The Windsor Protocol

by Peter MacAlan

August 1940. Hitler is triumphant in Europe and Britain stands alone against the might of the Nazi forces. At the Channel Ports, 39 divisions of the Wehrmacht, plus 2 airborne divisions — a total of 260,000 men, tanks and artillery await the word from the Fuhrer to launch 'Operation Sealion' — the invasion of England that Hitler felt would bring about the end of the war and cement the Third Reich as the most powerful leadership in Europe. Why do they hesitate? Hitler's scheme to endow his invasion and occupation with its greatest chance of success, is to reinstall the Duke of Windsor as King. The Duke, formerly Edward VIII, had been forced to abdicate in 1936, but is known to admire Hitler and Mussolini and to be in favour of a peaceful settlement with them. Due to his experiences of the horrors of trench warfare between 1914 and 1918, Edward leans far more towards the idea of appeasement, rather than another lengthy and costly war. Hitler, having met with Edward in 1937, sees the Duke as the key to cracking England. Edward’s return as King, being a popular figure among the British people, could cause a conflict of loyalties, perhaps a civil war, which would make the Nazi invasion easier. A puppet English monarch under Nazi control would alter the entire course of the war – Operation Willi. Walter Schellenberg, who was awarded the Iron Cross for his role in the Venlo Incident the year before, was assigned to handle the operation. The final plan would be to entice the Windsors over the border to Spain and keep them there to “protect them from plotters against their lives, specifically the British Intelligence Service”. The British secret intelligence service must do all they can to get to the Duke first. So much seems to hang in the balance that Churchill himself becomes involved in keeping the Nazis from contacting the abdicated King of England. They must act fast. Praise for Peter MacAlan 'Well researched and splendidly exciting. Peter MacAlan is a real find’ – Frederick Nolan, author of Brass Target 'Nerve-racking entertainment. An engrossing thriller' – Irish Times A fascinating story, painstakingly researched, and gripping to the last' - Manchester Evening News 'Charged with suspense’ - Evening News, Edinburgh Peter MacAlan is one of the pseudonyms under which Peter Berresford Ellis has written. Ellis is a historian, literary biographer and novelist. Born in Coventry, Warwickshire, Ellis began his career as a junior reporter before becoming a full-time writer in 1975. He has published almost 100 books and is also the author over 100 short stories.

Genres: Fiction, Amazon, World War II

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1992

About the author

Peter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943) is a historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 90 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 95 short stories. His non-fiction books, articles and academic papers have made him acknowledged as an authority on Celtic history and culture. Under Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.

Reviews

[Grace Abeyta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating Read

I quite enjoyed this look at what WWII must have been like from a non-American perspective. Characters were believable. Well written.

[Gerald W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed The Windsor Protocol and found the story interesting, particularly the way Peter MacAlan blended actual history with fiction. He takes real historical people and events surrounding the Duke of Windsor, Britain, and Nazi Germany and adds fictional twists and events that did not actually happen but fit well within the story. I especially enjoyed seeing how he used known history as the foundation and then created an alternative explanation for some of the events surrounding Britain during World War II.

My biggest problem with the book was the author's tendency to switch abruptly from one scene, location, or group of characters to another. Often there was no section break or other indication that the scene had changed. I sometimes found myself several sentences into a paragraph before realizing that I was now reading about completely different characters in another location. This happened often enough that it made the book less enjoyable and harder to follow than it needed to be.

Despite that frustration, the underlying story kept my interest, and I enjoyed separating the actual history from the fictional additions MacAlan created around it. The combination of espionage and history worked well, and the fictional twists made me curious about what would happen next.

Overall, The Windsor Protocol was an interesting and enjoyable read, but the abrupt and sometimes confusing scene changes kept it from being a better one for me.

[Connie Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting But

I read Mr. MacLean's first in the series and loved it, but this one was more difficult, I struggled through the passages about all the inlets and geographic descriptions of the Caribbean. I understand that this was a book of fiction but I was distressed to see Winston Churchill portrayed in such a brutal manner. However, I liked his writing style and plan to continue on in the series

[Brian Kitchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several novels concerning the events which followed The Duke of Windsor's abdication and which related to the rumoured German plot to reinstate him as King. Most have focused on the events in Spain prior to the Duke taking up his post in the Bahamas, but this one supposes that there was a plot to coerce/persuade him to leave from there to go to Germany to await a successful invasion of Britain by the German forces gathered in the Channel ports. A very good plotline and good characters made this a very enjoyable read and certainly give a plausible reason, for why the German army put off their invasion and eventually cancelled it. Well worth reading.

[Alistaire King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good thriller

This is a good old fashioned thriller. Some if not all of the twists you can spot. Pace moves along at a cracking pace and it's an easy read. If you want something quick and easy to read and enjoyable this fits the bill.

[Denise Kearney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle-Free- 3 1/2 stars an enjoyable read and good characters and plot line

[Derek Coleman]

Needs editing

Not a bad storyline but it's
In dire need of a good editor. Didn't like the ending, the hero needs to seek revenge

[Albert J. Kliman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enthralling story.

While fictional, this story has enough factual basis to make it highly believable. And the action was non stop. Very much worth the time to read.

[Elizabeth Scheller Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay for the Internet Archive as I found this book that I've been looking for.

[Conrad Samayoa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

Non stop action. Pages filled with great characters, with flaws and qualities. The plot is great and the characters are believable. Went too fast.Conrad SAMAYOA.