Winston's War Quotes

“Democracy is like a great play. It lasts more than one act. You must be patient,”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston's War

“Tell me, McFadden, what do you think of our beloved Mr. Chamberlain?” Mac didn't care for such direct questions. All his adult life had been spent in the mentality of the gulag, never openly complaining, always seeming to conform, never risking a row. Perhaps that's why he had agreed to marry, not so much to avoid disappointing the lady but more because it was the simplest way to fit into the flow of things.”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston's War

“In extraordinary circumstances and against the odds, Churchill became Prime Minister instead of Halifax, and that one decision changed the course of history.”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston’s War

“We won the bloody war. Never again, we said. Then Hitler comes along and starts building his squadrons of panzers and fighter planes—purely for defense, he assures everyone, and we believe him. Even when he marches into the Rhineland we believe him. Two years later he's trampling all over bloody Austria, and now he's ripping Czechoslovakia to pieces. And still our Prime Minister says he trusts him!” His”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston's War

“You found me at my lowest ebb, Burgess. I had descended into darkness. You have helped restore me. Words will never be able to embrace my gratitude.”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston's War

“Churchill's mother, Jennie, had been a New Yorker who pursued life with a remarkable vitality that had encompassed three husbands and a multitude of more dubious liaisons. The first of her husbands had been Churchill's father, who had been a classic example of ducal degeneracy, and they had both neglected their son as sorely as they neglected each other, yet Churchill clung to the wreckage of their reputations like a man adrift.”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston's War

“Neither does the British Empire for which Churchill fought with all his heart. And no one believes what they read in the newspapers any more.”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston’s War

“What value can we place on our parliamentary institutions if constituencies return only tame, docile and subservient members who try to stamp on every form of independent judgement?”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston’s War

“On 14 March the Czech President, Hacha, was summoned to Berlin. He was kept waiting while Hitler watched a film. At last, in the early hours of the morning, Hacha was marched into the room and told that in a few hours’ time the Wehrmacht was going to invade his country.”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston’s War

“These bloody holes can’t offer protection from the rain let alone from fat Goering’s bombs. They aren’t finished and already they’ve begun to fill with water, sullen and brown. Typical English idiocy. Treating war like a game of cricket. Something to be called off if it rains.”
― Michael Dobbs, Winston’s War