.  Last Hope Island is a riveting book, and certainly a must-read for history lovers.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Victoria

Victoria The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman who Ruled an Empire- Julia Baird
Random House
Release Date: November 22, 2016

Rating (out of 5):
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: When Victoria was born, in 1819, the world was a very different place. Revolution would threaten many of Europe’s monarchies in the coming decades. In Britain, a generation of royals had indulged their whims at the public’s expense, and republican sentiment was growing. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape, and the British Empire was commanding ever larger tracts of the globe. In a world where women were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand.
 
Fifth in line to the throne at the time of her birth, Victoria was an ordinary woman thrust into an extraordinary role. As a girl, she defied her mother’s meddling and an adviser’s bullying, forging an iron will of her own. As a teenage queen, she eagerly grasped the crown and relished the freedom it brought her. At twenty, she fell passionately in love with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, eventually giving birth to nine children. She loved sex and delighted in power. She was outspoken with her ministers, overstepping conventional boundaries and asserting her opinions. After the death of her adored Albert, she began a controversial, intimate relationship with her servant John Brown. She survived eight assassination attempts over the course of her lifetime. And as science, technology, and democracy were dramatically reshaping the world, Victoria was a symbol of steadfastness and security—queen of a quarter of the world’s population at the height of the British Empire’s reach.
 
Drawing on sources that include fresh revelations about Victoria’s relationship with John Brown, Julia Baird brings vividly to life the fascinating story of a woman who struggled with so many of the things we do today: balancing work and family, raising children, navigating marital strife, losing parents, combating anxiety and self-doubt, finding an identity, searching for meaning.

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The newest biography on Queen Victoria, Julia Baird's Victoria is a well researched and well written exploration of one of the most famous women who has ever lived- and who is probably known more by the mythology surrounding her and her reign than the reality.

Through Baird's research, including newly available papers on John Brown (Victoria's servant and close confidante after Albert's death) and from Dr. Reid (Victoria's physician in her final years), we see Victoria in new ways.  Baird shows us a complicated and complex woman. A woman both incredibly strong and incredibly in need of emotional connections.  A woman who ruled an empire but believed that women could not rule.  Victoria disagreed with the developing women's suffrage movements, but after her death was held up by suffragists as an example of women's strength.

 Perhaps one of the biggest take aways from Victoria is not actually about Victoria but about what we know about history itself.  Throughout Victoria Baird mentions known occasions of editing or destroying information- whether on Victoria, Albert, John Brown, or others- in an attempt to create an image rather than preserve impartial history.  Her daughter Beatrice is known to have not only heavily edited Victoria's personal diaries, but to have burned the originals after doing so in what Baird (rightly, I think) calls "one of the greatest acts of historical censorship of the century".  Beatrice wrote to her great-nephew King George VI saying that letters between her parents were so intimate (apparently relating to personal arguments), and Victoria's ransom jottings about daily life, could have no value "historical or biographical value whatever".  Beatrice focused on protecting her parents' memory as she wanted them to be seen, and was in the unique position of being able to permanently remove much that conflicted with what she wanted that memory to be.  Baird does an excellent job of reminding those who have never really thought about it that the agendas and prejudices of the historian can greatly alter a biography- whether on purpose on not.  Meanwhile, every history lover reading Victoria will mourn for the letters and diaries that we we never read and what light they might have shed on both people and the world at that time in general.  

Readers who felt Victoria had no "modern" appeal or connection will hopefully be surprised to find how relevant Baird has made Victoria through today's eyes.  Although sometimes slightly repetitive and suffering from the problem I have with many biographies of dramatically forecasting the future (ending of chapters with "if only they knew then what was to happen" approach that seems common, but I find very annoying every time), Victoria is a well researched and captivating book that shines new light on one of the longest reigning and influential English monarchs ever.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.