Scan barcode
imabrunette23's review
2.0
I've been on a British royalty kick lately so I thought it would be cool to read about Winston Churchill since he was QEII's first Prime Minister. This was so hard to get through. I don't know if it was because I was reading it on my nook, or because I don't really understand British politics or because I wasn't familiar with the subject matter, but it was tough. I've been reading this for well over three weeks. I actually had to stop halfway through and give my mind a break because I just COULD NOT slog through any more.
srreid's review
3.0
I always find stories about the war interesting, so much happened in reality that fiction is almost not necessary. This is a story more of the political side than the battle side, of how Churchill came to lead (and almost doesn't) the country in its time of greatest need. For i you learn about the war or see in tv or film, the political part leading up to 1940 i have to admit i knew nothing about, i didn't remember Chamberlain was even the Prime Minister when war began, or how much he clung onto power. World War 2 seemed to be all about Churchill, so it was very interesting to see how it all started. even if this is a work of fiction, it weaves itself in and around known fact so there is a lot of historical truth in there too. Overall very entertaining and i will definitely be reading the 2 follow books.
drannieg's review
2.0
It has its moments, but the actual history is just as nail-biting at times, and also more rounded. Generally the more enlightened historians of the time recognise that women played a role beyond femme fatale or love monkey, which is certainly not the case here. Would recommend Sonia Purnell's biog of Clemmie Churchill instead. Far more riveting, and rather shorter.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘War comes in many different colours.’
On 1 October 1938, Winston Churchill met Guy Burgess. Churchill had already made a mark on the political landscape, Burgess was certainly going to. But what brought these men together? And what political intrigues and other machinations were part of the political landscape in this period immediately before Europe erupted into war?
Winston Churchill himself could well be described as ‘.. a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma ..’. At times, while reading this novel, I could hear Mr Churchill’s distinctive voice. But my memory of his voice was of a period not long before his death when he was hailed as a great statesman and recognised as a hero. Guy Burgess is also well known, but not as a hero by many.
From this distance, some 70 years later, we live with the consequences of this war: the reshaping of countries and empires; the heroism; the greed and the tragedy. The characteristics of this war are known to many of us through hearsay, heritage and, sometimes, objective attempts to analyse cause and effect. This novel succeeds in making the individuals and the times come to life. This novel is not just about the famous and infamous: it brings to life some of the aspects of everyday life for those who usually bear the burden of decisions made by those more powerful.
Mr Dobbs writes of Churchill: ‘He mesmerised colleagues on a diet of pinched views and lean rhetoric.’ In his acknowledgements Mr Dobbs expresses his hope that ‘many readers will have their appetites whetted and their imaginations fired by the deliberate intertwining of fact and fiction to the extent that they will want to dig deeper and find out for themselves what really happened.’
I hope so too.
On 1 October 1938, Winston Churchill met Guy Burgess. Churchill had already made a mark on the political landscape, Burgess was certainly going to. But what brought these men together? And what political intrigues and other machinations were part of the political landscape in this period immediately before Europe erupted into war?
Winston Churchill himself could well be described as ‘.. a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma ..’. At times, while reading this novel, I could hear Mr Churchill’s distinctive voice. But my memory of his voice was of a period not long before his death when he was hailed as a great statesman and recognised as a hero. Guy Burgess is also well known, but not as a hero by many.
From this distance, some 70 years later, we live with the consequences of this war: the reshaping of countries and empires; the heroism; the greed and the tragedy. The characteristics of this war are known to many of us through hearsay, heritage and, sometimes, objective attempts to analyse cause and effect. This novel succeeds in making the individuals and the times come to life. This novel is not just about the famous and infamous: it brings to life some of the aspects of everyday life for those who usually bear the burden of decisions made by those more powerful.
Mr Dobbs writes of Churchill: ‘He mesmerised colleagues on a diet of pinched views and lean rhetoric.’ In his acknowledgements Mr Dobbs expresses his hope that ‘many readers will have their appetites whetted and their imaginations fired by the deliberate intertwining of fact and fiction to the extent that they will want to dig deeper and find out for themselves what really happened.’
I hope so too.
sarah1984's review against another edition
5.0
12/1 - I was fascinated by the dreadful mistakes the British government made leading up to WWII. I knew nothing except the names of Churchill and Chamberlain before reading this book, but now I can talk about the British side of WWII almost as well as I can the Australian and the American. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WWII or political intrigue.
cmarso's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent and intriguing work of historical fiction about the last twenty months of Chamberlain's premiership, and how Churchill came to succeed him.
alismcg's review against another edition
1.0
pulled a Nook Free Friday selection for next read - repulsed enough by this author's writing style / coarse language in early pages of his first character introduction to remove book from library.
More...