Stranded on the beach with the Nazis closing in, the British army managed one of the most unlikely maneuvers in modern military history
In May of 1940, the remnants of the French and British armies, broken by Hitler’s blitzkrieg, retreated to Dunkirk. Hemmed in by overwhelming Nazi strength, the 338,000 men who gathered on that beach were all that stood between Hitler and Western Europe. Crush … and Western Europe. Crush them, and the path to Paris and London was clear. And so, unable to retreat any farther, the Allied soldiers set up defense positions and prayed for deliverance.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered an evacuation on May 26th, expecting to save no more than a handful of his men. But Britain would not let its soldiers down. Hundreds of fishing boats, pleasure yachts, and commercial vessels streamed into the Channel to back up the Royal Navy, and in a week nearly the entire army was ferried safely back to England. Assembled from interviews with hundreds of survivors who witnessed the evacuation, The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the fate of Britain hung in the balance.
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This book provides a vivid picture of what transpired prior to the evacuation at Dunkirk.
I read as a precursor to seeing the movie “Dunkirk.” Book much better than movie. Evidently I was not alone as I now see this book, published years ago, on the bestseller list.
The Miracle of Dunkirk was so good to read that I’m not going to see the movie.
Day by day, hour by hour well researched and narrated. You should read it!
A gargantuan military mistake that could have become a tragedy for the the world and A triumph for Hitler.
Check the list of sources, bibliography (I know this includes some of the sources, but nearly all of them.), and you will see that this book is based on facts. I had a man in a bookstore ask me if it disclosed Hitler’s stopping the tanks. He said that was suppressed for years. This book does contain that information and other German mistakes.
It …
Informative history of Dunkirk
Excellent historical work by the definitive chronicler of the Titanic disaster. We’ll written, quality editing, a great companion before, during, or after the movie. Book helped me relate to what I saw onscreen.
Just like the movie, it pulled no punches, but focused on the men, not the generals, admirals, and politicians.
Very true to the movie
This book was very timely for me. I had never really understood what happened at Dunkirk. Now I want to see the movie. Most people would view the evacuation of troops as a defeat but I think it inspiring. The author does a great job with weaving the various accounts together. It could have been a confusing mess but he made it very …
It was well researched , clearly-written and informative about an important and sometimes overlooked event in WW2. We read and hear so much more about the D-Day due to its’ importance and its’ happy outcome. I liked that the author occasionally spoke about the event from the German army’s point of view as well. I gave it 3 stars because it was …
I enjoyed learning more details about what happened at Dunkirk. All I ever knew before I read this book was that the trapped soldiers were rescued; now I know how they got trapped and how they got rescued.