C J Sansom has become well-known for his “Matthew Shardlake” series of historical fiction set in 16th century England. He also has a talent for writing novels set in the last century, with Winter in Madrid being a fine novel by anyone’s standards. For his latest novel, Dominion, Sansom has returned to the mid-twentieth century to write an “alternative history” novel in which Britain surrendered to Germany soon after the Dunkirk retreat.
We have a scenario in which Winston Churchill lost his battle with those who wished to appease Germany whereupon Germany suddenly invaded Denmark and Norway. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned and was replaced by Lord Halifax, and the Germans attacked the Low Countries and France. The British retreated from Dunkirk and and then France and Britain sued for an armistice.
A treaty was signed, between Germany, France and Britain which left Britain intact, but minus an air-force. The Germans were allowed to take over the Isle of Wight and establish a military base there. Britain had the humiliation of seeing a powerful and fortified German Embassy established in London with Gestapo officers in residence. The Battle of Britain and the Blitz were avoided and friendly relations were established with the German government, strongly supported by the press and the BBC.
Germany’s Eastern Front continues to be a running sore and as the book opens in 1952. Germany has won Moscow and huge swathes of Russian territory but is unable to get the upper hand with both sides continuing to make devastating losses. The Crimea on the other hand is now German territory and has been settled with German farmers, the original occupants having vanished from the face of the earth.
British Jews have been allowed to stay in their homes but now have to wear lapel badges. The rest of Europe’s Jews have been dealt and already the concentration camps of the holocaust are being decommissioned.
With a scenario like this, there is plenty of scope for a riveting novel. As the book opens we learn that Winston Churchill, now in his 80s is leading a resistance movement comprising communists, trade-unionists (those who have not yet been shot!), liberals of all persuasions and large numbers of people who are disgusted with that the government has done.
The book focuses on David and his wife Sarah who live a relatively comfortable life in North London. David works as a Civil Servant in the Dominions Office and deals with those Australia, Canada, South Africa and other Empire nations. He has a terrible secret however – his mother was Jewish, meaning that he himself is a Jew. His father however went out of his way to suppress this fact but it only seems a matter of time before the truth of his origins will come out.
David is slowly inveigled into taking part in Resistance activities by making photographs of important secret documents at Whitehall office. This leads him into the other major thread in the first half of the book – an old university friend, Frank, is now languishing in a mental hospital having nearly killed his brother, an American émigré scientist who has secret knowledge about new nuclear weapons. Soon David is being approached by the Resistance to make contact with Frank to try to find our how much he knows about the new weapons, not knowing that the Gestapo are also interested in Frank for their own purposes.
C J Sansom has filled the book with detail about this new Britain, a nation which is not far off being a puppet state under German masters. The population is divided with many approving of the new regime and its ability to bring a sort of peace to a troubled Europe. The Church of England has split in two with an official wing, almost an agent of the state and a new confessing church who protest about the new measures. The unemployed are now in agricultural work-camps and it only seems to be a matter of time before the Jews are rounded up and shipped off to follow the fate of their mainland European cousins.
I found this to be a fascinating read. My only complaint being that it is possible a little too lengthy at 450 pages. Sometimes I felt that a bit of editing wouldn’t have come amiss, although I appreciate the care which Sansom took to fully develop his themes and to make sure that al the loose ends were tied up. It must be a rare skill to manage a narrative as complex as this one, while at the same time providing so much detail about the barely-recognisable Britain: a grey 1950s vassal state, locked in low-level poverty and under-development, humiliated by treacherous leaders and suffering from an ever-increasing climate of fear. I found it to be a wholly believable world and as good a “what might have been” story as any.
This book would appeal to anyone who enjoys political thrillers, anyone with an interest in alternative histories but also by anyone who enjoys a meaty, entertaining read by a master story-teller. I’d give it four out of five stars, the missing star being because I felt it would have been a better book had it been 250 pages rather than 450 pages. Many other readers however seem not to have been bothered by the books length so perhaps I was being an impatient reader on this occasion.
For sharper, more tightly-written novels based on the intrigues and politicking of the World War 2 era and its aftermath I would recommend the latest books by Alan Furst (Mission to Paris) or Philip Kerr (Prague Fatale).
Ah I was at a book event lats week where someone mentioned that he had done an alternative history novel so I’m glad I stumbled on this review. Will stick it on the wishlist
O bother! I wish I’d seen this review yesterday! I was in one of those dreadful airport bookshops today (an hour and a half to kill between connecting flights) and I saw this book on the shelves – but not knowing anything about it I bought a very forgettable one by Salley Vickers instead.
It’s my own fault, I should have taken my kindle. I took two unread books with me for a 48 hour visit to my parents in Qld but I’d finished both of them by last night because Virgin cancelled my flight and I had a loooooong wait for the next plane.
I read this one and I loved it too. I don’t think the length really bothered me (though it often does) because I was so gripped by the storyline. Great to need another review about it.
There are actually a lot of alternate history books centering on different outcomes for World War II. I love the concept in general and thus this one sounds very good. O also tend to like alternate history speculation in general.
One of, and perhaps the first of these is Philip K. Dicks’s “Man in the High Castle”. I particularly love that work though it evolves beyond a conventional thriller into the abstract and symbolic.
And Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America.
Lisa – oh yes, I completely forgot about that one. Its one I started but didn’t finish
Brian – thanks for the comment. I’ve never heard of Dick’s Man in the High Castle but have looked it up on Amazon. “In this nightmare dystopia the Nazis have taken over New York, the Japanese control California and the African continent is virtually wiped out” – sounds pretty horrific!
Lindsay -thanks for visiting. I’ll go across to your blog and have a look now
Lisa- Ah yes, the Kindle solves so many problems while travelling. Thanks for visiting.
I left a long comment also on Dominion but the system rejected it for some reason – your options don’t include just name/url and as I’m don’t have really use the other accounts its a little tricky for me to leave a comment.
I like lisa would be put of by the name samson I view as supermarket lit but this reminds me a bit of Harris fatherland and the roth plot against both similar ideas to this one ,all the best stu
I was handed a copy of sampler of the book at the train station a week ago. I have Winter in Madrid with me which I haven’t had the chance to read it. Still I would be curious to read it now that you said it’s good. I look back on the genre of books that I read and I notice that political thriller is missing.
Oh Stu, I loooove that term ‘supermarket’ lit, I’ve never heard it before but of course it is perfect for the kind of fiction you mean.
Yes, Tom, the Chartres one is the one I bought and it is so dull that I put it aside on the plane and read the airline mag instead!
Stu – how many sales has he lost by mis-spelling of his name I wonder? I’ve never encountered Sansom before
Lisa – oh well, the review I read is definitely right then. She’s a very mixed writer I think
JoV – oh yes, political thrillers as a genre – I’m sure I’ve read loads of them but can’t think of any at the moment!
While looking for the latest reviews of my novel The Cleaner of Chartres I was intrigued to read from Lisa that it was ‘getting very poor reviews’. It has 22 5 star reviews on Amazon and excellent reviews in four broadsheets including Sunday Times and Observer. Only one stinker to date – all the rest are very positive, So, Lisa, you might not like my novel – it is as readers who like it say, quiet and takes time to build and that may not be to your taste. But you shouldn’t post false or misinformation about it.
Salley. Thank you for visiting. I acknowledge that your book has generally had very good newspaper reviews and I look forward to reading it. Corrections made to the offending comment – but it was not Lisa who made the remark in fact. Please see my email. Tom
Tom, I hope you don’t mind me responding to Salley Vickers here.
*I* did *not* say The Cleaner of Chartres was ‘getting very poor reviews’. If you read my 3 comments above I said it was ‘forgettable’ and that it was ‘so dull that I put it aside on the plane and read the airline mag instead’.
These are my *opinions*, and by definition therefore cannot be either ‘false’ or ‘misinformation’. There is no such thing as a false opinion.
I have read 3 of your other books before and rated them 4 stars on GoodReads but I have declined to rate this one there. Unlike some other readers, some of whom support what *was* said about poor reviews above, but not by me…
Hi Lisa – it was not you who said that the book had had poor reviews in any case. The “false and misleading” information which Salley referred to was a throwaway comment that it was getting poor reviews when most newspaper reviews are good. I read the scathing review in The Spectator which I assume is the one Salley refers to as a stinker. I am looking forward to reading the book for myself and will write a full review i.d.c.
Thanks, Tom:)
*chuckle*
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