House of Cards
Feb. 22nd, 2018 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatsiBook Review: Winston's War, by Michael Dobbs
This came to me as a second-hand find from in-laws. There can't be any shortage of books, films, TV dramas, etc., on Churchill's years in the wilderness in the late 1930s, so I wondered whether this novel would have anything different to offer.
The answer is yes, it does. The story begins in October 1938 with a visit by Guy Burgess to Churchill's house Chartwell, in Kent, just as Chamberlain is in Munich. Dobbs probably correctly presents Munich as a popular triumph in Britain, though over the following months it becomes apparent that Chamberlain and his government are increasingly in denial on the dichotomy between the agreement and Hitler's subsequent words and deeds. The paths of Burgess and Churchill are destined to cross at several pivotal moments in the book, perhaps with increasing fantasy but never going completely over to incredulity. There's quite a large cast including Brendan Bracken, American and Swedish diplomats, barbers, sub-post-mistresses, and illiterate cleaners, and the weaving together of their lives is clever. As might be expected from this author, though, there's quite a political focus, with the battle being more within the Conservative Party between Chamberlain and Churchill (and their cronies) than Britain and Germany, with a mixture of motives from the relatively honourable desire to avoid war through to less agreeable commercial considerations, Party machine, or downright quasi-fascism. Overall, it's entertaining, though it certainly isn't subtle and you get the feeling Andrew Davies wouldn't have to do much sexing-up in order to turn it into a TV series.
This came to me as a second-hand find from in-laws. There can't be any shortage of books, films, TV dramas, etc., on Churchill's years in the wilderness in the late 1930s, so I wondered whether this novel would have anything different to offer.
The answer is yes, it does. The story begins in October 1938 with a visit by Guy Burgess to Churchill's house Chartwell, in Kent, just as Chamberlain is in Munich. Dobbs probably correctly presents Munich as a popular triumph in Britain, though over the following months it becomes apparent that Chamberlain and his government are increasingly in denial on the dichotomy between the agreement and Hitler's subsequent words and deeds. The paths of Burgess and Churchill are destined to cross at several pivotal moments in the book, perhaps with increasing fantasy but never going completely over to incredulity. There's quite a large cast including Brendan Bracken, American and Swedish diplomats, barbers, sub-post-mistresses, and illiterate cleaners, and the weaving together of their lives is clever. As might be expected from this author, though, there's quite a political focus, with the battle being more within the Conservative Party between Chamberlain and Churchill (and their cronies) than Britain and Germany, with a mixture of motives from the relatively honourable desire to avoid war through to less agreeable commercial considerations, Party machine, or downright quasi-fascism. Overall, it's entertaining, though it certainly isn't subtle and you get the feeling Andrew Davies wouldn't have to do much sexing-up in order to turn it into a TV series.