The Separation is the story of twin brothers, rowers in the 1936
Olympics (where they met Hess, Hitler's deputy). One joins the RAF, and
captains a Wellington; he is shot down after a bombing raid on Hamburg
and becomes Churchill's aide-de-camp. His twin brother, a pacifist,
works with the Red Cross, rescuing bombing victims in London. But this
is not a straightforward story of the Second World War: This is an
alternate history. The two brothers--both called J.L. Sawyer--live their
lives in alternate versions of reality.
In one, the Second World War ends as we imagine it did; in the other,
thanks to efforts of an eminent team of negotiators headed by Hess, the
war ends in 1941. The Separation is an emotionally riveting story of
how the small man can make a difference; it's a savage critique of
Winston Churchill, the man credited as the saviour of Britain and the
Western World; and it's a story of how one perceives and shapes the
past.