Never Surrender: A Novel of Winston Churchill

Dobbs’ “Never Surrender” is fine historical Churchillian fiction beginning with his role as prime minister in May 1940 and up to the Dunkirk evacuation; three casts of characters are featured; Churchill, his aides (Bracken, Colville, Halifax) and Cabinet; a fictional Dover based minister, his pacifist son and Belgium companion, and, Vice Admiral Ramsey, the leader of the Dunkirk boat rescue mission.As history, the author sticks to the facts and timeline, adding insight, analysis, notably capturing the dire political climate of Churchill’s initial time as prime minister post Chamberlain, his intriguing “partnership” with Lord Halifax, his stirring oratory and two strange doppelgängers; a portrait of Churchill's father and a fictional German woman who instills him the inner strength to fight against Hitler. The story ends in the aftermath of Dunkirk. A side note for American readers is Dobbs’ crushing characterization of Ambassador Joe Kennedy; “…a man of not only loose morals but also of loose lips.”The reader comes to admire Dobbs’s superb descriptive writing, his not wholly favorable critique of Churchill and his evocative descriptions of the perilous times in the late Spring of 1940 European history.

"Never Surrender" is one of Michael Dobbs' better novels. In this one, Winston Churchill actually plays a minor role (in my estimation). If you know Churchill history and also that of World War II in Britain, the speeches and character of Churchill during this time period are common knowledge. There are no new revelations in this novel about either Churchill or World War II. Thus, what makes this book compelling are the cast of supporting players and the two or three sub-themes or sub-plots.The best sub-story (surpassing that of the book overall) is about Don and Claude, an Englishman and Frenchman who together, as a couple of unlikely soldier buddies, survive the allied withdrawal to Dunkirk. This metaphorical wedding of the British and French fates is clever and effective, Dobbs best structural writing achievement. These two soldiers refuse to part as the evacuation of Dunkirk looms, taking even their found-dog "Winston" with them. Their fate, as was that of the several hundred thousand BEF soldiers, remains in limbo. In this sub-plot Dobbs correctly cements together the ultimate destinies of Britain and France.The descriptions of battle and other wartime scenes are very good. Dobbs' history is relatively accurate, it seems, but true-to-form, Dobbs heaps abuse on every American in sight, especially the apparently despicable Ambassador to Britain at the time, Joseph Kennedy, who seems to fit every bad stereotype of every American who ever lived. Why Dobbs is intent on such anti-Americanism remains mysterious.Despair, hope, tragedy, happiness and pathos all are woven carefully into this excellent work.The dialogue is a bit forced at times, too often over-the-top and all-too-rarely realistic, except the talk between Claude and Don. Churchill's role predominates at the end of the book, but it's the fate of the subordinate characters that kept me reading, not Churchill's conduct, antics and speeches. Thus, the elements of a novel, not necessarily the features of history, are what make this novel good and kept at least this reader (who is well versed in WWII facts) involved in this story right to the end.As a result, I recommend the story for its story-telling, not necessarily for its history. But, if you are a neophyte in WWII history, then both are good. It's a 4+ any way you look at it.

Michael Dobbs has become one of my favorite authors. He is factually on par but his work reads like a novel instead of a text book. As a young international relations major and foreign policy buff, this is a pleasure to read. He really captures the dynamics between and personalities of Churchill, chamberlain & Kennedy. 10/10

I'm not here to review the book, except to say it's a decent read. Three stars out of five, maybe.I'm here to rip on the horrid Kindle edition that Amazon is pawning off on Kindle owners. The book is borderline unreadable on a Kindle. Paragraph indentation styles switch back and forth between no indentation and first-line indentation. Many sections begin with offset letters. The start of the book has a dedication that reads something like "F O R R AC H E L" and it goes downhill from there:NEVER SURRENDERPROLOGUEA scot, 1883.The boy was small, only eight, the youngest in the school. Red-haired, blue-eyed, round in face and nervous.[...skipping a bit...]Anyway, it was time for his son to move on; up to20 prologue that point he'd been educated by private tutors [...]I'm not picking on a couple of typos here. The book is RIDDLED with this stuff -- there are literally multiple examples on just about every page. Line breaks that, in the print edition, tell the reader that "We're switching plotlines now" are completely absent on the Kindle. This is often confusing. I would estimate I took about 40% longer to read this novel than was justified by its length, because I was constantly stopping and going back and trying to figure out why Brendan Bracken was talking to Churchill in his study when on the previous line we'd been on the beach at Calais.I've had a few typography complaints with other Kindle novels before -- we're all still waiting for Amazon to grow up a bit, I guess -- but this is The Next Level.It's this simple: Amazon owes me eight bucks. Save your own money.

This 4-book series of Michael Dobbs' is utterly fascinating! I believe we as Americans are aware - at some level - of the prominence Sir Winston Churchill had in the last century; however, Mr. Dobbs' intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the parliamentary government of Great Britain is most revealing. Albeit he admits these are works of fiction, the extraordinary research he has done over his lifetime lends total realism to his portrayal of the events between the first and second World Wars and the "insider's look" at the very heart of the political system - with all its human evils and shortcomings. Fascinating read! I highly recommend the whole series!

Good stuff

Very well written. An excellent read.

Read this book in 2005, and its the 2nd volume of the wonderful Winston Churchill quartet of books.This tale is set in 1940, and it tells us the battle of wills between Winston Churchil and Adolf Hitler.Although Churchill is isolated in Britain itself and mistrusted by his colleagues, and tormented by ghosts from the past, he's more than beacon for Britain against the Nazi evil.The Nazis under Adolf Hitler may have conquered most of France, with Paris included, Holland, Belgium, and brought Britain on it knees at Dunkirk, the only battle Hitler cannot win against Churchill is the Battle of the Mind.What is to follow is a four week war of mind games between Churchill and Hitler, in which Churchill will somehow break Hitler's stronghold over Britain because he's showing the stronger of the two in this battle of wills.Highly recommended, for this is a fantastic addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "An Excellent Recreation Of Willpower"!

SAFE READING - NO SPOILERSIf you want details of the story, see other reviews; I am going to comment generally.I have the book (hardcover) and the audiobook, now on my iPod with all the other Michael Dobbs', a writer I recommend highly. With his own life experiences, his well-researched expertise as a modern historian and skill as a writer, he manages to weave stories which capture the time, the events and the characters and shine a revelatory searchlight into dark corners. Little in the events that helped to shape the modern world shocks him and he manages, with great skill, to make these household names human. But enough of the stories which I recommend. I hope Michael Dobbs made his money before the prices fell. (Apart from their quality, appearance and feeling, these hardcover prices are astonishing.)I have most of Dobbs' on CDs and, with Tim Pigot-Smith reading, they are a joy. I listen a lot in the car.Pigot-Smith is a wonderful reader, usually understated with just enough of a difference in the voice to create, establish and sustain a character throughout the book. I found him first in the Dobb's Churchill books, all of which he has read on CD, as I researched Churchill. Shut your eyes (not recommended on the M6, especially around Birmingham!) and it is Churchill there in the car with you. Pigot-Smith has him to perfection. Combined with Dobbs' insightful (and understated) writing, they are a perfect team.Highly Recommended.

This is the second of Dobbs' novels, which focuses on Winston Churchill and other important influential people during a moments of World War Two, in this case the evacuation of Dunkirk.Whilst not a natural page turner, this is in fact a well-thought out, interesting novel which highlights the trials and tribulations our wartime leader faced, not only from Germany, but from individuals close to him and the inner demons he faced himself.Such novels deserve praise as it not only provides readers with a lot of historical content, it also introduces other aspects to what was happening.Another comprehensive tale from one of our most astute political writers.