House of cards - Rambling Readers

English language

Published Feb. 11, 1990

ISBN:: 978-0-00-617690-9

(1 review)

House of Cards is a political thriller novel by British author Michael Dobbs. Published in 1989, it tells the story of Francis Urquhart, a fictional Chief Whip of the Conservative Party, and his amoral and manipulative scheme to become leader of the governing party and, thus, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A television adaptation, written by Andrew Davies and produced by the BBC was aired in 1990. A six-part radio adaptation of the first novel, written by Neville Teller aired on BBC Radio 4 in 1996. In 2013, the serial and the Dobbs novel were the basis for a US television adaptation set in Washington, D.C., commissioned and released by Netflix. The novel was followed by two sequels: To Play the King and The Final Cut. Both were adapted for television by the BBC and aired in 1993 and 1995 respectively.

2 editions

Sean Randall reviewed House of cards by Michael Dobbs

Review of 'House of cards' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

How often can you blame the heir apparent for providing you literature? Not very, I suppose: and yet that is precisely what happened in this instance. The Radio Times produced an article about Charles, Prince of Wales, and the unlikely places he pops up. One of those places linked to a clip of The 1990 British House of Cards television series and that, in turn, lead me to the novel.

I found it a captivating political read. The sheer ruthlesness of Urquhart juxtaposed with the vivid detail (right down to the deep leather chairs in the upper gallery of Pall Mall's Reform Club), layered with the political acumen of the era and very British flavour of the work as a whole combine to produce an astoundingly riviting read.