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Product Description

Literary Review
'Masterly study...His style may be workaday, but his is a masterly, authoritative and spell-binding book.'

Literary Review
'Masterly study...Not to mince words...authoritative and spell-binding book.'

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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory, 17 Jun 2008

By	S. G. Long "G Long" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

`History provides many examples of a British Army being asked to operate under appalling handicaps by the politicians responsible for British Policy, but I doubted that the British Army had ever found itself in a graver position than that in which the governments of the last twenty years had placed it.'

Maj Gen Noel Mason-MacFarlane briefing the press, 15 May 1940

So opens Julian Thompson book on the Dunkirk Campaign, the title is a bit misleading since it covers the whole employment of the BEF in that forgotten campaign of 1940. Julian Thompson rightly points out that within twenty years the best-trained, best equipped and best-command army went to within a hairs breath of total defeat. The army that in 1918 was at the height of its powers `in a league of its own' was reduced to shadow of its former self by political mismanagement and under funding.

The opening chapters make remarkable familiar reading, under funded army deployed abroad, with a coalition partner with differing views of how the war should be fought and what exactly it wanted from its ally.

Julian Thompson also points out that France 1940 was not a forgone conclusion, both the French and the British had more tanks, and more motorised transport than the Germans. However the shadow of Verdun hung heavy over the French Army, in not only the strategy and tactics employed but the fighting sprit and ethos of the French Army. The French were not up for the same level of commintment or sacrifice as in 1914-15 and soon looked for a solution in a cessation of fighting as soon as it became clear that the Germans where up for a fight. Most British units on the other hand fought well and it is now often forgotten how well the BEF did fight in those dark days of 1940.

This is an excellent book written by a soldier with soldiers in mind, the summary and appendixes are very good. It is in his Reckoning of the campaign that Thompson makes the most valuable contributions to this new history, firstly he quotes the German report on the British Army which was distributed to the German Army prior to the intended invasion of England, in its assessment of the English [as the British are called in the report] the English soldier was in excellent physical condition. He bore his wounds with stoical calm. The losses of his troops he discussed with complete equanimity. He did not complain of hardships. In battle he was tough and dogged. His conviction that England would conquer in the end unshakable...the English soldier has always showed himself to be a fighter of high value. Certainly the Territorial Divisions are inferior to the Regular troops in training, but where morale is concerned they are their equal. In defence the Englishman took any punishment that came his way. During the fighting IV Corps took relatively fewer prisoners than in engagements with the French and Belgians.

He also gives Gort, the commander of the BEF, the credit for making the decision that changed the course of the war, although not a military genius, he had many failings as a commander as highlighted in the book, Gort however grasp very quickly that without her Army, Britain could not continue the war and by evacuating the BEF much to the French and some British political hierarchy opposition, therefore saved Britain and Europe from Nazi domination.

This book is recommended to anyone interested in the subject or how not to conduct expeditionary warfare.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent history, 18 Mar 2009

By	B. Hurst "KurtLevine" (England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When people think back on the Dunkirk episode, mostly they imagine scenes of chaos on the beaches with thousands of troops elbowing each other out of the way in a frantic bid to get on the small boats and escape.
The truth, as this excellent book shows, is somewhat different.
In 1940 the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), as shown by Thompson, was fairly well led with future heroes such as Bernard Montgomery and Alan Brooke to the fore.
The commander, Lord Gort was fairly unimaginative and overly dutiful, but made the crucial decision which saved the BEF - retreat to Dunkirk for evacuation.
The French were furious - but then again, as Thompson shows, they were also responsible for the plight the well-performing British soldiers found themselves.
Meetings at which British Generals watched in horror as their French opposite numbers burst into tears at what was happening are recounted.
The French soldiers are shown to have fought bravely, but were led by men clearly not up to the task, whose response to the German Blitzkreig were to lapse into doing nothing about it.
A really excellent history which goes a long way towards setting the record straight.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Important Contribution But Maybe Over-Detailed?, 27 Jun 2009

By	E. Sharman (Warwickshire, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory (Paperback)

I feel guilty about this: someone puts a fantastic amount of work into something that is really meaningful and then someone like me comes along with criticism.

But let me explain why by way of an example. Chapter 3 opens with this:

"By the time the rest of II Corps stated footlogging back to the Senne on the 16 May, the 4th Division had already established a layback position there (a temporary defence-line), and was awaiting the arrival of the 3rd Division. The 11th Brigade was established on the canalized line of the Senne running through the western half of Brussels, and the 12th Brigade was 5 miles further north opposite Vilvorde."

Wow! That is meticulous and no doubt highly accurate. The trouble is that I start trying to orient my thinking to geographical location at the same time grappling with Corps, Divisions, Brigades (and all the other units that get thrown in).

It's a bewildering onslaught of facts of military units, tactics and dispositions. Names of Generals, Commanders, Majors, Colonels litter the pages. For me it's just too much.

The excerpt I quote above is entirely typical of the rest of the book. It's not easy reading and you need to juggle too much information.

Of course, some people will just say I'm thick and just because I can't follow it doesn't mean it's bad. Maybe they're right about the 'thick' bit and it's absolutely true this is not a bad book. It's a wonderful book that no doubt adds additional information and perspective to something that really must never be forgotten.

I am in awe of Major Thompson: his commitment and passion to undertake this enormous task is something to behold.

So please don't take this review as any kind of warning against buying the book. Just make sure you're 'alert' when you read it - and perhaps having a few more detailed maps handy might make things easier.

So back to my opening remark - I feel guilty but before you part with your cash make sure that this is the type of book that suits your reading style.

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