Dominion Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Living Breath: The Fluidity of Historical Fiction and our BookBrowse Review of Dominion.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. What does Dominion say about the tension between fighting for the common good and protecting one's own family in times of war and oppression? What did you make of David's decision to join Churchill's Resistance? Would you have made the same choice in his shoes? Why or why not?
2. Dominion follows many characters across the sweep of Sansom's epic story. Who was your favorite character? What about this character appealed to you, and why? Are there particular choices individual characters make that resonated strongly with you?
3. Consider the historical moment Sansom created in Dominion. What did you find most frightening about Sansom's alternate vision of 1950s Great Britain? What was most realistic about it? Was there anything you thought might turn out differently given the particular scenario with which the novel begins?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Mulholland. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.