Dominion (Sansom novel)

Dominion is a 2012 alternate history novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is a political thriller set in the early 1950s against the backdrop of a Britain that has become a satellite state of Nazi Germany.[1] The point of divergence from actual history is that Lord Halifax, rather than Winston Churchill, succeeded Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister in May 1940.[1]

Dominion
First edition cover
AuthorC. J. Sansom
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SubjectPolitical thriller
GenreAlternate history
PublisherMacmillan
Publication date
25 October 2012
Media typeHardback
Pages608
ISBN978-0230744165

Awards

Dominion won the 2013 Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Long Form.[2][3]

Controversy

Sansom's fictionalised portrayal of some historical figures (among them Lord Beaverbrook, Oswald Mosley, Enoch Powell, and Marie Stopes) as members of a Quisling puppet government caused some controversy. Allan Massie for The Daily Telegraph, however, defended the portrayal, arguing that "in the make-believe world of counter-factual history, a novelist is entitled to take a different line" and that having a younger version of Powell be as such was "not inherently improbable."[4]

A review in The Guardian conceded that some individuals are depicted in less than favourable light in this fictional work. "Because they are dead, defamation is no legal risk, but there may still be moral jeopardy. Beyond the possible unhappiness of the descendants of Beaverbrook and Enoch Powell at their actions in this book, feminist and Scottish readers respectively may gasp at the suggestion that Marie Stopes is advising the Ministry of Health on eugenic sterilisation and that the Scots Nats have enthusiastically signed up to the Hitler agenda." [5]

See also

References
  1. C. J. Sansom (19 October 2012). "My nightmare of a Nazi Britain". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  2. Silver, Steven H (1 July 2013). "Sidewise Award Nominees". SF Site. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  3. Glyer, Mike (31 August 2013). "2013 Sidewise Awards". File 770. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  4. Allan Massie (7 January 2013). "Enoch Powell was no fascist. But it's not ridiculous for an author to imagine him in a pro-Nazi government". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  5. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/06/dominion-cj-sansom-review, Dominion by CJ Sansom – review


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