Scan barcode
A review by ja_hopkins
Dominion by C.J. Sansom
4.0
As a fan of alternate history, and someone interested in WW2, this appealed to me immediately. Set just over a decade after WW2 ended with surrender in 1940, the book tells the dystopian story of Nazi controlled Britain. Those familiar with the history of the time will recognise peripheral characters such as Beaverbrook and Mosley. Britain is under authoritarian rule, with the press muzzled and focused on pro-German propaganda, and the fate of British Jews hangs in the balance. A resistance organisation fights on, headed by Churchill.
The lead is a civil servant, David Fitzgerald, who is recruited by a friend to work for the resistance. A mutual acquaintance from their university days drags them into a far more dangerous conspiracy than copying documents related to British Dominions – the peace of 1940 allowed Britain to maintain its Empire, whilst Germany controlled Europe. He is pursued by a relentless, brilliant Gestapo man, Gunther Hoth and a Special Branch policeman. A disparate cast of unlikely resistance activists are pulled into the conspiracy as the story moves along.
The story is well written, and I really enjoyed the detail of London in the 1950’s. The characters are deep enough that you care, and I read this very quickly as I wanted to find out what happened next. I have two slight criticisms – firstly, I was hoping for more (maybe that’s not a criticism). I felt the wrap-up was all a bit quick. Without wanting to risk spoilers, I was hoping for more from this well created world – the ending precludes any sequels. The second point is the way the story jumps around – it follows a character for several days (or longer), then moves onto another and you move back in time those several days which I found quite jarring. My preference is to proceed broadly sequentially and move between the characters more often. However, I’m sure Sansom had his reasons.
Overall I highly recommend this book. As I said, I’m a bit disappointed there won’t be more works set in this extremely well crafted alternate Britain.
The lead is a civil servant, David Fitzgerald, who is recruited by a friend to work for the resistance. A mutual acquaintance from their university days drags them into a far more dangerous conspiracy than copying documents related to British Dominions – the peace of 1940 allowed Britain to maintain its Empire, whilst Germany controlled Europe. He is pursued by a relentless, brilliant Gestapo man, Gunther Hoth and a Special Branch policeman. A disparate cast of unlikely resistance activists are pulled into the conspiracy as the story moves along.
The story is well written, and I really enjoyed the detail of London in the 1950’s. The characters are deep enough that you care, and I read this very quickly as I wanted to find out what happened next. I have two slight criticisms – firstly, I was hoping for more (maybe that’s not a criticism). I felt the wrap-up was all a bit quick. Without wanting to risk spoilers, I was hoping for more from this well created world – the ending precludes any sequels. The second point is the way the story jumps around – it follows a character for several days (or longer), then moves onto another and you move back in time those several days which I found quite jarring. My preference is to proceed broadly sequentially and move between the characters more often. However, I’m sure Sansom had his reasons.
Overall I highly recommend this book. As I said, I’m a bit disappointed there won’t be more works set in this extremely well crafted alternate Britain.