Churchill's Triumph: A Novel of Betrayal (Paperback)

Dobbs (Never Surrender) extends his historical fiction series starring Winston Churchill with this title focusing on the Yalta Conference. As WWII winds down, Churchill, Joseph Stalin and FDR meet in Yalta to sort out postwar Europe. All in less than vigorous health (FDR is at death's door), the big three hammer out differences in their competing agendas, a process Dobbs fills with rich historical detail and dramatic flair as Uncle Joe Stalin extracts large concessions, particularly land reparations—such as in Russian-occupied Poland—from a deferential FDR and a scrappy Churchill. Meanwhile, Roosevelt lobbies for the formation of the United Nations and simultaneously keeps secret the atomic bomb. Minor characters, notably a Polish plumber trying to flee Yalta, point to the brutality behind what Churchill later dubbed the Iron Curtain. Perhaps the weakest negotiator of the trio, Churchill nevertheless maintains, with able assists from Dobbs, his famous eloquence, humor and shrewdness. History buffs and readers with at least a casual interest in Churchill will get the most out of this. (Mar.)
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For eight days, beginning on Saturday, February 3, 1945, the most powerful men in the world – Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin – met at the Black Sea Resort of Yalta, where in the most momentous conference of the century, they preceded to divide up Europe. This novel, told from Churchill's point of view, takes you behind the scenes and brings you into the minds and hearts of the big three leaders: the dominating and seemingly all-powerful Joseph Stalin, with the largest army, and the mission of expanding the Soviet Empire; an ailing and fragile Roosevelt, willing to make whatever compromises he felt he had to in order to bring Stalin and Russia into the final campaign against Japan; and Churchill, the least powerful of the three, but the most far-sighted, who could not count on Roosevelt as his ally, and could not tame the avaricious Russian bear, determined to gobble up the nations around and beyond it. Like a fly on the wall of history, the reader becomes a hidden witness to these monumental negotiations, witnessing negotiations that would betray the heroic struggle of millions who died and fought in the Great War.

Meanwhile, a Polish count who has taken on the persona of a deceased soldier appears in Churchill's suite to reveal one of the great unknown secrets of that time: the Soviet's systematic execution of thousands of Polish officers at Katyn, the mass murder that the Russians eventually blamed on the Germans. His courageous defiance of the German army's occupation of his village, and his village's fate at the hands of the victorious Russian army, serve as a profoundly moving subplot to the larger story. Churchill's Triumph allows the reader to eavesdrop on the world's most powerful men, as they lie, cheat, and deceive each other as they struggle to reach agreement and secure their places in history.

All the historical aspects of the story are accurate, down to the last detail, including the spice Stalin put in his vodka. A bestseller in England, Churchill's Triumph received widespread press coverage and reviews:

"His portrait of Churchill is as masterly as ever: a wonderful compound of bluster, sentimentality, grumpiness and indefatigable physical energy. There are the usual elegant metaphors... In the tragedy of Poland burning while statesmen fiddled, Dobbs has found a theme worthy of his powers."
--Sunday Telegraph

"How do you delight the profit-maximising big retailers while at the same time writing something dark and moving? Michael Dobbs knows how...Dobbs knows his sources, but the dialogue is his own: good, clean, moving briskly and underpinned by the record, it conveys historical truth. As for Poland, it suffered all the horrors. Dobbs writes about the country with tight passion, transferring to his fictional village, Piorun, the rape, murder and savage enforcement by Germans and Russians which, so far away and so little regarded, actually happened. The old women weeping, the houses burned down, the bodies left promiscuously on the street are history set out for the attention of novel-readers, memorable instruction in human grief... Furiously told and compelling, Churchill's Triumph is a thinking man's bestseller." --The Guardian

"Dobbs astutely and dramatically portrays the real story of Yalta, the mighty tussle between the three men upon whose political skills and strength of character the rest of the world would depend... The novel is a triumph because of the author's fine appreciation of history and his meticulous eye for detail."
--The Times.

"Michael Dobbs brings the Second World War to a resounding close... Dobbs portrays Churchill as being all too human - oversensitive and easily hurt by friendship betrayed, and conjures up Roosevelt's stricken response beautifully... Dobbs is a fine writer and neatly sums up the appeal of historical novels. Not only can they fill in the gaps left by an inaccurate, incomplete or contradictory factual record, but they can capture the spirit of the thing. Dobbs has certainly done that here."
--Daily Telegraph

"It's all too easy to forget that you're not reading an insider's account of ht real events that shaped the modern world. Dobbs clearly has an instinctive feel for what makes powerful men tick."
--The Mail on Sunday

"Although it's a novel rather than a work of non-fiction, Churchill's Triumph brings into vivid focus that one wintry week in Georgia when Europe's fate was decided. It's a compelling story, expertly told, and builds on the totally credible portrait of Britain's cantankerous but brilliant wartime leader Dobbs has drawn in his earlier novels.... Dobbs is one of the brightest and best mass-market storytellers around."
--The Scotsman

"A brilliant drama tracing the human side of the leaders who held the future of the world in their hands, showing the delusions, paranoia, compromises and betrayal which come with statesmanship in times of crisis."
--Yorkshire Post

"The novel is also a reminder that war is about people and interwoven with the events at Yalta are tales of other individuals, from Polish refugees and starving Russian children to Churchill's own children and the German troops fleeing the advancing Red Army. It's a moving story of human tragedy you won't want to put down."
--Scottish Sunday Post

"The real Churchill brought to life."
--Western Morning News

"Dobbs provides an absorbing account of the events that took place at Yalta. The book vividly brings to life one of the pivotal events of the twentieth century. Dobbs' impeccably researched novel brings flesh to the bones of a highly significant historical event."
--Glasgow Herald

"The drama and despair of this momentous meeting are captured perfectly and Dobbs shows rare talent for reading between the lines of official history."
--Northern Echo

"Dobbs presents the historical facts with such skill and pace... A rattling good yarn. This is another winner."
--Nottingham Evening Post

"The novel brings the passion of war to life."
--Teesside Evening Gazette

"A huge success"
--South Shields Gazette

"A considerable achievement in its own right, I've rarely ever felt so involved and so moved by a historical novel."
--Professor John Ramsden, Author of Churchill – Man of the Century

"The beauty of the dialogue in the book is that you can imagine Churchill saying the words... but the star of this book is Churchill's valet Mr. Sawyers. The interplay between the two is superb. I thoroughly enjoyed it."
--Iain Dale, 18 Doughty Street TV