What do you think?
Rate this book
Winston Churchill #3
Churchill's Hour
product_description
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
46 people are currently reading
422 people want to read
About the author
Michael Dobbs
101 books371 followersMichael Dobbs was born on the same day, in the same hour as Prince Charles in 1948.
He is the son of nurseryman Eric and his wife Eileen Dobbs and was educated at Hertford Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford University. After graduating in 1971 he moved to the United States.
In the USA he attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, which he funded by a job as feature writer for the Boston Globe, where he worked as an editorial assistant and political feature writer from 1971 to 1975.
He graduated in 1975 with an M.A., M.A.L.D., and PhD in nuclear defence studies. His doctoral thesis was published as SALT on the Dragon's Tail. In 2007 he returned to Tufts where he gave the Alumni Salutation.
After gaining his PhD he returned to England and began working in London for the Conservative Party. He was an advisor to the then leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher, from 1977 to 1979 and from 1979 to 1981 he was a Conservative MP speechwriter.
He served as a Government Special Advisor from 1981 to 1986 and he survived the Brighton Bombing in 1984 at the Conservative Party Conference. He was the Conservative Party Chief of Staff from 1986 to 1987.
He was considered a masterful political operator and was called "Westminster’s baby-faced hit man", by The Guardian in 1987. In the John Major government, he served as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1994 to 1995, after which he retired from politics.
Outside of politics, he worked at Saatchi & Saatchi as Deputy Advertising Chairman from 1983 to 1986 and was Director of Worldwide Corporate Communications at the company from 1987 to 1988. He became Deputy Chairman, working directly under Maurice Saatchi from 1988 to 1991.
From 1991 to 1998 he was a columnist for The Mail on Sunday and also wrote column for the Daily Express. From 1998 to 2001 he hosted the current affairs program Despatch Box on BBC television and has also been a radio presenter.
Nowadays he is best known as the bestselling author of 17 novels (up to 2010), such as 'The Turning Point', about Winston Churchill and Guy Burgess, and 'A Family Affair', about the last days of Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street, and also a number of non-fiction works.
His writing career began in 1989 with the publication of 'House of Cards', the first in what would become a trilogy of political thrillers with Francis Urquhart as the central character. 'House of Cards' was followed by 'To Play the King' in 1992 and 'The Final Cut' in 1994.
Each of the three novels was adapted by the BBC into a miniseries and, with Ian Richardson playiing a starring role, the trilogy received a combined 14 BAFTA nominations and two BAFTA wins and was voted the 84th Best British Show in History.
His 2004 novel 'Winston’s War' was shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year Award. He was the winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award for best historical novel in 2008 and in 2001 was shortlisted for the C4 Political Novel of the Year. He has also been a judge of the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and lectures at dozens of literary and fundraising events each year.
Anthony Howard of The Times said “Dobbs is following in a respectable tradition. Shakespeare, Walter Scott, even Tolstoy, all used historical events as the framework for their writings. And, unlike some of their distinguished works, Dobbs's novel is, in fact, astonishingly historically accurate."
He is now a full time writer and divides his time between London and Wiltshire, where he says that he lives near a church and a pub! He is married with four children.
Gerry Wolstenholme
October 2010
He is sometimes confused with American author Michael Dobbs, who is a distant relative of his and also an author of historical books (e.g. "Saboteurs - The Nazi Raid on America").
He is the son of nurseryman Eric and his wife Eileen Dobbs and was educated at Hertford Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford University. After graduating in 1971 he moved to the United States.
In the USA he attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, which he funded by a job as feature writer for the Boston Globe, where he worked as an editorial assistant and political feature writer from 1971 to 1975.
He graduated in 1975 with an M.A., M.A.L.D., and PhD in nuclear defence studies. His doctoral thesis was published as SALT on the Dragon's Tail. In 2007 he returned to Tufts where he gave the Alumni Salutation.
After gaining his PhD he returned to England and began working in London for the Conservative Party. He was an advisor to the then leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher, from 1977 to 1979 and from 1979 to 1981 he was a Conservative MP speechwriter.
He served as a Government Special Advisor from 1981 to 1986 and he survived the Brighton Bombing in 1984 at the Conservative Party Conference. He was the Conservative Party Chief of Staff from 1986 to 1987.
He was considered a masterful political operator and was called "Westminster’s baby-faced hit man", by The Guardian in 1987. In the John Major government, he served as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1994 to 1995, after which he retired from politics.
Outside of politics, he worked at Saatchi & Saatchi as Deputy Advertising Chairman from 1983 to 1986 and was Director of Worldwide Corporate Communications at the company from 1987 to 1988. He became Deputy Chairman, working directly under Maurice Saatchi from 1988 to 1991.
From 1991 to 1998 he was a columnist for The Mail on Sunday and also wrote column for the Daily Express. From 1998 to 2001 he hosted the current affairs program Despatch Box on BBC television and has also been a radio presenter.
Nowadays he is best known as the bestselling author of 17 novels (up to 2010), such as 'The Turning Point', about Winston Churchill and Guy Burgess, and 'A Family Affair', about the last days of Margaret Thatcher in Downing Street, and also a number of non-fiction works.
His writing career began in 1989 with the publication of 'House of Cards', the first in what would become a trilogy of political thrillers with Francis Urquhart as the central character. 'House of Cards' was followed by 'To Play the King' in 1992 and 'The Final Cut' in 1994.
Each of the three novels was adapted by the BBC into a miniseries and, with Ian Richardson playiing a starring role, the trilogy received a combined 14 BAFTA nominations and two BAFTA wins and was voted the 84th Best British Show in History.
His 2004 novel 'Winston’s War' was shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year Award. He was the winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award for best historical novel in 2008 and in 2001 was shortlisted for the C4 Political Novel of the Year. He has also been a judge of the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and lectures at dozens of literary and fundraising events each year.
Anthony Howard of The Times said “Dobbs is following in a respectable tradition. Shakespeare, Walter Scott, even Tolstoy, all used historical events as the framework for their writings. And, unlike some of their distinguished works, Dobbs's novel is, in fact, astonishingly historically accurate."
He is now a full time writer and divides his time between London and Wiltshire, where he says that he lives near a church and a pub! He is married with four children.
Gerry Wolstenholme
October 2010
He is sometimes confused with American author Michael Dobbs, who is a distant relative of his and also an author of historical books (e.g. "Saboteurs - The Nazi Raid on America").
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
October 15, 2021
Read this book in 2005, and its the 3rd of the 4 part series about Winston Churchill.
Set in 1941, with Winston Churchill in full power of a bloody, battered and bankrupt Britain, and in the full knowledge that Britain can't win this war alone against Nazi Germany.
So he seeks the help from Averall Harriman, American Ambassador to Britain, and personal friend of President Franklin Roosevelt, about forming an alliance with America, but the USA is reluctant to enter this war, but that will change later in the year when Pearl Harbour gets attacked.
With a jubilant Germany on the continent and now Japan entering WWII in the east, the Americans are forced to enter the war, and so Churchill's hopes are somewhat lifted by this news, news that will bring new strength and determination to win the war.
What is to follow is a story of personal sacrifice, love, war and political skills that will bring the best out of Winston Churchill by bringing a nation back from gloom to a hope for the future.
Highly recommended, for this is an excellent addition to this terrific series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Marvellous Churchill Sequel"!
Set in 1941, with Winston Churchill in full power of a bloody, battered and bankrupt Britain, and in the full knowledge that Britain can't win this war alone against Nazi Germany.
So he seeks the help from Averall Harriman, American Ambassador to Britain, and personal friend of President Franklin Roosevelt, about forming an alliance with America, but the USA is reluctant to enter this war, but that will change later in the year when Pearl Harbour gets attacked.
With a jubilant Germany on the continent and now Japan entering WWII in the east, the Americans are forced to enter the war, and so Churchill's hopes are somewhat lifted by this news, news that will bring new strength and determination to win the war.
What is to follow is a story of personal sacrifice, love, war and political skills that will bring the best out of Winston Churchill by bringing a nation back from gloom to a hope for the future.
Highly recommended, for this is an excellent addition to this terrific series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Marvellous Churchill Sequel"!
May 9, 2009
Dobbs takes the approach of being a "fly on the wall" in Churchill's political manueverings in the months leading up to the U.S. joining WWII. He uses intimate dialogue between Churchill and his family and staff to paint Churchill as a master of puppets. Dobbs leads the reader to believe that Churchill manipulated hostilities with Japan and Germany against the U.S. to bring the U.S. into the war to save England. The writing is good and the book is clever, but I enjoy traditional history, especially involing WWII. Churchill's personality and life are fascinating enough without having to read someone's imagination about what might have been occuring within the walls of Churchill's home. Not a bad read, but when it comes to history and WWII, I just prefer non-fiction.
Now after saying all of that, I'm going to read Maus 1 and 2. So how's that for already contradicting myself.
Now after saying all of that, I'm going to read Maus 1 and 2. So how's that for already contradicting myself.
December 8, 2022
Only book I’ve read in this series and I really enjoyed it. However, I prefer my “history” to be true.
July 4, 2009
Book 3 in the Winston Churchill series
This fictional account vividly relates the grim year of 1941. The Nazi were unstoppable and were about to rule Europe, Britain was battered by the war and was facing one military disaster after another. It was a year of desperation, Britain stood alone. Churchill was facing his darkest hours and desperately needed the undivided help of his allies. A deeper alliance with the US was paramount.
Mr Dobbs draws an intriguing balance between Churchill’s political and domestic lives mixing historical facts with fiction to give us a riveting political drama exploring his remarkable journey.
The tragedy of Pearl Harbour is further discussed in the epilogue and the author also pursues the post war story of Churchill’s family and other characters.
This novel is so interesting and captivating, it is easy to forget that parts are said to be a creation of the author’s imagination.
Many events described may be challenged by historical buffs on all sides. Nonetheless an eye opener to a very important part of our past….A past we must never forget in honour of those who were involved
This fictional account vividly relates the grim year of 1941. The Nazi were unstoppable and were about to rule Europe, Britain was battered by the war and was facing one military disaster after another. It was a year of desperation, Britain stood alone. Churchill was facing his darkest hours and desperately needed the undivided help of his allies. A deeper alliance with the US was paramount.
Mr Dobbs draws an intriguing balance between Churchill’s political and domestic lives mixing historical facts with fiction to give us a riveting political drama exploring his remarkable journey.
The tragedy of Pearl Harbour is further discussed in the epilogue and the author also pursues the post war story of Churchill’s family and other characters.
This novel is so interesting and captivating, it is easy to forget that parts are said to be a creation of the author’s imagination.
Many events described may be challenged by historical buffs on all sides. Nonetheless an eye opener to a very important part of our past….A past we must never forget in honour of those who were involved
August 29, 2007
All these Churchill books are great reads - historically accurate? - Who knows but great entertainment
March 27, 2020
This fictionalized account of the ‘finest hour’ of one of history’s most studied non-fiction lives during the period from the Blitz of London to Pearl Harbor was written by an insider who once operated at the highest level of conservative British politics and seems well-suited to portray Churchill’s many challenges. The read gives insights on WSC the man himself and the perilous political sea he navigated both at home among his cabinet and MP rivals, and in trying to bring FDR into a military alliance. The great man becomes real through his imagined words and deeds: at various times imperious, irritable, excessive, sentimental, and wise. An unsparing portrait of Churchill family infidelities, excesses and weaknesses shows us what WSC had to contend with as he draws USA ambassadors Winant and Harriman into his efforts to inch FDR along towards England’s aid. WSC is given a very human element as he turns to his trusted man-servant and young daughter-in-law, who brings to mind his late mother, as loyal ‘sanity checks’ that influence his decision making in arguably the highest stakes political period in all of history. Some imagined scenes are controversial to be sure (e.g. WSC keeps prior knowledge of Pearl Harbor from the Americans; WSC uses and discards a spying young French housekeeper in a one-man disinformation campaign), but on the whole, the great man comes alive with plausibility and humanity.
Was this review helpful? I am an avid world war based fiction reader and author. You can read more of my takes at https://brodiecurtis.com/curtis-takes/.
Was this review helpful? I am an avid world war based fiction reader and author. You can read more of my takes at https://brodiecurtis.com/curtis-takes/.
May 25, 2018
Many will call this fiction. Yes it is fiction that comes very close to the actual events. Churchill was willing to do whatever he could to save his country. He did. We know that he made numerous resale with Roosevelt and Truman. We at the same time used him for the British's knowledge so we could develops an all round fighter that could defeat the German flying machine. The man was a genius and he put himself in the one as well as his countrymen and women. A must read from Michael Dobbs. Plus there are many more. DEHS
August 8, 2019
An entertaining read that attempts to portray the Churchill family during that period of WW2 between the Battle of Britain and America’s entry into the war.
It is, as the author emphasises, a novel not a historically accurate account.
This can be frustrating at times - was there indeed a spy in the household staff, for example? If so, was Churchill aware and did he turn it to his advantage.
The imagery of London during the Blitz is excellent and a great deal of research has clearly gone into this book.
It is, as the author emphasises, a novel not a historically accurate account.
This can be frustrating at times - was there indeed a spy in the household staff, for example? If so, was Churchill aware and did he turn it to his advantage.
The imagery of London during the Blitz is excellent and a great deal of research has clearly gone into this book.
January 22, 2020
Dobbs does a marvelous job of recreating war torn London and the trials and tribulations of Winston Churchill and his family. The mix of private and public drama works well: difficult situations can bring out the best and the worst in people. They just have to "keep buggering on" - KBO. We get to see why Britain's struggle did not end after Dunkirk and the Battle for Britain. We also grasp why it was inevitable that the U.S. and Japan would enter the war
June 20, 2020
It seems that I have been reading a few books on Winston Churchill lately. There is this book is the third in a series you can read it without having read the others. Quite an interesting tale that is written in a novel form. Part of the book was about the relationship Churchill had with President Roosevelt. Churchhill was particularly close to his daughter-in-law. Not sure if I will be the other two books but I may.
April 20, 2021
Now that Mr Dobbs is himself long past the age which Churchill was during the years covered by this book, one wonders whether he still feels his hero’s ill-temper, slovenliness and other character defects can still be ascribed and excused by his ‘aging’?
As one even older than Dobbs, my own opinion of Churchill is that he was quite simply an extremely unpleasant man. Perhaps Mr, sorry, Lord Dobbs own experiences amongst the Tory hierarchy over-habituated him to such personalities.
As one even older than Dobbs, my own opinion of Churchill is that he was quite simply an extremely unpleasant man. Perhaps Mr, sorry, Lord Dobbs own experiences amongst the Tory hierarchy over-habituated him to such personalities.
June 29, 2025
An excellent book in very many ways. The writing style is admirable and well adjusted to the temperament of all the characters. This third book in Dobbs's Churchill series gives an authentic picture of the turmoil both in government and in the streets during 1941. Churchill's complicated emotions and his strategy in dealing with all the problems that faced him are all movingly portrayed. I greatly recommend this book.
August 17, 2019
The 3rd in the four-part series on Winston Churchill. Faction. It's more about the character and nature of Churchill than about the war. Dobbs knows how to keep our attention, weaving a few plotlines together so that, although it's a reasonably large volume, the reader rarely tires. You don't need to have read books 1 and 2, but it helps a bit.
August 19, 2019
Great historical novel
Dobbs has an excellent knowledge of the historical facts and he is also a talented novelist. He brings the era and Churchill to life with consumate skill. I did not know that there is much in the book which is fact not fiction. This is a superb third volume in the Churchill series!
Dobbs has an excellent knowledge of the historical facts and he is also a talented novelist. He brings the era and Churchill to life with consumate skill. I did not know that there is much in the book which is fact not fiction. This is a superb third volume in the Churchill series!
June 23, 2023
Historical but not boring
History can be boring at times, but in this book, you feel the horrors of war and the excitement of diplomats as they play their games of strategy. Churchill was a powerful man but the author speculates he was also a manipulator using people and situations to his advantage. An interesting perspective.
History can be boring at times, but in this book, you feel the horrors of war and the excitement of diplomats as they play their games of strategy. Churchill was a powerful man but the author speculates he was also a manipulator using people and situations to his advantage. An interesting perspective.
January 5, 2021
Interesting POV on World War II in 1941, especially getting America involved, the start of fighting in the Pacific, and ongoing issues in the UK.
My issue with this book reading as historical fiction is that I was never sure what was factual and what was embellished for the storyline.
My issue with this book reading as historical fiction is that I was never sure what was factual and what was embellished for the storyline.
July 27, 2017
While this is a fiction, I completely enjoyed reading this title. Dobbs is an engaging author and obviously an admirer of Churchill. Very atmospheric and enjoyable read.
February 23, 2018
Throughly love the historical fiction, the writing and Winston Churchill. Have enjoyed all these novels immensely!!
Want to read
February 11, 2020Dennis
October 25, 2020
The best book by Dobbs I have read. Kept me interested throughout.
If I could have missed my train stop to read more I would have finished it faster.
If I could have missed my train stop to read more I would have finished it faster.
January 23, 2021
Dobb's maintains the pace. Solidly written, insightful. Have read this one twice.
April 4, 2021
Loved Sawyers.
May 28, 2012
Churchill's Hour was at times an absorbing read, but suffered from monotony and melodrama. Far too often, I found myself trudging through the cloying and repetitive musing, moralising and awkward sexual fumbling of Pamela and Averell, which provided too much of a distraction from the historical developments, rather than the briefest of interludes they should have been — more Mills & Boon than dramatic war history — a problem that hangs like a barbel on a telegraph wire, making the pace and interest sag towards the three quarter mark.
Also, a similar fate befell the titular character; monotony and repetition, with too much familial melodrama. But, in hindsight, it's difficult to see how such things could have been avoided without the context of certain moments becoming incongruous.
However, I found the dialogue embellishments and the very genuine attention to the darkly dry British humour not merely rewarding but enough to encourage me to hump through those interminable paragraphs of Pamela and Averell, well ... humping, to enjoy once again Churchill sparing with Sawyers, and his many hilariously acerbic — and at times circuitous and cryptic — diatribes.
Above everything else, there was a momentous moment in history being retold, here. And while Dobbs does, at times, deal with these profound moments with a disappointing economy and disposability not often (and not enough) shown towards Pamela and Averell, a historical recounting of events is given nonetheless, with accuracy and a sense of a technical impartiality.
Also, a similar fate befell the titular character; monotony and repetition, with too much familial melodrama. But, in hindsight, it's difficult to see how such things could have been avoided without the context of certain moments becoming incongruous.
However, I found the dialogue embellishments and the very genuine attention to the darkly dry British humour not merely rewarding but enough to encourage me to hump through those interminable paragraphs of Pamela and Averell, well ... humping, to enjoy once again Churchill sparing with Sawyers, and his many hilariously acerbic — and at times circuitous and cryptic — diatribes.
Above everything else, there was a momentous moment in history being retold, here. And while Dobbs does, at times, deal with these profound moments with a disappointing economy and disposability not often (and not enough) shown towards Pamela and Averell, a historical recounting of events is given nonetheless, with accuracy and a sense of a technical impartiality.
August 6, 2016
16/2 - Whether it was all completely true or not (not knowing anything at all about Churchill or much about the British government during WWII, it didn’t matter if Dobbs made it up or not, I couldn’t tell), I found the thought that what Dobbs wrote might have been true absolutely fascinating. I have two more books to read in the series – Churchill’s Triumph and Never Surrender. Triumph is the last in the trilogy set in 1945 and Never Surrender (actually the first in the quartet, but didn’t know that at the time and so, read them out of order) is set during the Dunkirk days.
February 5, 2015
For the third book in a trilogy, nothing lagged or was wasted. The stories of Emma and Nelson, Pamela and Harriman,they only serve to draw out the mess of contradictions that was Winston Churchill. Of course he knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor, just as he knew about Pam and Harriman and Heloise, the spy. Yet, if he had tried to warn, or given over, the enemy would have retreated and prolonged the war. Michael Dobbs has written the equivalent of a time-machine. He let's us in all the little secrets.
On to the final book, Churchill's Triumph!
On to the final book, Churchill's Triumph!
January 9, 2016
This was a real disappointment after the first two books. By focusing on such a limited period of time, Dobbs was forced to focus on minutiae in Churchill's life which quickly became uninteresting. He also failed to flesh out the real historical events of 1941 (e.g. meeting with Roosevelt, the Hess incident, and the numerous military disasters of that year) which could have made this book engrossing. Instead, we got overdosed with imagined romance novel dialog from Averill Harriman and Pamela Churchill's illicit affair. It was a struggle to read this through to the end.
October 11, 2012
The third in the series of Dobbs' fictional Churchill books, this one covers up to December 1941 when the Americans finally enter the way - after Pearl Harbor. I really like this author's writing and feel that he doesn't take unfair advantage of the facts to weave a good story. A primary subplot in this book is the affair between Pamela (son Randolph's wife) and Averell Harriman which is based in fact - they later marry.
October 22, 2014
1941. Britain, led by Winston Churchill, is barely holding its own against Hitler. President Roosevelt is proving to be mightily hesitant at providing assistance, while Nazi Germany is winning on every front. The story of how Churchill barely managed to hold the line, until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.
A well told story. It is all too easy, in hindsight, to see victory in WW2 as inevitable. This novel recreates the uncertainties and fears of the time. Recommended.
A well told story. It is all too easy, in hindsight, to see victory in WW2 as inevitable. This novel recreates the uncertainties and fears of the time. Recommended.
July 29, 2009
Another excellent work, in the vein of Dobb's Finest Hour. There are, however, several conroversial deeds assigned to Churchill, such as the notion that he knew of the attack on Pearl Harbor and did not warn the Americans, and that he also goaded Hitler into a foolish decision to declare war on America. In the long run, both events saved Britain and Churchill.
November 18, 2021
Another fantastic read
This Churchill series from Michael Dobbs has been one of the best reading on WW2 I have ever done ! These books pick up,the essence of the mood of the time an brings us into the inner sanctum of what it must of been like ! I could not stop reading ! I only wish there were more !!!!
This Churchill series from Michael Dobbs has been one of the best reading on WW2 I have ever done ! These books pick up,the essence of the mood of the time an brings us into the inner sanctum of what it must of been like ! I could not stop reading ! I only wish there were more !!!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews