"Never Surrender", by Michael Dobbs
Book #2 in the Winston Churchill series
This historical fiction is set the first month of Churchill’s premiership during the time when Britain was uncertain if the country had the will or the mean to stand up and fight. The story tells what turned out to be one of the most important three weeks of the twentieth century.
This suspenseful account based on historical events begins with Europe in turmoil. May 10, 1940, Germany had just completed its conquest of Denmark and Norway and has turned its attack to the west by invading France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
This book is character and dialogue driven and beautifully portrays a Winston Churchill who in spite of his bouts of depression, his bad drinking habits managed without support of most of his colleagues to convince and to give his countrymen the will to defy Hitler and to ”Never Surrender”. The story is filled with political intrigue, of internal cabinet dissension and the will of a man that refused to give up. With equal amount of attention and text to the realities on the ground and to the decision makers in London this account deftly moves back and forth between the historical and the fictional.
For those who are not too familiar with WW11 and wonder whether certain characters are fictional or not the author has clearly explained them in the epilogue. It may not be the best for historians but I think most of us will be captivated by the narrative and all the pertinent facts.
If you like aspects or period of events of our past, Mr. Dobbs is an ace in historical reenactment and is one that does it richly with words.
Another great read.
This historical fiction is set the first month of Churchill’s premiership during the time when Britain was uncertain if the country had the will or the mean to stand up and fight. The story tells what turned out to be one of the most important three weeks of the twentieth century.
This suspenseful account based on historical events begins with Europe in turmoil. May 10, 1940, Germany had just completed its conquest of Denmark and Norway and has turned its attack to the west by invading France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
This book is character and dialogue driven and beautifully portrays a Winston Churchill who in spite of his bouts of depression, his bad drinking habits managed without support of most of his colleagues to convince and to give his countrymen the will to defy Hitler and to ”Never Surrender”. The story is filled with political intrigue, of internal cabinet dissension and the will of a man that refused to give up. With equal amount of attention and text to the realities on the ground and to the decision makers in London this account deftly moves back and forth between the historical and the fictional.
For those who are not too familiar with WW11 and wonder whether certain characters are fictional or not the author has clearly explained them in the epilogue. It may not be the best for historians but I think most of us will be captivated by the narrative and all the pertinent facts.
If you like aspects or period of events of our past, Mr. Dobbs is an ace in historical reenactment and is one that does it richly with words.
Another great read.
