Product Description

The combination of Michael Dobbs' excellent writing skills and historical passion, and the legendary character of Winston Churchill, have provided two triumphantly successful books in WINSTON'S WAR and NEVER SURRENDER. In 1941, the war appears to be going badly on many fronts. Churchill is the confirmed leader and so his domestic political struggles are slightly lessened, but battered, bloody and almost bankrupt, Britain limps on. Churchill knows his country cannot win the war alone. An alliance with America is paramount, and Churchill is determined to develop and use a friendship with Averall Harriman, American Ambassador to Britain, and personal friend of President Franklin Roosevelt. But his son's wife exploits this first. Pamela Churchill's passionate affair, conducted under her father-in-law's roof, presents Churchill with the appalling dilemma between saving his country, and allowing his son Randolph to be cuckolded. With no British battlefield successes, and with a jubilant Germany controlling Europe, 1941 was a bleak year. America continued resolute against fighting, but by the year's close Pearl Harbour had forced America into the war. Why had the Japanese been persuaded to attack American targets? And how were the rumours of the attack prevented from reaching American ears? Decisions of love and war are often matters of perception. And so it was in this case. This is an extraordinary novel of a man at bay, a nation facing disaster, and the political skills, human dilemmas and brilliant leadership that saved the day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #139660 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Review
'An author who can bring historical happenings so vitally back to life, and made all the more impressive by being historically accurate in every aspect.' Anthony Howard, The Times, on Winston's War 'An intriguing tale of espionage and treason that charts the increasingly tangled lives of a unique cast. This is a work to enthral.' Daily Mail 'Dobbs has done a brilliant job in evoking the drama the despair of Britain hovering on the edge of the abyss.' Sunday Express

About the Author
Bestselling author Michael Dobbs was at Mrs Thatcher's side as she took her first step into Downing Street as Prime Minister and was a key aide to John Major when he was voted out. In between times he was bombed in Brighton, banished from Chequers and blamed for failing to secoure a Blair-Major television debate. He is now one of the country's leading political commentators.

Customer Reviews

A brilliant portrait
Churchill's Hour is a brilliant portrait of Britain's complex but indomitable wartime leader. It explores, as no history book can, the personal and political pressures that bore down on Churchill during the dark and lonely months of 1941. Its climax may be shocking, but it's totally believable.

A book too far?
I must be running out of steam because I really found this recent installment of Dobb's otherwise excellent historical fiction of Churchill both the dullest and most unbelievable. Perhaps Dobb's is running out of steam as well because the prose and pace are stale and stilted throughout.

My enduring memory of the book (and I only finished it seven days ago) is a procession of meals at which Churchills habits as a trencherman are given more prominence than the issue of his status as a beleagured Prime Minister trying by all means to entice the USA into the war as an ally of Great Britain.

The central thesis of the book (without giving anything away) does not suspend one's disbelief because there are so few scenes where Churchill is engaged with his War Cabinet or the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In several instances Churchill eagerly reads the papers or listens to the news to discover what is going on in the world. Come on! A control freak like Churchill would have had people coming and going at all times briefing him on every piece of minutiae that was going on. The image conveyed in the book is that of a man who is distant from both his responsibilities as a Prime Minister and a war leader.

There may be a grain of truth in this but to paint a picture where this is over emphasised makes the whole book unbelievable.

If you have read "Churchill's War" and "Never Surrender" then you will want to read this third installment. But let's all hope that Dobb's recovers his form to provide us with a cracking fourth installment or I will personally find my patience exhausted.

Gritty Determination in the Face of Adversity
This is the third book in the Churchill series.
The Battle of Britain has just about brought Britain to its knees and the bombing of major British cities has begun to an extent to demoralise the British people and further problems occur when Japan is set to begin attacks.

The United States are reluctant to become involved in a war in Europe and then there is the unexpected attack on Pearl Harbour which alters the course of events dramatically.

Churchill's own personal problems have worsened to such an extent that they are starting to overshadow and also put in jeopardy his professional position.