Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22371 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-31
• Binding: Paperback
• 720 pages

Tim Gardam, The Times
`A searing story . . . both meticulous military history and a deeply moving testimony to the extraordinary personal bravery of individual soldiers'

Richard Overy, Telegraph
`Sebag-Montefiore tells [the story] with gusto, a remarkable attention to detail and an inexhaustible appetite for tracking down the evidence'

Max Hastings, Daily Telegraph
`A narrative triumph. I have not read a better account'

Customer Reviews

Very informative
I really enjoyed this book,i found it most enlightening as to the events running up to the evacuation from Dunkirk.its brings to light events i hadnt been aware of like the massacre of prisoners from the royal Norfolks.all in all a very good read.

Fascinating and enthralling account
Popular history recalls the Dunkirk story with a chin-up, shiny spirit of resilience and crafty British guile - the first `Great Escape'. `Dunkirk spirit' has now become a tabloid byword for cheery, bulldog tenacity in the face of adversity.

But Sebag-Montefiore's incisive history pulls no punches and wipes the grin off the face of popular myth. He shows how one of Britain's landmark historical moments of the last century was actually tarnished by desperate, bloody fighting with no quarter spared.

Accepted history concentrates on what happened on the beaches. However the author says the battles that really counted occurred several miles inland on the Dunkirk town perimeter.

Here, British troops fought a dwindling rearguard last stand, giving their lives so other troops could live. For each soldier's life lost, precious minutes were gained to aid the evacuation and ensure the British Army could live to fight another day.

And the battle didn't end with the last bedraggled Tommy boarding the last departing ship from Dunkirk. For a further fortnight, stranded British troops retreated in the face of dive-bombers and SS massacres, culminating with a final evacuation from St. Nazaire and the hushed-up sinking of the Lancastria, with the loss of 3,500 men.

In-depth research gathered from archives as far away as Russia and Czechoslovakia, together with detailed maps, fascinating photographs and stark first-hand accounts from the remaining handful of veterans, do the Dunkirk story justice.

This weighty tome is masterly and scholarly, yet its fast, clear pace makes this definitive work highly readable.

Informative view on why Dunkirk happened
This book provided an invaluable insight as to why Dunkirk happened and the sacrifices that were made by the rearguard troops, something that is not often high lighted these days unlike the little ship aramada that previously had most of the focus and only makes a small mention in this book. It might be biased towards the British point of view at times and their actions but that was of most interest to me and its refreshing to see this.

Recommended for anyone who would like to know more about Dunkirk.