Dominion

By: C.J. Sansom

Narrated by: Daniel Weyman

Length: 20 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany. The global economy strains against the weight of the long German war against Russia still raging in the east. The British people find themselves under increasingly authoritarian rule - the press, radio, and television tightly controlled, the British Jews facing ever greater constraints.

But Churchill's Resistance soldiers on. As defiance grows, whispers circulate of a secret that could forever alter the balance of the global struggle. The keeper of that secret? Scientist Frank Muncaster, who languishes in a Birmingham mental hospital.

Civil Servant David Fitzgerald, a spy for the Resistance and University friend of Frank's, is given the mission to rescue Frank and get him out of the country. Hard on his heels is Gestapo agent Gunther Hoth, a brilliant, implacable hunter of men, who soon has Frank and David's innocent wife, Sarah, directly in his sights.

C.J. Sansom's literary thriller Winter in Madrid earned Sansom comparisons to Graham Greene, Sebastian Faulks, and Ernest Hemingway. Now, in his first alternative history epic, Sansom doesn't just recreate the past - he reinvents it. In a spellbinding tale of suspense, oppression and poignant love, Dominion dares to explore how, in moments of crisis, history can turn on the decisions of a few brave men and women - the secrets they choose to keep and the bonds they share.

©2012 C.J. Sansom (P)2014 Hachette Audio

Very interesting counterfactual history

The story gets off to a strong start, with a very believable scenario in which Lord Halifax succeeds Chamberlain as PM and sues Nazi Germany for peace. The "what if" premise here is that a continuation of appeasement would have led to Hitler emerging as the clear victor in an attenuated war that never really grew into a World War. The depiction of fascism extending itself gradually into the institutions of British politics and society is truly frightening. The English characters swept up in this tragedy are finely drawn and mostly sympathetic (except for a suitably loathsome Blackshirt brother-in-law). However, the taut narrative begins to fray a bit about a third of the way into the book. As some others have noted, the idea that some secrets about America's development of an atomic bomb conveyed orally during a violent family argument does not really bear up to close scrutiny. Too, the prolonged chase of the person who, very much against his will, is burdened by the secret drags on far too long and is accorded too much importance to the governments concerned. Thereafter the story ends somewhat abruptly, with what seems like a somewhat forced rosy scenario for Britain's future following Hitler's death. What could have been a great book thus ends up being only good.

Great story

This was really enjoyable and thought provoking.
As a Brit I was blown away by how close to perfect the regional accents were;
he even nailed the voices of the historical figures, such as Enoch Powell.
Very well done.

A slow burn to an easily predicted conclusion.

While possessing amazing world building and a beautiful means of writing, the story ultimately leaves you more curious about the political atmosphere happening outside the direct view of the main characters, who end up doing little more for the majority of the story than sit around, smoke, and talk about the headlines in the newspapers.

Great yarn

Well thought out. More believable than I would like overall, a really great job by Mr. Sansom.

Loved the narration!

Interesting story and great narrator! I’m going to look at more from CJ Sansom and other stories that Daniel Weyman has leant his voice to.

Interesting Alternitive History

Somewhat in the Turtledove tradition. Historical figures intermingle with just plain folk in a Britain that gave into Hitler. Story about how incremental compromises on good and right can lead to a civilized society doing horrific things. The explanation for why it is so important to smuggle one of the characters out of the country is not very convincing. Would have liked to see more of Churchill leading the resistance.

excellent and believable alternate history story

a mystery and a thriller set in an alternative reality where the UK lost at Dunkirk and sued for peace. This story takes place 12 years later in an increasingly more Fascist Britain.

Weak Tale Marred by Bias & Prejudice

I am a great fan of the Matthew Shardlake series and approached this alternative history with the hope that it would rise to the same level of excellence. It did not.

The premise is relatively commonplace: how would history develop if Britain had not fought on against Nazi Germany following the twin debacles in Norway and at Dunkirk. We learn the answer as we follow an intrepid group of soon-to-be resistance figures who must strive to keep an important nuclear secret out of Nazi hands.

This is a very fragile plot line. For it to work, we must believe that a few sentences passed between brothers would have been sufficient to advance the Nazi search for atomic weaponry by years or decades. In itself, that is foolish to the point of absurdity.

What's more, these brothers, presumably capable scientists, seem unable to differentiate between atomic and nuclear weapons, using the terms almost interchangeably. (Atomic weapons are a subset of nuclear weapons, which also include hydrogen bombs. Yes, a pedantic point, but one a scientist would likely make.)

More distracting than any of this, though, is the rampant bias we find throughout the narrative. With a single exception, every reference to the Catholic Church is negative. Every reference to American Republicans paints them as isolationist Nazi collaborators (or useful idiots). Almost every reference to organized religion in general is disparaging or negative, most characters have fallen away from their faith and religious faith almost never (with a single Anglican exception) plays any role in the resistance (completely at odds with the actual history of WWII resistance).

It is a shame that Sansom, the careful historian, who painted such a convincing tale of Tudor England should offer Dominion to his fans. Better that we receive another installment of the Shardlake series than any more work of this disappointing quality.

Glad that never happened!

Well worth listening to. Story very good, so many characters but each well formed. The narrator is so good.

Thought provoking thriller

A fascinating story well performed. The "what ifs" abound give you the chills. Samson is a master!