Created 007.11.16; Updated 2007.11.16

This article originally appeared in British Weekly.

Never Surrender...A Call to All Englishmen by Gabrielle Pantera Three Stars *** SANTA MONICA, CA (British Weekly) 10/17/07 — Jock Colville, Churchill's Aid de Camp, once gave the Prime Minister a briefing in the bath. After Churchill stood up in exasperation Coville made a mental note to never give the Prime Minister a briefing in the bath again. Winston Churchill's defiance in saying "Never surrender!", when all around him wanted to talk peace, is a story of one man's courage to stand against the greatest odds. More...

Churchill's war of words, and his innate ability to understand what the regular man wanted their country to do for them, sets him apart from the other politicians of his day. But he had human weaknesses: his fears and drinking whisky to get him though his days and nights.

Michael Dobbs introduces a fictitious German woman, Ruth Muller, a German refuge who left her war torn country hoping for peace only to be drawn further into the fray by due to her extensive knowledge of why Hitler does what he does. Churchill meets with her occasionally to try to get to know his enemy. Muller makes no secret that she sees similarities in the personalities of Churchill and Hitler. She briefs Churchill on the enemy agents who are being confined in what was essentially a concentration camp on the Isle of Man.

Dobbs also introduces nursing orderly Don Chichester with the 6th Field Ambulance Unit. Through Chicheester's eyes, Dobbs makes the reader get the full impact of the war. Chichester has father and son issues, just as Churchill does. Chichester saves a French fighter pilot named Claude. The two become friends on their journey overland to reconnect with the Allied armies. An added touch of warmth is an abandoned dog who adopts them. They name the dog Winston.

The novel takes facts from diaries that Jock Colville, Churchill's Aid de Camp, and Sir Henry "Chips" Channon, Private Secretary to Rab Butler, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office during the Churchill years. The rich details of their observations of the political events, the way the politicians felt about how Churchill went about things, give depth to the story.

This historical fiction shows the drama of the weeks leading to the withdrawal from Dunkirk and how the royal family and Churchill's respect for each other grew. The courage of the King and Queen to stay in the UK inspired the nation. However, Joseph Kennedy's interference as ambassador to the UK causes many problems between President Roosevelt and Churchill.

Never Surrender , Trade Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Sourcebooks (September, 2007) Language: English ISBN 978-1-4022-1044-0 $14.95