Michael Dobbs Books In Order

House of Cards

THE BESTSELLING POLITICAL THRILLER THAT INTRODUCED THE SCHEMING FRANCIS URQUHART THE MOST MEMORABLE POLITICIAN OF THE LAST DECADE Francis Urquhart is Chief Whip. He has his hands on every secret in politics and is willing to betray them all to become Prime Minister. Mattie Storin is a tenacious young political correspondent. She faces the biggest challenge of her life when she stumbles upon a scandalous web of intrigue and financial corruption at the very highest levels. She is determined to reveal the truth, but she must risk everything to do so…

To Play the King

Newly elected Prime Minister Francis Urquhart takes on the new King, in the controversial No 1 bestselling second volume in the Francis Urquhart trilogy now reissued in a new cover. After scheming his way to power in ‘House of Cards’, Francis Urquhart made a triumphant return in ‘To Play the King‘ a Sunday Times No 1 bestseller that became a hugely successful BBC TV series, with Ian Richardson resuming his award winning role as Francis Urquhart. Its highly controversial and uncannily topical storyline in which the role of the monarchy in modern Britain comes under scrutiny as Prime Minister Francis Urquhart threatens to expose Royal secrets when his plans are blocked by the idealistic new King coincided with a huge increase in public interest in the future of the Royal Family following a series of Royal scandals.

The Final Cut

FRANCIS URQUHART’S EVENTFu*k CAREER AS PRIME MINISTER COMES TO A SPECTACULAR END IN THE FINAL VOLUME IN THE NO 1 BESTSELLING TRILOGY In a few months, Francis Urquhart will take his place in the history books as the longest serving Prime Minister this century. And yet…
the country appears to he tiring of him. The movement to force him from power is gathering irresistible momentum. But F.U. is not ready to retire, still less to be driven from office. If the public are demanding new blood.,then that is precisely what he will give them the blood of critics, Cabinet rivals, any man or woman who stands in his way…

Goodfellowe MP

Thomas Goodfellowe has a troublesome constituency, an absent wife, and a drink driving conviction. A life too full. From his cramped apartment in London’s Chinatown, Goodfellowe sets about doing what he does best: asking questions. He listens more than most, but his unique skills and his concern for ordinary people have a habit of thrusting him into conflict with the most powerful forces in the land…

The Buddha of Brewer Street

A new Dalai Lama is born. The infant god king of Tibet. And around the child explodes an international conspiracy that will carve a trail of death from the slopes of Mount Everest right to the heart of London’s Chinatown. It is an unlikely battleground for a backbench Member of Parliament but then Tom Goodfellowe is the unlikeliest of heroes. His career is going nowhere and his main concerns are his overdraft and his unrequited love life until a mysterious Tibetan monk walks into his chaotic world and draws him into a murderous race against time. On the outcome of this race will hang the fate of millions of people and one of the world’s great religions. The odds are hopeless but he is a born fighter. And the best of Tom Goodfellowe is yet to come.

Whispers of Betrayal

In the third outing for Tom Goodfellowe, following Goodfellowe MP and The Buddha of Brewer Street, he is caught up in a national crisis as the capital is held to ransom by one angry man. In the world of power hungry politicians, Thomas Goodfellowe is an unlikely hero, an MP Member of Parliament whose obstinate refusal to compromise has cost him a place in the Cabinet and left his private life in ruins. Now, for the first time in many years, Goodfellowe can see happiness within his grasp. He is with the woman he loves and has a chance to return to the top ranks of politics. But he reckons without his old schoolfriend Colonel Peter Amadeus, a disgruntled former Paratrooper who feels betrayed by the Government that has thrown him and countless other soldiers on the scrapheap. All Amadeus wants is an apology, but when his request is dismissed it becomes a matter of honor, and he and a team of former soldiers embark on a campaign of wholesale retribution. London becomes a city under siege, its lifelines cut, and the government is presented with a stark choice. Either the Prime Minister resigns, or the city will be destroyed. As the capital is gripped by growing panic and the deadline approaches, Goodfellowe must face the ultimate test: torn between ambition, honor, and love with the fate of London in his hands.

Winston’s War

An intriguing tale of espionage and treason this is a work to enthrall.’ Daily Mail Michael Dobbs’ thrilling novel about the dawn of World War II, and Winston Churchill’s rise to power. It is the dawn of World War II, and Neville Chamberlain believes he has bought ‘peace for our time’ from Adolph Hitler, who has just seized Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. The English are alarmed by the huge German army, while the soldiers that would defend London don’t even have steel helmets. For many, compromise and appeaseme*nt seem to be England’s best defense. But there are a few leaders who don’t agree. Among them is Winston Churchill, who understands that the relentless march of fascism will be democracy’s death knell. In October 1938, Churchill pleads his case in the press to the BBC’s Guy Burgess. One of these two will become the most revered man of his time, and the other will be known as the greatest of traitors. This stunning novel brings to life the surprising political intrigues that set the stage for World War II, and brings alive the passionate, grumpy, whiskey drinking Winston Churchill, as he inspires his fellow countrymen to take on the world’s mightiest army. Includes bonus reading group guide PRAISE FOR Winston’s War: ‘An intriguing tale of espionage and treason…
this is a work to enthrall.’ Daily Mail ‘An author who can bring historical happenings so vitally back to life and made all the more impressive by being historically accurate in every respect.’ Times of London ‘A fascinating tale of conspiracy, blackmail, and treachery.’ Irish Independent PRAISE FOR BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLING AUTHOR MICHAEL DOBBS: ‘Dobbs takes us so far inside the mind of Winston Churchill that we feel as though we actually are him.’ Booklist ‘Dobbs infuses dramatic tension, inventive plots, and heady pacing in the narration of a British icon’s noblest hours.’ Publishers Weekly ‘Dobbs has done a brilliant job in evoking the drama and despair of Britain hovering on the edge of the abyss.’ Sunday Express

Never Surrender

This extraordinary work of historical fiction by bestselling author Michael Dobbs finds Winston Churchill at his lowest ebb pitted in a personal confrontation with Adolf Hitler and the ghosts from his past. The battle begins on Friday, May 10, 1940, when Hitler launches a devastating attack that within days will overrun France, Holland and Belgium and bring Britain to its knees at Dunkirk. Never Surrender is about Churchill’s courage and defiance, his ability to lead a nation during three of the most crucial weeks in its history. Without the physical forces necessary to stave off German attack, Churchill uses the force of words to stand in Hitler’s way, to show that no accords will be made. To read this book is to live these tense days at Churchill’s side, to experience his feelings of deep inadequacy as he deals with defeatist ministers, intransigent generals and a military disaster of biblical proportion.

Churchill’s Hour

In this stunning novel, political insider Michael Dobbs brings alive the curmudgeon persona of Winston Churchill. It is 1941, a year of desperation for England battered by the war. Churchill has only one hope, that the U.S. will come to his country’s aid, but Roosevelt is unable to do so because America is wedded to isolation.

The prime minister’s agony is compounded by a very personal dilemma. Pamela, the wife of his dissolute son, Randolph, has fallen in love with FDR’s special envoy to England, Averill Harriman. With England threatened by a German invasion and a desperate Russia devastated by the advancing Na*zi onslaught, Churchill must convince America his cause is theirs. How he does so is so damning he will take the secret to his grave. Following his acclaimed Churchill novels Never Surrender and Churchill’s Triumph, Dobbs’ taut reimagining makes England’s feisty prime minister jump off the page.

Includes bonus reading group guide.

PRAISE FOR MICHAEL DOBBS:

‘Churchill as nature intended: Dobbs captures his famous subject with artistry. With every stroke of his brush, he etches the character deeper into the memory. It is beautifully done.’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Riveting and controversial…
Dobbs has the gift of taking you inside his subject’s head.’ Glasgow Evening Times

‘Michael Dobbs has always had an uncanny feel for current affairs…
This is a typically masterful page turner.’ Hampstead and Highgate Express

‘Intriguing political drama from a master of the genre.’ Irish Independent

‘An insightful look back in time Four Stars.’ Sunday Express

‘Michael Dobbs weaves history and imagination into a gripping read. His two previous Churchill novels were bestsellers. This one will join them.’ CHOICE magazine

‘The voice of Churchill rings true…
As an insightful, thought provoking portrait of one man’s personal courage and unshakeable conviction, it succeeds magnificently.’ Yorkshire Post

‘Dobbs lifts the lid on the greatest Briton, exposing his strengths, weaknesses, foibles right down to his table manners in a way that makes the read utterly compelling…
By any standards, this is a remarkable book.’ Aberdeen Press and Journal

‘Entertaining and insightful, it shows how the leader’s loyalty towards the cause affected his personal life, and threatened to rip apart his family.’ Northern Echo

Churchill’s Triumph

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

The Lord’s Day

The boundaries of parental love and filial devotion are explored to their breaking point in this unique and breathtaking thriller. Once a year, the Queen, the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the judges, the bishops, leaders spiritual and temporal, assemble in the House of Lords for the State Opening of Parliament. On this day, the Lords’ Day, the gathering is still more impressive, for sitting beside his mother is the heir to the throne and up in the galleries are the sons of both the US President and the British Prime Minister. But they are all about to be taken hostage. The siege will lead some to selfless sacrifice, others to lose the respect of those they love most dearly…

The Edge of Madness

The world is peering into the terrifying chasm of a new kind of conflict, where computers take over from missiles and global damnation comes at the click of a button. Cyber warfare: the kind that brings nations to their knees, switching off energy lifelines, crippling the financial markets, starving leaders of authority. An old Russian nuclear reactor goes into Chernobyl style meltdown, while on the other side of the world, the US Eastern Seabord is plunged into darkness. Nobody knows yet who is responsible for the chaos. Hidden from the rest of the world, an extraordinary meeting of the US President, the Russian President and the British Prime Minister is about to take place. They have the weekend to save the world and they must do it alone. Meanwhile something serious is going on in Beijing: it looks as though the Chinese are preparing for the final thrust against their old enemies, bringing them to their knees without a single shot being fired…

The Reluctant Hero

When Harry Jones discovers that former friend Zac Kravitz’s life is in danger, a debt of honour sends him on a perilous rescue mission to Ta’argistan, a mountainous and landlocked former Soviet republic bordering Russia, China and Afghanistan. Muscling his way onto a delegation of MPs who happen to be paying the state a visit, Harry finds an unlikely ally in the stubbornly independent Martha, and together they devise a plan to break Zac out of the grim prison Bodima. But when the attempt backfires and he finds himself stuck in prison in Zac’s place, little by little Harry realises that all is not as it seemed and that he has been lured into a web of international conspiracy.

Old Enemies

In the Swiss Alps a teenage girl is thrown from a helicopter and her boyfriend is brutally abducted to Trieste, a city filled with undercurrents of past hatreds. Ruari, son of Irish media owner J J Breslin, is in desperate danger, at the mercy of ruthless kidnappers making impossible demands. His terrified mother contacts the only person she knows can help her son: Harry Jones, her former lover, who she walked out on many years ago. Now memories of their passionate affair, the guilt, hurt, anger and humiliation, come flooding back. Time is running out for Ruari and Harry, torn between his loyalties, is quickly drawn into a political game played for high stakes. Far higher than he realizes…

Last Man to Die

A daring escape from an Allied prison camp in 1945 sets into motion a chain of events that could determine the outcome of the war.

First Lady

Michael Dobbs returns to the subject that made him a household name the human drama and scandal in the corridors of power. Ginny is the young wife of an Opposition MP and is entirely content with her life in the constituency home. So when she overhears gossip of her husband’s affair, it is a shattering blow. For some women, such revelations become part of the Westminster game, but Ginny is no ordinary woman. She decides that there is only one way to stop being a perpetual victim of the system, and that is to become its master. Ginny will not be satisfied until she is the wife of the Prime Minister.