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tobinlopes's review against another edition
4.0
I've realized that I have an affinity for WWII stories. This one was recommended by Kirkus and I got it off the shelf at my library and wow...
A great story of personal conflict and what might have happened had Churchill not become PM in 1940. It's also a reminded that Nazis were and are asshats. The group represents the largest and widest representation of evil in modern history.
The booked was a slow-paced thriller and a wonderful account of the thinking that could take place, even in today's world. A thinking of "it's not my problem" that gets viral and can cause long term problems if good people don't stand up to what they know is wrong.
Recommended for many.
I gave it an 8/10 on my personal scale.
-tpl
A great story of personal conflict and what might have happened had Churchill not become PM in 1940. It's also a reminded that Nazis were and are asshats. The group represents the largest and widest representation of evil in modern history.
The booked was a slow-paced thriller and a wonderful account of the thinking that could take place, even in today's world. A thinking of "it's not my problem" that gets viral and can cause long term problems if good people don't stand up to what they know is wrong.
Recommended for many.
I gave it an 8/10 on my personal scale.
-tpl
aaronboyes19's review
4.0
An enjoyable alternate history novel that makes you think, What if Britain made peace with Germany in 1940?
lieselotte_schoeters's review against another edition
3.0
Het idee achter het boek vond ik goed en da's ook de reden dat ik het heb uitgelezen. Jammer genoeg vond ik de schrijfstijl heel gemaakt (kan door de vertaling komen) en het einde was teleurstellend en heel kort. Wat dan wel jammer als je denkt dat er meer dan 500 pagina's opgebouwd wordt naar iets meer 'episch'.
clarks_dad's review against another edition
3.0
A fantastically well-researched alternative history novel set in a fascist-leaning Britain after the "conclusion" of the Second World War. Germany is victorious after a brief 1939-1940 war, the result of which stemmed from a simple hypothetical question: What if Churchill had not succeeded Chamberlain to the office of Prime Minister? Granted, it gives a ludicrous amount of credit for Britain's defiance of Hitler to a single man, but more often than not many great events in history turn on such seemingly small events and it's certainly fun to ponder the ramifications of such small changes - such musings certainly give us a sense of the importance of each individual and of our every day actions, which becomes somewhat of a central theme in Dominion - vying with the hopeless eventuality embraced by one of the central characters, Frank Muncaster.
The plot of Dominion revolves around the lives of two old college friends and how their lives end up entwined again after many years of separation. David Fitzgerald is a mid-level civil servant recruited into the British Resistance movement after the accidental death of his son. Anger at the government's recent Anti-Semitic policies (he's secretly half-Jewish himself) compounds with a sense of frustration and anger at life in general, tempting him into a life of romantic espionage activity - a desperate attempt to restore a sense of agency and control to his life and crumbling marriage. Frank Muncaster is a timid, retiring scientist scarred physically and emotionally by an upbringing of bullying who learns a dangerous and vitally important secret from his brother, a weapons engineer who emigrated from the U.S. The secret drives Muncaster temporarily mad, and he finds himself institutionalized and the sudden focus of interest of both the Resistance the Gestapo. The rest of the tale is a competently told espionage thriller with various factions struggling to find and or keep Muncaster and control the dangerous secret he possesses.
The secret, I'm afraid, is rather underwhelming and is played off rather casually, which is my only significant criticism of the entire work. Almost every major development, either historical or plot related seems brushed off by a wave of the hand - "It's something nuclear science related. I'm a scientist, so I understand...don't worry about it," or "Where are we going? Somewhere important that the Resistance knows about, you don't need to know the rest." It's kind of hard to explain. I mean you expect a certain level of jealous secret keeping in an espionage book, but there is very little satisfaction gained from learning anything new about the nature of the resistance or the secret kept by Muncaster. It all seems rather mundane. Maybe that's a designed effect by Sansom to keep the novel as realistic as possible - to make it a believable bit of historical fancy, but with a setting as epic as totalitarian-rising-post-World-War-II Europe...I don't know...you kind of expect something more epic.
The tale is rather personal though, so maybe that's the point. Sansom spends a great deal of time developing each of the characters with most attention given to Muncaster and the two Fitzgeralds (David and his wife Sarah). The story can definitely be read as the very real personal struggles of these three individuals amidst the fantastic backdrop of a successful Germany in 1950, but if that's the case I still have some problems with it. Fitzgerald's character hinges on the loyalty of his character, and that is what makes him a "good man," but throughout the narrative he's proves to be just about anything but. In short, there are many questionable narrative decisions made on the romantic and personal relationship front that detract a bit from the storytelling. I know, I know....people aren't perfect and that's the point...blah, blah, blah, but when you try to sell someone as smart and then they do really stupid things it appears that your storytelling is a bit conflicted and it bothers me as a reader.
That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the setting of the novel and the atmosphere and tension is spot on. I found myself pausing several times to reflect on the loyalty of new characters, feeling suspicious and anxious as if I was a member of the Resistance cell on the run myself. There's also a lot of genuine sympathy created for the Gestapo man, Gunther Hoth, put in charge of the hunt for Muncaster. While his actions and job are vile, there's a human side to him that is easy to relate to and it creates a sense of discomfort when you realize at some point in the story you hope things work out for the best for this guy too.
Though I usually find these types of "What-if" scenarios hokey wet dreams of history "buffs" that are rather superficial renderings and excuses for them to just get to imagined scenarios they think of as "spectacular," Dominion manages to stay subtle and personal with the larger events serving as backdrop and window dressing, only mentioned where appropriate. I aprove.
The plot of Dominion revolves around the lives of two old college friends and how their lives end up entwined again after many years of separation. David Fitzgerald is a mid-level civil servant recruited into the British Resistance movement after the accidental death of his son. Anger at the government's recent Anti-Semitic policies (he's secretly half-Jewish himself) compounds with a sense of frustration and anger at life in general, tempting him into a life of romantic espionage activity - a desperate attempt to restore a sense of agency and control to his life and crumbling marriage. Frank Muncaster is a timid, retiring scientist scarred physically and emotionally by an upbringing of bullying who learns a dangerous and vitally important secret from his brother, a weapons engineer who emigrated from the U.S. The secret drives Muncaster temporarily mad, and he finds himself institutionalized and the sudden focus of interest of both the Resistance the Gestapo. The rest of the tale is a competently told espionage thriller with various factions struggling to find and or keep Muncaster and control the dangerous secret he possesses.
The secret, I'm afraid, is rather underwhelming and is played off rather casually, which is my only significant criticism of the entire work. Almost every major development, either historical or plot related seems brushed off by a wave of the hand - "It's something nuclear science related. I'm a scientist, so I understand...don't worry about it," or "Where are we going? Somewhere important that the Resistance knows about, you don't need to know the rest." It's kind of hard to explain. I mean you expect a certain level of jealous secret keeping in an espionage book, but there is very little satisfaction gained from learning anything new about the nature of the resistance or the secret kept by Muncaster. It all seems rather mundane. Maybe that's a designed effect by Sansom to keep the novel as realistic as possible - to make it a believable bit of historical fancy, but with a setting as epic as totalitarian-rising-post-World-War-II Europe...I don't know...you kind of expect something more epic.
The tale is rather personal though, so maybe that's the point. Sansom spends a great deal of time developing each of the characters with most attention given to Muncaster and the two Fitzgeralds (David and his wife Sarah). The story can definitely be read as the very real personal struggles of these three individuals amidst the fantastic backdrop of a successful Germany in 1950, but if that's the case I still have some problems with it. Fitzgerald's character hinges on the loyalty of his character, and that is what makes him a "good man," but throughout the narrative he's proves to be just about anything but.
Spoiler
He lies to his wife to cover his involvement in the Resistance, lies to his superiors who have personal ties to him, takes advantage of a woman at the office who has feelings for him for the sake of "duty," and while he never has an affair with Carol, which is supposed to redeem his character and prove his loyalty (which Sarah suspects for the first half of the novel), he later does confess his feelings for and actively pursues a relationship with a fellow spy, utterly trashing his reputation for loyalty and only ends up settling with his wife (happily ever after on a submarine bound for America) AFTER said spy makes up her mind to stay behind in Britain.That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the setting of the novel and the atmosphere and tension is spot on. I found myself pausing several times to reflect on the loyalty of new characters, feeling suspicious and anxious as if I was a member of the Resistance cell on the run myself. There's also a lot of genuine sympathy created for the Gestapo man, Gunther Hoth, put in charge of the hunt for Muncaster. While his actions and job are vile, there's a human side to him that is easy to relate to and it creates a sense of discomfort when you realize at some point in the story you hope things work out for the best for this guy too.
Though I usually find these types of "What-if" scenarios hokey wet dreams of history "buffs" that are rather superficial renderings and excuses for them to just get to imagined scenarios they think of as "spectacular," Dominion manages to stay subtle and personal with the larger events serving as backdrop and window dressing, only mentioned where appropriate. I aprove.
tancrni's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
dexychik's review against another edition
4.0
Slow to get going and an unusually incomplete ending from Sansom, but otherwise excellent.
jmkemp's review against another edition
4.0
I was recommended Dominion by a couple of friends after my review of the TV version of SS-GB. Dominion is a huge tome, it's 700 pages long, and my first thought was that it probably needed some more editing. However I found it an easy and compelling read. Sansom's style is more descriptive than others I've read, but the extra detail adds to the flavour of the story.
Dominion takes a far more believable point of departure for its alternate history than SS-GB does. In Dominion Lord Halifax takes over from Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister on 10 May 1940. Without Churchill the UK also makes peace with Germany in 1940. By the time Dominion is set in 1952 we have a much different Britain, it was never bombed and there is no rationing. Yet we've slid into being an authoritarian state with a fascist as Home Secretary in a coalition government. Rigged elections have driven Churchill, Attlee and Bevan underground.
There are several intertwined threads in the story, which gradually come together into the final scene in the book. They're woven skillfully together in a manner that still leaves room for some surprises when each of the joins come.
I particularly liked the way the key antagonist is written, it would have been so easy to have made him a stereotype bully boy Gestapo thug. Instead he's a frail human, lost and alone with his twin brother dead on the Russian steppe and his wife left him and taken their son away. Inspector Hoth uses his intelligence and cunning to catch Jews and ship them off, before coming to the UK to try and catch our protagonists. He's way more sympathetic than the British Special Branch sidekick he picks up, which makes him all the scarier.
The central characters are pre-war university friends thrown together by circumstances. Two are civil servants and spying for the Resistance. The third is a scientist working at Birmingham University with a brother working for the US Government who gets sectioned after an argument with his brother.
The main characters are all different, yet well observed to feel very real. They have more than one dimension to them. More than stereotypes.
If you are a fan of alternative history this is definitely a must read. There's a stack of research underpinning the book, and I didn't spot anything that felt wrong to me.
Dominion takes a far more believable point of departure for its alternate history than SS-GB does. In Dominion Lord Halifax takes over from Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister on 10 May 1940. Without Churchill the UK also makes peace with Germany in 1940. By the time Dominion is set in 1952 we have a much different Britain, it was never bombed and there is no rationing. Yet we've slid into being an authoritarian state with a fascist as Home Secretary in a coalition government. Rigged elections have driven Churchill, Attlee and Bevan underground.
There are several intertwined threads in the story, which gradually come together into the final scene in the book. They're woven skillfully together in a manner that still leaves room for some surprises when each of the joins come.
I particularly liked the way the key antagonist is written, it would have been so easy to have made him a stereotype bully boy Gestapo thug. Instead he's a frail human, lost and alone with his twin brother dead on the Russian steppe and his wife left him and taken their son away. Inspector Hoth uses his intelligence and cunning to catch Jews and ship them off, before coming to the UK to try and catch our protagonists. He's way more sympathetic than the British Special Branch sidekick he picks up, which makes him all the scarier.
The central characters are pre-war university friends thrown together by circumstances. Two are civil servants and spying for the Resistance. The third is a scientist working at Birmingham University with a brother working for the US Government who gets sectioned after an argument with his brother.
The main characters are all different, yet well observed to feel very real. They have more than one dimension to them. More than stereotypes.
If you are a fan of alternative history this is definitely a must read. There's a stack of research underpinning the book, and I didn't spot anything that felt wrong to me.
tcm_62's review against another edition
4.0
A great 'what if?' read. I enjoyed the first 150 - 200 pages best, where the author is setting the scene creating an alternative, 1952 London realistic and plausible. The scene where the last remaining Jews are rounded up and marched down the Tottenham Court Road was particularly disturbing.
Thereafter the novel becomes a more conventional spy thriller albeit a good one - British resistance spies trying to complete their mission and get a vulnerable scientist-with-a-secret out of the country, on the run from a notorious Nazi spy catcher brought over from Germany specifically for the task.
Good sweep of characters, both fictional and based on real historical figures; the author builds the relationships well engaging the reader's sympathies, even with Gunther the ageing, lonely spy hunter.
The novel is well paced and doesn't feel like 700 pages long.
Thereafter the novel becomes a more conventional spy thriller albeit a good one - British resistance spies trying to complete their mission and get a vulnerable scientist-with-a-secret out of the country, on the run from a notorious Nazi spy catcher brought over from Germany specifically for the task.
Good sweep of characters, both fictional and based on real historical figures; the author builds the relationships well engaging the reader's sympathies, even with Gunther the ageing, lonely spy hunter.
The novel is well paced and doesn't feel like 700 pages long.
60degreesn's review against another edition
4.0
Good alternative history of WW2.
Better than I expected, and one of best I've read.
England makes treaty w/ Germany WW2, set in foggy, grim 1950s UK.
Better than I expected, and one of best I've read.
England makes treaty w/ Germany WW2, set in foggy, grim 1950s UK.
tsharris's review against another edition
4.0
Well-written alternate history spy thriller set in 1952 after Britain made peace with Nazi Germany in May 1940. This scenario has been done before - notably by Robert Harris and Jo Walton - but Sansom's is perhaps better than the others on the politics and society of a Britain drifting into fascism. I don't think he takes too many shortcuts. Ultimately any alternate history that takes on this premise is about what kind of society Britain was in 1930s, depressed, afraid of war, and in too many corners sympathetic (or more) with Nazi Germany. Maybe Churchill's rallying the British people was the most likely outcome, but books like this serve to show just what Churchill was up against.