<p>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.<br><br>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.<br><br><br><br>Christopher Priest i