Never Surrender

NEVER SURRENDER picks up the story on May 10, 1940, when Winston is asked by King George VI to form a new government to face the Nazi menace across the Channel, and portrays the next several weeks into early June as the British Expeditionary Force in France is forced by German panzers into a desperate position on the coast at Dunkirk, from which they, and as many French troops as possible, must be evacuated back to England via whatever boats can float.

Winston, is, of course, the hero of the series, and the fictional story, based on factual events, is portrayed from his point of view. Several major figures continue from the first to second volumes, including the King, the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James, snake-in-the-grass Joseph Kennedy, and Winston's loyal friend and political confidant, Brendan Bracken . To provide a human face to events in France, Dobbs pens the characters of Don Chichester, a conscientious objector serving with the Royal Ambulance Corps, Claude, a downed and injured French pilot that Don patches up, and a spaniel, named "Winston" by Chichester for his constant barking, that adopts the two during their retreat to the Dunkirk beach.

I was less enamored of NEVER SURRENDER than WINSTON'S WAR, though it's still a decent read. Dobbs moves back and forth between Churchill and Chichester; perhaps he should of stayed with the former for a leaner plot (since this is, after all, a saga about Winston). Churchill, plagued with feelings of deep inadequacy as he copes with defeatist ministers, intransigent generals, and a military disaster of biblical proportions, lives in the shadow of his politically disgraced and deceased father, with whose portrait he carries on imaginary conversations. Don's relationship with his own father, a stern and uncompromising Anglican vicar, has been strained ever since his mother died giving him birth. Indeed, the two are barely on speaking terms.

Dysfunctional relationships between fathers and sons is very much a theme of this book, and I got the feeling that the author tried too hard to make the point, especially after Winston's debilitating obsession with his father's memory received such scant attention in WINSTON'S WAR. And furthermore, the whole Don/Claude thing seemed inconsequential window dressing. Indeed, the ending to this sidebar was so contrived for effect that I almost pitched the book into a corner. If there had to be a subplot at all, I would rather it had revolved around, say, Bertram Ramsay, the beleaguered Vice Admiral in his subterranean tunnels under Dover Castle charged with bringing the Tommies back from Dunkirk. Or Winston the dog.

So, keeping a stiff upper lip, it's on to the third book in the series, CHURCHILL'S HOUR.


best book i ever read   July 17, 2004
Mr P D Skillicorn
2 out of 4 found this review helpful

i was bought this as a birthday present and it went straight on my shelf. 3 weeks later bored at home i decided to read it and im really glad i did. The story is a gripping and believable account of Winston Churchill. The characters created are fantastic and i was on edge throughout the whole book. Michael Dobbs is a genius. I have since bought winstons war and i will buy the next few books after that. I especially liked the parts involving his father which was incredibly powerfull and very believable. BUY THIS BOOK


An intriguing portrait of Winston Churchill   July 12, 2004
Jan Erik Frantsvåg (Tromsø, Norway)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

This novel about the first few weeks after May 10th 1940, climaxing in the catastrophe and triumph of Dunkerque, is mainly a portrait of Winston Churchill. There is a parallell story about a clergyman and his Medical orderly son with the BEF in France, but except for the "major history" the stories do not intertwine.

Churchill's tyranny and anger, his lies and bullying, and his total conviction he is the one who must stay in power in order to defeat the Germans - while at the same time doubting that this can be done - is a fascinating portrait of one of the men who made history by their acts and personalities. Churchill's weaknesses, and his political manoeuvres among few friends, some undecided and many enemies, openly or guarded, makes for very interesting reading.

His relationships to his father is also a theme; I have no idea how much of this is real and how much is fiction, it is still a great story.

I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in this crucial period of WWII, and I am looking forward to the sequel.


A real sense of how Churchill triumphed in 1940   May 6, 2004
Mr Colin H Harnett
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Michael Dobb's novel demonstrates vividly and movingly the desperate situation Britain faced in May 1940 when the Germans overwhelmed the Allies in the Low Countries and Northern France. Winston Churchill was under great pressure from within his Cabinet to cut a peace deal with Hitler and his position was far from strong. Chamberlain and Halifax still commanded support across the political spectrum. With the prospect of much of the British Army in France being captured or destroyed, a compromise peace looked attractive to those who earlier had sought to appease Hitler.

All these tensions are well captured by Michael Dobbs and he has constructed a fine novel which gives you a real sense of the desperation as well as the final triumph of Churchill in our "finest hour".

The scenes of politicking in London are gripping and I sense that the author, with his background in the political world of Mrs Thatcher, brings experience and authority to his task. I liked too the use of Ruth Mueller as a form of "cosnscience"- someone challenging Churchill in a way his father might have done, had he been alive to do so.

The Flanders/Dunkirk scenes are less convincing. It is a nice story to have Don and Claude making their way home and for Don's father to be reconciled at the end to his son. But the strength of this excellent book remains the "inside story" of how Churchill the outsider, the man mistrusted by the Establishment, claws his way to his triumph in those memorable weeks in 1940.