Download Dominion

Dominion

Author: Visit Amazon's C.J. Sansom Page | Language: English | ISBN: 0316254916 | Format: PDF

Dominion Description

From Booklist

Sansom is known primarily for his series of historical novels featuring sixteenth-century lawyer Matthew Shardlake, but Winter in Madrid (2008), a spy thriller set in 1940, brought the author some serious acclaim. More is sure to follow with this gripping alternate-history story set in England in the early 1950s. David Fitzgerald, a civil servant, is a member of the Resistance, a group dedicated to expelling the Nazis from England (in Sansom’s version of twentieth-century history, England surrendered to Hitler in May 1940). When David is given a very delicate assignment—extricate scientist Frank Muncaster from a mental hospital before the Nazis discover the potentially world-altering secrets in Muncaster’s possession—he doesn’t count on being pursued by a relentless Gestapo agent, Gunther Hoth, who will stop at nothing to silence Muncaster. A race-against-time thriller set against an imaginative and internally consistent historical backdrop, the novel should definitely appeal to fans of alternate history, especially the WWII novels of Harry Turtledove or Robert Conroy, and, of course, Robert Harris’ classic Fatherland (1992). --David Pitt

Review

"Exciting . . . What elevates Dominion above sheer white-knuckle entertainment ... are Samson's empathetic, complex characters and the frighteningly believable alternative world he creates. Dominion's pages fly by in a frenzy, but this is a book that lingers." (3.5/4 stars)—Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today

"C.J. Sansom has long been one of my favorite writers, but DOMINION may be his most richly imagined book yet: it's a wonderful example of what the novel can do--a through-the-looking-glass glimpse into a world that might have been, and almost was."—Kate Atkinson, New York Times bestselling author of Life After Life

"Dominion is terrific. And no, this isn't one of those publisher-sponsored blurbs. I just fell in love with it. Nice and long, too."—Stephen King

"DOMINION will make you cry...highly recommended...a wonderful novel."—Nancy Pearl, KUOW public radio (Seattle)

"A highly charged and deeply inventive literary thriller . . . An exhilarating page-turner . . . Alternative history on a grand scale."—Malcolm Forbes, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Sansom has an original and impressive voice. Rich details add depth to the story. Absorbing and richly conceived."—Adam Woog, Seattle Times

"Gripping . . . A race-against-time thriller set against an imaginative and internally consistent historical backdrop, the novel should definitely appeal to fans of alternate history, especially the WWII novels of Harry Turtledove or Robert Conroy, and, of course, Robert Harris' classic Fatherland."—Booklist

"The best novel of its kind since Robert Harris's Fatherland."—Charles Cumming, New York Times bestselling author of The Trinity Six

"Long and engaging. Rich and densely plotted. All too real."—Kirkus (starred review)

"Intriguing. Page-turning. Delicious."—Library Journal (featured review)

"Exciting, sophisticated, and moving. There will be few better historical novels published this year."—Nick Rennison, The Times (UK)

"An inventented mid-20th-century Britain that has the intricate detail and delineation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth."—Mark Lawson, The Guardian (UK)

"Masterly."—Boyd Tonkin, The Independent (UK)

"Sansom has an unerring sense of pace and a deft historical touch."—The New Yorker

"C.J. Sansom can lay claim to a place among the most distinguished of modern historical novelists."—P.D. James

See all Editorial Reviews

• Product Details
• Table of Contents
• Reviews

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Mulholland Books; First Edition edition (January 28, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316254916
• ISBN-13: 978-0316254915
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

As C.J.Sansom writes my favourite historical mystery series of all time, in the Shardlake books, I picked this up with a great deal of expectation. Set in 1952 it presents an alternate version of history - asking "what if" England had made a Peace Treaty with Germany after Dunkirk? For David Fitzgerald, a civil servant in the Dominion's office, it meant that he felt defeated and humiliated after serving in Norway. It means armed Special Branch Auxiliaries on the streets to deal with civil unrest, a young Queen uncomfortable and under pressure, Churchill in hiding after leading his followers out of parliament, a Soviet War which has raged for eleven years, Joe Kennedy as US Ambassador, India still fighting for independence, all Jewish citizens forced to wear the Star of David (although being typically English, it is in the form of a lapel badge, discreet racism but still very much there) and a country trying to appease the Germans at every turn.

Much of what is truly brilliant about this novel is the picture Sansom paints of England as it could have been. Drab, dreary, with 'make do and mend' still very much in force. With Europe still very much under the thumb of their German masters, most of Europe's Jewish population deported to the East and Hitler elderly and frail, the infighting for power already beginning amongst those in power. Although some people have found the novel a little long winded (and I do understand why), I think the scene setting was important. We quickly understand the depression the country, and Europe is in. Leningrad starved, Europe's Jewish population disappeared, Churchill underground. Yet, still, some of Europe is still fighting back.

Dominion Preview

Link

Please Wait...