Dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and Alice A. Martin Foundation of Elkhart, celebrating the spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.

During the first year of World War Two, Europe is in turmoil.

Hitler invades Holland and Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away.

France is ready to fall and America is not involved yet.

What will it take to pull America into the war?

Let's meet my guest, historian Cathy Freese to learn more.

Welcome.

It's nice to be here again.

He does it again, doesn't he?

I know.

This was one of his better ones.

I thought I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

One year in the--in the war.

And so much happens.

And there is Mr. Churchill right in the center, practically every page.

Happy as can be.

He's finally prime minister for having wanting to be prime minister for years.

Yes, for decades.

And so we are going to prepare a kind of a--not a--I don't want to say typical-- because I don't know what typical was at the time, but what are we going to do today?

Well, we're going to--I'm going to make carrots in the second segment because the British, to try to fool the Germans, said that--they fed the RAF pilots a lot of carrots so they could see better in the dark, which wasn't really true.

But--and then I'm going to do a eggless chocolate cake because it was hard to get eggs.

I think this is a great idea and that looks like a terrific recipe.

Well, I'm going to make a simple roast chicken and we'll have some fingerling potatoes and some green beans right from the garden behind Checker's.

They had sort of like a little truck garden, a little kitchen garden, and they used all of their produce.

And this was a busy place, wasn't it?

It was.

And what I also liked in the book that one of Churchill's inner circle, the Prof, as they called him, who was a vegetarian, but he raised chickens, so he gave chickens and eggs to Churchill during the war.

That--you know, it was amazing.

And you mentioned also how many people gave food because Churchill had a party every second or third night, didn't he?

Yes.

He was always having people entertaining, you know, trying to get things done and--.

They were under the same rationing that everybody else was.

But then they would give--get extra.

They would get extra--.

But, not enough.

He had a bit of a budget, but his friends would contribute when he was sort of mulling over the discomfiture of not having everything he wanted.

But it is simple and it's a meal that many people forget to prepare; a roast chicken and just little potatoes.

You're doing the carrots?

I'm doing the green beans right from the garden.

And we've also brought some alcohol.

Oh, you know, that was the other thing that amazed me.

Churchill drank all the time.

Yes, he did.

We were absolutely dumbstruck.

He'd start in the morning with Brandy, a couple of little snorts of brandy to get the day going.

And then he would transition into Scotch for the afternoon and lo and behold, in the evening,.

Champagne, wine.

And they'd be up until two, three, four in the morning.

And it wasn't just party.

He had his cabinet.

He was working the entire time.

He had his people there.

You could relax and talk over food.

He learned more about what all of his cabinet ministers were doing.

It was very clever.

And I'm sure Clementine was not doing the sheets, nor was she cooking.

No.

She had help and these people would stay overnight.

And this--this was quite a time in England and in the life of the Churchills.

So I've got some string beans to cook.

My chicken is in the oven.

I'm going to pull it out, do some more so you can see it.

Well, I'm going to start with the cake.

And this recipe was developed during World War Two because of rationing.

So I'm taking flour and a cup of sugar and cocoa, which I actually--I read the British had a hard time getting cocoa, but I'm doing it.

So how are--you had a secret network to get your cocoa?

The Quebec would send chocolate to England.

It was so interesting, the king would send partridges and ducks and all.

And it-- they all contributed.

He loved this, didn't he, Churchill?

Oh, absolutely.

Well, he was the first lord of the Admiralty under Chamberlain and he had been the first lord World War Two--One also.

And that was in the midst of the big brouhaha in Gallipoli, and he was relieved of his duties.

He was out of power for a long time.

And so the government fell after Poland--after the--after Poland was invaded and Chamberlain was the prime minister.

And they had to get a different-- and the prime minister and the king was not real thrilled about asking Churchill to be the prime minister.

He wanted Lord--.

Halifax,.

Halifax, because Churchill, they felt, was--.

Unpredictable.

Unpredictable.

Yes.

Yeah.

And there, you know, we all think that he was loved--beloved by everybody.

But actually, when you read about his leadership style, he was the right person for this.

Absolutely.

And the king was very nervous.

And then by the end of the first year of the prime-- Churchill's prime ministership, the king writes in his diary, 'I have the perfect prime minister'.

Well, he could adapt to things that were changing all the time.

In fact, he sort of relished this, not confusion, but hubbub.

I love the word hubbub and he could just sail through it.

Now, his wife, on the other hand, had a harder time with this.

She would get kind of worn out, worn down.

And she actually corrected Charles de Gaulle.

Yes.

And she just got furious and stomped out--.

Yes.

- -of the dining room.

And Churchill says something like, 'my--my--my wife speaks rather good French wouldn't you say?'.

He says that to de Gaulle.

So there is so much going on.

It is quite a time.

I think the older Brits are kind of all dying out from that period, but I don't think they ever had such a gusto of--for living.

And that's one of the reasons Churchill did so well.

Of course, he--his--his speeches were fabulous.

Oh, he knew how to talk.

He knew how to talk and--but he didn't sugarcoat anything.

No.

I mean, he told the British people how difficult it was going to be.

And yet then always at the end, he would, you know--,.

Rally.

Make them feel feel-- yeah.

Like we were going to do this.

I mean, he made them feel a real part of--.

Well, and it's like saying you--you've got to share the horrible things that are going on.

Let the people know how they can help.

And he--he had words and he had so much confidence, you know, he thought he was going to be--he worked to become prime minister.

He went to the best schools.

He was not the best student, but he had the confidence.

He knew how to talk and he just succeeded.

And he spent his whole life.

Yeah.

Preparing for this.

Now I'm making this cake.

And instead, you make three little wells in the-- this I've-- yeah.

So I make this I want to say.

Oh well.

Yeah.

And then I take and I take a third of a cup of vegetable oil and put it in one hole.

Yes.

While you're doing that, I'm steaming green beans, so vinegar take a--.

This is interesting.

Tablespoon of vinegar and that oil went in the wrong hole, but that's the way it goes.

It looks like sand dunes here.

Yeah.

Tablespoon of vinegar.

Then vanilla,.

Vanilla, a teaspoon of vanilla.

Do you have a cup of cold water there?

I'm going to need one.

I'll get one for you.

OK. Is this your cup?

No, there's a cup right there.

Right--right in front of me.

A pink cup.

All right.

Oh, a pink cup!

That reminds me Clemmy used to make a romper suit for Winston.

Yeah.

He called it his siren-- suit, but everybody-- and pink and--and kimonos with dragons.

Oh, and he wore slippers with pom poms on the front.

I'm going to put a little more water in here because it's not quite-- Not quite a cup.

Your assistant has failed you.

Yeah.

Well, we are preparing two courses now.

You're going to mix this up.

I'm going to just mix it just until it's mixed.

All right.

And?

And then we're going to bake it in the oven.

Just forward in the pan and bake it in the oven and just get it mixed.

This is good for people, vegans.

Actually, yes.

And lactose intolerant because I have a granddaughter who's lactose intolerant and she can eat this cake.

Oh, I'm with the copy of this.

I think it's great.

So?

So in one minute we'll be in the oven.

Right.

Right.

And the chicken's cooking.

I would not normally use butter for my granddaughter to--.

Well--.

But--.

That's right.

Well what would you use.

Some vegetable oil?

Vegetable oil or Crisco.

That's what I use in place of butter and I do A lot of spraying the pam.

Pam.

Yeah.

You are using Pam or whatever.

But-- The Churchills wouldn't use that.

They would use butter, wouldn't they?

Sure, if they could get it.

I mean, during the war, you know, that was difficult We grew up on margarine because the butter was used for the war effort and--so I didn't know anything about butter, really.

All right.

And we-- So then we're just going to pour this in and put it in the oven.

And how long are you baking--?

Thirty minutes.

Thirty minutes.

So we will time this and I have another hour to go on my chicken, so--.

The thing I really liked about this book, too, and I know there are some people that didn't like it because of it, but I liked it because they were talking about normal, everyday things that were happening, you know, like Mary, his youngest daughter, Going to parties.

Going to parties.

Bars.

And--bars.

Dances.

Dancing and wanting to get engaged.

And they're talking--they talked her out of it.

Should live life a little longer, darling Mary.

Yes.

Yeah.

Avril Harriman was one of the ones who told her, live your life.

Don't be in such a hurry.

Don't get married.

Right.

So you want me to open this?

You want to get it in here.

And we want you to--we're going to take a little break here and we're going to show you some pictures of the Blitz.

The Germans are preparing, they're going to bomb whatever.

They're going to bomb London for months.

They're going to kill everybody they can and--.

And they thought the English were going to Oh, roll over and die.

Roll over in less than a week.

And that church-- I mean, not Churchill--Hitler even had them start building scaffolding for his victory.

Oh, yes.

Party.

And his parades in London when he was successful.

Yeah, well, we're going to talk more about that.

This is such a year in the life of the world.

And so when we come back, we'll talk about that and much more.

We'll be right back.

And we're back and we want to talk about this infernal, interminal bombing of London and then outside of London, and what were those Germans planning to do?

Hitler thought--Hitler and Goring.

Is that the way around?

Goring?

Goring?

Goebbels was the one that did the planning for the-- Yeah, Goring was the Air Force man who said, 'Oh yes, we're going--to the English, well they'll surrender in a week'.

And they were so mad at Churchill because Churchill kept getting the British to realize that they were going to win, they were going to get through this.

And Churchill just had such a way of--.

Getting--.

Martialing the people to-- The people.

And Beaverbrook, who was in charge of quadrupling the number of airplanes that Britain had, they were pitifully supplied.

And Beaverbrook didn't want to do that because he didn't know--He said, I don't know anything about airplanes.

But he--he--.

He did.

He did it.

And he worked people.

And actually, the Germans were surprised.

They had fourteen thousand planes coming in one night over over England.

And it is incredible.

They--they were sure they were going to win and they would have all of Europe.

But I think we better take pause and have a little brandy.

That's a good idea, which is what Churchill will do and Churchill, of course, loved all the--loved--.

He'd come--everybody wanted him to stay below in the war rooms or, you know, they didn't want him hurt.

He'd be climbing up-- On top of the roof where the Germans was going on.

593 00:15:27,540 --> 00:15:28,349 would survive.

And there is one funny scene where it was a cold night and Churchill goes up to the top of--I don't--can't remember what building it was, where he was.

And he gets a little cold.

So he sits on the chimney thing where the furnace is and somebody has to come up because the whole--the whole building was full of smoke because he was sitting on the-- He even took guests up there for the bombing.

He--and when he had the American Harry Hopkins come, he takes him up on the roof.

I do think we have to have a little-- toast to Harry Hopkins and--.

Oh, yes, and to Churchill.

The whole lot, that whole group.

I mean, they were incredible people.

They--I don't know how--when they ever slept, I mean, they were working constantly.

They took--Churchill would take an hour nap and he'd be all revved up, ready to go until 2:00 in the morning.

And then he'd stay in bed and he would do all his paperwork in his nightgown or nightshirt, and he would dictate to his secretaries and they would all come and sit around the bed.

I mean, he had a way of getting work done.

And in the bathtub.

In the bathtub, too.

And even when he went to visit Roosevelt, he could hold meetings in the bathtub and they would be standing around taking notes.

I mean, this man was a character.

He really was.

And so we have a little toast here to get warm.

He'd get the brandy, warm himself up and get going.

And you're--you got onions going here?

I've got onions going.

And the other thing is the first day he's prime minister, he says, well, I have to get America into the war.

That was his whole goal.

Right.

And he he sends over notes and he tells them what they're doing.

But we need more of your equipment.

We need money.

We're going to--we will have nothing to fight with.

And of course, Roosevelt just couldn't say, sure, here's the money.

He had to get the government, too.

And 48 we're against getting in the war.

42 per cent, I'm sorry, of the American people wanted to get in the war.

But then you had--you had to tell the companies and the owners of the companies, we need all these new products.

My father was working.

at C.G.Conn and his job was to convert the engraving--the engravers to production of, what are those, gyroscopes.

And he went for special training at Purdue for that.

Isn't that interesting?

Oh, yes.

Because they were they were artisans.

They could engrave and they could work with these very fine gyroscopes.

So they had to convince the American corporations to get involved and many of them didn't want to.

That's why it took so long.

So who comes over to con-- find out what England is doing and should America get involved?

Yeah, because Roosevelt had met Churchill once before, years before when Roosevelt was the Navy secretary.

And he didn't really like Churchill.

Churchill kind of--.

Oh well--.

I think blew him off.

And he's to the manor born, you know, and he just has all the right answers and everything, So Harry Hopkins comes over to check out England.

And the picture of Harry.

Harry is so sick, he's had stomach cancer.

He--he needs help getting unbuckled in the airplane to get out of the airplane.

He looks as if he's been sitting on his hat for the whole time and he has this big, huge coat and he's really very delicate.

And Churchill takes one look at him and thinks, who have they sent over here?

But by the end of the time, They love him.

They love him.

And really, I'm going to find the book.

There's a quote from Hopkins the night before Hopkins leaves.

Oh, this is amazing what he says to--to Churchill.

And they're-because Churchill is just-- they're all on pins and needles,what are the British--.

Is America going to help us?

.

What are the English going to do?

They want the Lend Lease.

That was before Lend Lease and Hopkins gets up and quotes from the Bible, the book of Ruth and says' whither thou goest, I will go and where thou lodgest I will lodge.

The people shall be my--thy people shall be my people.

And thy God, my God'.

Then softly he added 'Even to the end.'

And Churchill--.

And Churchill wept.

Starts crying.

Yes,.

They all-- and Hopkins is going to go back and tell Roosevelt we must be in this war.

And I think it took another, I don't know.

Well, the bombing--Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor for us to get in the war.

That's why they did But they did get Lend Lease, because the British were running out of material.

And I'm going to get my my own.

Lend Lease here.

I'm going to go in the oven and get the chicken.

And Churchill was such a wonderful orator.

Oh, yes.

To get--but the funny thing in, you know, we all and Larssen at one point says 'this is the year when Churchill became Churchill' When he knew that we were involved, right?.

Well, just what Churchill did that first year from May 10th.

This book goes for May 10th, 1940 to May 10th, 1941.

And, you know, at this time, they have bombed Coventry and Leeds and Manchester and--and they thought they were going to take care of Britain.

They were just going to do them in.

And it doesn't happen.

And the thing is, why did they stop this Battle of Britain, the Germans, and go to Russia?

That was their mistake.

They could have beat the English and they--they make a different kind of decision.

And then Hitler, just like he thought England would surrender in a week, Hitler thought Russia would surrender.

I'm closing the oven because--.

Yes.

You do that.

You get that done.

Well, but what was interesting, we always think about Churchill's speech when Holland and Belgium fell and they start the and France falls.

and he--he really knew how to get people into his corner.

He knew how to bring them in.

Right.

And you know that France fell unexpectedly.

They thought the French would hold out and Churchill does his blood, sweat and tears.

We have nothing to give but our blood, sweat and tears, which is one of his all time speeches.

And that's when Churchill supposedly became Churchill because of his wonderful oratory.

And he had to do the speech twice, first in parliament and then at night over the radio to the people.

But he was using--smoking a cigar and had a cigar in his mouth the whole time.

And everybody thought he either was having a heart attack or he was drunk.

So we're putting our finishing touches on our dinner.

We invite you to Checkers.

Yes.

To meet the gang.

Yeah.

We'll be right back.

Kathy Freese and I have been discussing the Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson.

I loved the book.

I did too.

I just love the people.

I liked getting to know all the people around Churchill; Coleville and his daughter and Beaverbrook and--.

Pamela.

Pamela.

And Avril Herrimann and---yeah, just so, so many people that I didn't know that much.

Well, we had we had a sprinkling of milling and then they're all together.

But you get to know them as real people who had unbelievable amount of energy, Energy and support.

They were bright, many of them trained from birth to step into a position like this.

And some, like Harry Hopkins, probably wasn't.

But he knew how to do it.

He was amazing.

And let's just talk about our simple lunch or dinner at Checkers.

We have the carrots with onions and in dill with some almonds because the British like the almonds, but the carrots to keep our eyes right when we're flying those airplanes.

When we're flying those airplanes.

And here's the chicken.

And we were talking about every couple of weeks, make a whole chicken and have your your son or your your husband slice it as they do in the manner, you know.

And then we did some roasted potatoes, green beans from the kitchen garden and--?

And then eggless chocolate cake.

There are no eggs, no butter in the cake and you just spread some powdered sugar over it.

It's good for vegans and--.

I'm going to make it.

Yeah.

Lactose intolerance.

What I liked about this book was including everything, the history, the people.

And his writing to me is delightful.

Yes.

It's one of his better ones.

I think it's right up there with Devil in the White City.

You and I've done three books by Erik Larsen, so we're so glad you joined us today.

And thank you for coming.

You always add the right touch.

It's fun.

And so remember, good food, good books, good friends and good brandy make for a very good life.

We'll see you next time.

Bye.

This WNIT local production made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and Alice A. Martin Foundation of L.A., celebrating the spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.