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The Miracle of Dunkirk: The True Story of Operation Dynamo
The true story of the World War II evacuation portrayed in the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk, by the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Day of Infamy.
In May 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 gathered on the beach were all that stood between Hitler and Western Europe. Crush them, and the path to Paris and London was clear.
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 26, 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.
Based on interviews with hundreds of survivors and told by "a master narrator," The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the outcome of World War II hung in the balance (Arthur Schlesinger Jr.).
In May 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 gathered on the beach were all that stood between Hitler and Western Europe. Crush them, and the path to Paris and London was clear.
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 26, 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.
Based on interviews with hundreds of survivors and told by "a master narrator," The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the outcome of World War II hung in the balance (Arthur Schlesinger Jr.).
330 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1982
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5225 people want to read
About the author
Walter Lord
63 books204 followersWalter Lord was an American author, best known for his documentary-style non-fiction account, A Night to Remember, about the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
In 2009, Jenny Lawrence edited and published The Way It Was: Walter Lord on His Life and Books.
In 2009, Jenny Lawrence edited and published The Way It Was: Walter Lord on His Life and Books.
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September 6, 2017
“We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender…”
- Winston Churchill, speech before the House of Commons, June 4, 1940
May 1940. Nazi Germany is ascendant. In 1938, she bloodlessly annexed Austria; in 1939, she adds Czechoslovakia to her domains. On September 1, 1939, she invades and conquers Poland. At this last provocation, Great Britain and France declare war. Yet, at first, they do nothing. They wait. Germany waits. Thus begins a pregnant eight months of tense stillness, millions of men poised on the brink of war.
This interregnum, known as the Phony War, ends with Germany’s advance into the Netherlands. France responds by putting troops into Belgium. As in 1914, Great Britain sends over the British Expeditionary Force to assist her French allies.
The result is disastrous.
German troops outflank the Allies. Some 400,000 Allied troops are pinned in a shrinking pocket along the Flanders coast, near the French port of Dunkirk. With the Nazis advancing unstoppably, Winston Churchill and other British leaders fear the worst. At best, they believe that only 45,000 men might be saved. Instead, Hitler orders his armor to halt; the English Channel is the recipient of a stretch of kind weather; and beginning on May 27, a motley flotilla sent from the Home Islands manages to rescue 338,000 soldiers. On June 2, Walter Mathews, the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, calls it “the miracle of Dunkirk.”
This summer will see the release of Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, a big-budget, big screen (it was shot in IMAX) retelling of the BEF’s remarkable escape. I have serious reservations, stemming from the PG-13 rating and the inclusion of Harry Styles in the cast (it smacks of the same kind of mass-audience pandering that destroyed Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor). Still, the odds of me seeing it are the same as the odds of me drinking a bottle of wine on a pleasant midsummer Friday night, which is to say the odds are 100% in favor of my presence on opening night. With that said, it seems a good time to revisit Walter Lord’s The Miracle of Dunkirk.
Walter Lord was one of the great writer-historians of his era. His book on the Titanic, A Night to Remember, is an all-time masterpiece. If he’d written nothing else besides that, he’d be one of my favorites. He wrote much more, of course, and that is to our benefit.
Lord had two great gifts. The ability to tell a story, and the ability to gather stories. He was not only a library rat, digging through dusty archives, searching through every scrap of paper. He actually helped generate primary sources. When he wrote a book with living participants, he interviewed or sent questionnaires to hundreds of them, collecting a wealth of first-hand accounts that benefitted not only his books, but the books of many authors to follow in his wake. He was the master of detail. When the Titanic made her final plunge in A Night to Remember, Lord details the sound by counting the number of plates, cups, articles of glass, that were breaking all at once.
Those attributes are all on display here. The Miracle of Dunkirk is told in propulsive narrative fashion. It puts you on the scene with the people who were there, weaving all these individual experiences into a powerful mosaic. Lord attempts to alternate points of view. He does not neglect the leadership (Churchill and Sir Bertram Ramsay get their due), but he spends most of his time with the rank and file, men who’d otherwise remain anonymous. The men Lord introduces provide decent coverage, from soldiers waiting for rescue to destroyer captains dodging German torpedo boats to civilian day-sailors crossing the Channel to lend assistance (A Night to Remember’s “hero,” former Titanic officer Charles Herbert Lightoller, makes an appearance, piloting his yacht Sundowner to Dunkirk). Every once in awhile, Lord provides the German or French perspective (I wish there had been more from the Germans). Mostly, though, this is a British show.
Lord’s in-the-weeds perspective, while vivid, has one serious drawback: it doesn’t give you the overall context in which Dunkirk unfolded. The first chapter plunges you right into the thick of things. Lord expends perhaps two pages on the strategic situation and very little more. He doesn’t bother sussing the chain of events that led to the collapse of the French and British armies. He is content to let you know that the British army is trapped, and gets right into the business of showing you how they got un-trapped. Moreover, because his focus is on individuals, it’s easy to lose sight of where the story is taking place. Lord doesn’t really follow units around. He follows men. Frankly, you are often as lost as the frantic soldiers from shattered units heading towards the beach. This is not a strategic overview; this is not a tactical overview. Lord, as is his wont, is mainly concerned with the experiential aspect.
This was originally published in 1982, meaning that it’s not exactly new. Importantly, though, it came out four decades after the events of Dunkirk transpired. This gives things time to settle a bit. Lord is admirably clear-eyed in his telling. He doesn’t try to put lipstick on a possum. Lord is not a cheerleader and doesn’t indulge (for the most part) in the romances of this great escape. For instance, he is very pragmatic in his presentation of the civilian vessels involved in the rescue. This is the most famous element of Dunkirk, surpassing in non-military transport even Gallieni’s “Taxis of the Marne.” Like the taxis in 1914, the civilian boats were not the decisive factor. Instead, as Lord makes clear, it was the mole – the long, narrow pier jutting into the channel – that allowed so many men to be evacuated. Despite the salvation of the BEF (and some French troops, too), this was first and foremost a massive disaster for the Allies, and Lord points this out on many occasions.
One of the fascinating subplots of Dunkirk is the German failure to seal the deal. There have been a lot of Dunkirk books that argue the various theses. Goring promised Hitler that the Luftwaffe could handle the matter – but they couldn’t. Hitler’s generals wanted the armor to finish crushing France (she had yet to fall, though would shortly). Hitler wanted to give the Brits a “sporting” chance, since he still hoped for a negotiated peace. Some of these propositions tend to hold more water than others. (I tend to believe that Germany wanted to make sure she annihilated France. They’d come so close in 1914, and did not want to leave anything to chance in 1940). Lord does not analyze the hypotheses in any great depth, other than to acknowledge the competing theories.
There is no shortage of volumes on the BEF evacuation at Dunkirk. Since the moment it occurred, it earned a spot in the popular imagination. There is something redemptive in it, the notion that a fallen army might live to rise again. Churchill understood this when he addressed the House of Commons.
“We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory,” he said. “Wars are not won by evacuations. But there was a victory inside this deliverance, which shall be noted.”
This is not Lord's best work. But if you are preparing to head to the cinema this summer, and you want a Dunkirk primer, you aren't going to be disappointed with The Miracle of Dunkirk.
- Winston Churchill, speech before the House of Commons, June 4, 1940
May 1940. Nazi Germany is ascendant. In 1938, she bloodlessly annexed Austria; in 1939, she adds Czechoslovakia to her domains. On September 1, 1939, she invades and conquers Poland. At this last provocation, Great Britain and France declare war. Yet, at first, they do nothing. They wait. Germany waits. Thus begins a pregnant eight months of tense stillness, millions of men poised on the brink of war.
This interregnum, known as the Phony War, ends with Germany’s advance into the Netherlands. France responds by putting troops into Belgium. As in 1914, Great Britain sends over the British Expeditionary Force to assist her French allies.
The result is disastrous.
German troops outflank the Allies. Some 400,000 Allied troops are pinned in a shrinking pocket along the Flanders coast, near the French port of Dunkirk. With the Nazis advancing unstoppably, Winston Churchill and other British leaders fear the worst. At best, they believe that only 45,000 men might be saved. Instead, Hitler orders his armor to halt; the English Channel is the recipient of a stretch of kind weather; and beginning on May 27, a motley flotilla sent from the Home Islands manages to rescue 338,000 soldiers. On June 2, Walter Mathews, the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, calls it “the miracle of Dunkirk.”
This summer will see the release of Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, a big-budget, big screen (it was shot in IMAX) retelling of the BEF’s remarkable escape. I have serious reservations, stemming from the PG-13 rating and the inclusion of Harry Styles in the cast (it smacks of the same kind of mass-audience pandering that destroyed Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor). Still, the odds of me seeing it are the same as the odds of me drinking a bottle of wine on a pleasant midsummer Friday night, which is to say the odds are 100% in favor of my presence on opening night. With that said, it seems a good time to revisit Walter Lord’s The Miracle of Dunkirk.
Walter Lord was one of the great writer-historians of his era. His book on the Titanic, A Night to Remember, is an all-time masterpiece. If he’d written nothing else besides that, he’d be one of my favorites. He wrote much more, of course, and that is to our benefit.
Lord had two great gifts. The ability to tell a story, and the ability to gather stories. He was not only a library rat, digging through dusty archives, searching through every scrap of paper. He actually helped generate primary sources. When he wrote a book with living participants, he interviewed or sent questionnaires to hundreds of them, collecting a wealth of first-hand accounts that benefitted not only his books, but the books of many authors to follow in his wake. He was the master of detail. When the Titanic made her final plunge in A Night to Remember, Lord details the sound by counting the number of plates, cups, articles of glass, that were breaking all at once.
Those attributes are all on display here. The Miracle of Dunkirk is told in propulsive narrative fashion. It puts you on the scene with the people who were there, weaving all these individual experiences into a powerful mosaic. Lord attempts to alternate points of view. He does not neglect the leadership (Churchill and Sir Bertram Ramsay get their due), but he spends most of his time with the rank and file, men who’d otherwise remain anonymous. The men Lord introduces provide decent coverage, from soldiers waiting for rescue to destroyer captains dodging German torpedo boats to civilian day-sailors crossing the Channel to lend assistance (A Night to Remember’s “hero,” former Titanic officer Charles Herbert Lightoller, makes an appearance, piloting his yacht Sundowner to Dunkirk). Every once in awhile, Lord provides the German or French perspective (I wish there had been more from the Germans). Mostly, though, this is a British show.
Lord’s in-the-weeds perspective, while vivid, has one serious drawback: it doesn’t give you the overall context in which Dunkirk unfolded. The first chapter plunges you right into the thick of things. Lord expends perhaps two pages on the strategic situation and very little more. He doesn’t bother sussing the chain of events that led to the collapse of the French and British armies. He is content to let you know that the British army is trapped, and gets right into the business of showing you how they got un-trapped. Moreover, because his focus is on individuals, it’s easy to lose sight of where the story is taking place. Lord doesn’t really follow units around. He follows men. Frankly, you are often as lost as the frantic soldiers from shattered units heading towards the beach. This is not a strategic overview; this is not a tactical overview. Lord, as is his wont, is mainly concerned with the experiential aspect.
This was originally published in 1982, meaning that it’s not exactly new. Importantly, though, it came out four decades after the events of Dunkirk transpired. This gives things time to settle a bit. Lord is admirably clear-eyed in his telling. He doesn’t try to put lipstick on a possum. Lord is not a cheerleader and doesn’t indulge (for the most part) in the romances of this great escape. For instance, he is very pragmatic in his presentation of the civilian vessels involved in the rescue. This is the most famous element of Dunkirk, surpassing in non-military transport even Gallieni’s “Taxis of the Marne.” Like the taxis in 1914, the civilian boats were not the decisive factor. Instead, as Lord makes clear, it was the mole – the long, narrow pier jutting into the channel – that allowed so many men to be evacuated. Despite the salvation of the BEF (and some French troops, too), this was first and foremost a massive disaster for the Allies, and Lord points this out on many occasions.
One of the fascinating subplots of Dunkirk is the German failure to seal the deal. There have been a lot of Dunkirk books that argue the various theses. Goring promised Hitler that the Luftwaffe could handle the matter – but they couldn’t. Hitler’s generals wanted the armor to finish crushing France (she had yet to fall, though would shortly). Hitler wanted to give the Brits a “sporting” chance, since he still hoped for a negotiated peace. Some of these propositions tend to hold more water than others. (I tend to believe that Germany wanted to make sure she annihilated France. They’d come so close in 1914, and did not want to leave anything to chance in 1940). Lord does not analyze the hypotheses in any great depth, other than to acknowledge the competing theories.
There is no shortage of volumes on the BEF evacuation at Dunkirk. Since the moment it occurred, it earned a spot in the popular imagination. There is something redemptive in it, the notion that a fallen army might live to rise again. Churchill understood this when he addressed the House of Commons.
“We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory,” he said. “Wars are not won by evacuations. But there was a victory inside this deliverance, which shall be noted.”
This is not Lord's best work. But if you are preparing to head to the cinema this summer, and you want a Dunkirk primer, you aren't going to be disappointed with The Miracle of Dunkirk.
September 5, 2017
This was a fascinating look at the Dunkirk evacuation in May-June 1940 during World War II.
I was inspired to read a book on this topic after seeing Christopher Nolan's excellent film "Dunkirk." There are several nonfiction works available, and I chose Walter Lord's version because I had so enjoyed his book A Night to Remember, which was about the sinking of the Titanic.
For The Miracle of Dunkirk, Lord interviewed hundreds of survivors and people who were involved in the evacuation. He weaves the stories together in a loose chronological order, and the reader gets a real sense of the chaos and confusion of that period of the war. It was also inspiring when the hundreds of local boats arrived to carry soldiers across the channel. (That image was with me while watching news footage from Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and the hundreds of people who took out small boats to try and rescue people trapped in the rising floodwaters. The spirit to help others in trouble is alive and well.)
I love a good history narrative, especially one that makes you feel as if you are in the middle of the action. This book did that. Highly recommended for history fans.
Favorite Quotes
"It is customary to look on Dunkirk as a series of days. Actually, it should be regarded as a series of crises. Each crisis was solved, only to be replaced by another, with the pattern repeated again and again. It was the collective refusal of men to be discouraged by this relentless sequence that is important. Seen in this light, Dunkirk remains, above all, a stirring reminder of man's ability to rise to the occasion, to improvise, to overcome obstacles. It is, in short, a lasting monument to the unquenchable resilience of the human spirit."
"But the significance of Dunkirk went far beyond such practical considerations. The rescue electrified the people of Britain, welded them together, gave them a sense of purpose that the war had previously lacked. Treaty obligations are all very well, but they don't inspire men to great deeds. 'Home' does, and this is what Britain was fighting for now."
"Another ingredient was the sense of national participation that Dunkirk aroused. Modern war is so impersonal, it's a rare moment when the ordinary citizen feels that he's making a direct contribution. At Dunkirk ordinary Englishmen really did go over in little boats and rescue soldiers. Ordinary housewives really did succor the exhausted troops reeling back. History is full of occasions when armies have rushed to the aid of an embattled people; here was a case where the people rushed to the aid of an embattled army."
I was inspired to read a book on this topic after seeing Christopher Nolan's excellent film "Dunkirk." There are several nonfiction works available, and I chose Walter Lord's version because I had so enjoyed his book A Night to Remember, which was about the sinking of the Titanic.
For The Miracle of Dunkirk, Lord interviewed hundreds of survivors and people who were involved in the evacuation. He weaves the stories together in a loose chronological order, and the reader gets a real sense of the chaos and confusion of that period of the war. It was also inspiring when the hundreds of local boats arrived to carry soldiers across the channel. (That image was with me while watching news footage from Hurricane Harvey in Texas, and the hundreds of people who took out small boats to try and rescue people trapped in the rising floodwaters. The spirit to help others in trouble is alive and well.)
I love a good history narrative, especially one that makes you feel as if you are in the middle of the action. This book did that. Highly recommended for history fans.
Favorite Quotes
"It is customary to look on Dunkirk as a series of days. Actually, it should be regarded as a series of crises. Each crisis was solved, only to be replaced by another, with the pattern repeated again and again. It was the collective refusal of men to be discouraged by this relentless sequence that is important. Seen in this light, Dunkirk remains, above all, a stirring reminder of man's ability to rise to the occasion, to improvise, to overcome obstacles. It is, in short, a lasting monument to the unquenchable resilience of the human spirit."
"But the significance of Dunkirk went far beyond such practical considerations. The rescue electrified the people of Britain, welded them together, gave them a sense of purpose that the war had previously lacked. Treaty obligations are all very well, but they don't inspire men to great deeds. 'Home' does, and this is what Britain was fighting for now."
"Another ingredient was the sense of national participation that Dunkirk aroused. Modern war is so impersonal, it's a rare moment when the ordinary citizen feels that he's making a direct contribution. At Dunkirk ordinary Englishmen really did go over in little boats and rescue soldiers. Ordinary housewives really did succor the exhausted troops reeling back. History is full of occasions when armies have rushed to the aid of an embattled people; here was a case where the people rushed to the aid of an embattled army."
February 4, 2022
Maybe Dunkirk is played out as a heart-tug. (Viz. Nicholas Harman's 1981 Dunkirk: The Patriotic Myth.) Perhaps the homely vignette, the incongruous detail, and the variegated list don't seem to add up to so much. Or maybe Lord doesn't view the Crucial Event or handle the narrative mode with the conviction he once did. (His 1967 Incredible Victory is undiminished by Gordon Prange's superb new Miracle at Midway.) By any reckoning, this is not much of a book. The action leading up to the need to evacuate the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk isn't made much clearer to the reader than to the baffled soldiers we meet. British commander Gort's determination to pull out highly dramatized, as is the opposition in London; the French charge that didn't inform them dismissed. Corollary British military actions--the stand at Calais, closing the Belgian gap- presented as heroic feats. The belated, proportionately small evacuation of the French--a source of controversy for 40 years--is treated almost wholly due to natural British priorities and chronic French failings. (The anti-French bias is such that whatever they do is wrong: "The French seemed to know a thousand ways to slow down the embarkation. They tried to bring all their gear, their possessions, even their dogs."") In general, the story is familiar: Operation Dynamo, in Dover, corralling large and small ships; the hazardous embarkation, from the beaches and the eastern mole, under German fire; the sometimes-perilous crossing; the final withdrawal. But even the roundup of small vessels and weekend sailors, source of Dunkirk's enduring human-interest appeal, is relatively pallid, even hackneyed here. "Fernald wondered at the incredible change in his life that had snatched him from a humdrum existence in London and put him in an open boat racing through the dark." (Or: "Three ships have gone--the mole strafed and damaged--it was all very unnerving"; "Still, the dash to the waiting vessels was always unnerving."") For Lord, this is spiritless, unimaginative writing--and that's what finally makes the book routine.
Source: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
Source: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
July 12, 2025
I read this book several years ago but was drawn back to it for a second time. I am an avid fan of the author, Walter Lord.
This book, published in 1982, has a very personal touch as a history of the Great Rescue. Many of the survivors were still living when Lord wrote the book and his interviews with hundreds of them provide the reader with the "real" story based on their memories, even though some may have been a bit faulty.
One of the greatest feats in military history, the rescue of the BEF and French armies with their backs against the sea, had everything against it and failure probably would have meant the invasion of England and a completely different outcome to WWII in Europe. But it wasn't called the Miracle of Dunkirk for nothing. There were several factors that contributed to the success....the English Channel, usually unpredictable at best, was a calm as a millpond; the weather over Dunkirk prevented the Luftwaffe from being utilized to advantage; Hitler's mysterious "halt order" of the panzers let the BEF reach the sea; the equipment lost could be replaced but the 224,686 British soldiers who were returned to England were irreplaceable......but the most amazing thing was the involvement of almost every person in the Island nation with a boat, barge, and anything else that floated answered the call and crossed the Channel many times at great cost to lives, to rescue "their army".
The French were less enchanted as they felt that "perfidious Albion" deserted the French troops on the beaches, although the number of poilus who didn't make it to the boats ranges from 20,00 - 50,00. (Books written later on the subject may have more accurate numbers.)
One of the strengths of Lord's telling of this disaster turned into a victory, is his attention to the action taking place on the perimeter, away from the beaches where the diminished and trapped BEF/French troops fought gallantly to hold off the Germans until the rescue could take place. Some of the incidents, as told by the survivors, are heart breaking and seem to support the brutality of the Nazis who killed prisoners rather than take them alive.
There may be books with more updated statistical data about the Miracle of Dunkirk but for pure readability I would highly recommend this one.
This book, published in 1982, has a very personal touch as a history of the Great Rescue. Many of the survivors were still living when Lord wrote the book and his interviews with hundreds of them provide the reader with the "real" story based on their memories, even though some may have been a bit faulty.
One of the greatest feats in military history, the rescue of the BEF and French armies with their backs against the sea, had everything against it and failure probably would have meant the invasion of England and a completely different outcome to WWII in Europe. But it wasn't called the Miracle of Dunkirk for nothing. There were several factors that contributed to the success....the English Channel, usually unpredictable at best, was a calm as a millpond; the weather over Dunkirk prevented the Luftwaffe from being utilized to advantage; Hitler's mysterious "halt order" of the panzers let the BEF reach the sea; the equipment lost could be replaced but the 224,686 British soldiers who were returned to England were irreplaceable......but the most amazing thing was the involvement of almost every person in the Island nation with a boat, barge, and anything else that floated answered the call and crossed the Channel many times at great cost to lives, to rescue "their army".
The French were less enchanted as they felt that "perfidious Albion" deserted the French troops on the beaches, although the number of poilus who didn't make it to the boats ranges from 20,00 - 50,00. (Books written later on the subject may have more accurate numbers.)
One of the strengths of Lord's telling of this disaster turned into a victory, is his attention to the action taking place on the perimeter, away from the beaches where the diminished and trapped BEF/French troops fought gallantly to hold off the Germans until the rescue could take place. Some of the incidents, as told by the survivors, are heart breaking and seem to support the brutality of the Nazis who killed prisoners rather than take them alive.
There may be books with more updated statistical data about the Miracle of Dunkirk but for pure readability I would highly recommend this one.
May 13, 2021
“We have been defeated,” Reynaud blurted in English.
A non-plussed silence, as Churchill tried to collect himself.
“We are beaten,” Reynaud went on, “we have lost the battle.”
“Surely it can’t have happened so soon?” Churchill finally managed to say.
“The front is broken near Sedan; they are pouring through in great numbers with tanks and armored cars.”
Churchill did his best to soothe the man – reminded him of the dark days in 1918 when all turned out well in the end – but Reynaud remained distraught. He ended as he had begun: “We are defeated; we have lost the battle.”
To Churchill it seemed incredible. The French army had been considered the finest in the world since 1918. The remilitarization of Germany under Adolf Hitler’s government obviously added another European military power, but it was still untested. As the Third Reich swallowed one county after another and war finally broke out in 1939, the West still thought it was immune to the Poles’ distress. When Denmark and Norway were occupied in April 1940, it seemed just a trick that could be corrected later.
After eight months of Phoney War, however, Hitler suddenly attacked Belgium, Holland, and Luxemburg. Convinced that the attack was a replay of 1914, General Maurice Gamelin rushed his northern armies to the rescue.
But Gamelin had miscalculated: the main German army was farther south, through the “impenetrable” Ardennes Forest, which the French hadn’t even bothered to cover. Due to another miscalculation, General Rundstedt’s Army Group A came crashing through the Ardennes and – with more than a thousand tanks – stormed across the river Meuse and was now knifing through the French countryside...
On May 24, 1940, 400 000 Allied troops were trapped against the coast of Flanders near Dunkirk, while Hitler’s tanks were only ten miles away.
Yet, only eleven days later over 338 000 soldiers had been evacuated to England in one of the greatest rescues of all time, thus ushering a key turning point in WWII.
Walter Lord examines Dunkirk not as a series of days but as a series of crises. Each crisis was solved only to be followed by another, but the joint refusal of men to be discouraged played its crucial role in the miraculous rescue. In his book, Lord commemorates Dunkirk as a monument to the unflinching resilience of the human spirit. A concise and compelling narrative with a personal touch to it. Five stars.
A non-plussed silence, as Churchill tried to collect himself.
“We are beaten,” Reynaud went on, “we have lost the battle.”
“Surely it can’t have happened so soon?” Churchill finally managed to say.
“The front is broken near Sedan; they are pouring through in great numbers with tanks and armored cars.”
Churchill did his best to soothe the man – reminded him of the dark days in 1918 when all turned out well in the end – but Reynaud remained distraught. He ended as he had begun: “We are defeated; we have lost the battle.”
To Churchill it seemed incredible. The French army had been considered the finest in the world since 1918. The remilitarization of Germany under Adolf Hitler’s government obviously added another European military power, but it was still untested. As the Third Reich swallowed one county after another and war finally broke out in 1939, the West still thought it was immune to the Poles’ distress. When Denmark and Norway were occupied in April 1940, it seemed just a trick that could be corrected later.
After eight months of Phoney War, however, Hitler suddenly attacked Belgium, Holland, and Luxemburg. Convinced that the attack was a replay of 1914, General Maurice Gamelin rushed his northern armies to the rescue.
But Gamelin had miscalculated: the main German army was farther south, through the “impenetrable” Ardennes Forest, which the French hadn’t even bothered to cover. Due to another miscalculation, General Rundstedt’s Army Group A came crashing through the Ardennes and – with more than a thousand tanks – stormed across the river Meuse and was now knifing through the French countryside...
On May 24, 1940, 400 000 Allied troops were trapped against the coast of Flanders near Dunkirk, while Hitler’s tanks were only ten miles away.
Yet, only eleven days later over 338 000 soldiers had been evacuated to England in one of the greatest rescues of all time, thus ushering a key turning point in WWII.
Walter Lord examines Dunkirk not as a series of days but as a series of crises. Each crisis was solved only to be followed by another, but the joint refusal of men to be discouraged played its crucial role in the miraculous rescue. In his book, Lord commemorates Dunkirk as a monument to the unflinching resilience of the human spirit. A concise and compelling narrative with a personal touch to it. Five stars.
September 1, 2017
A few days ago I saw the film “Dunkirk” which attempted to convey the importance of the rescue of 338,000 men off the coast of France across the English Channel in late May and early June, 1940. The film does an excellent job presenting the plight of British and French troops as they lined up on the beaches to be extracted from the threat of German tanks, artillery, soldiers and bombers. What the historian, Walter Lord refers to in his classic study, THE MIRACLE OF DUNKIRK is a series of crises that allowed many components of British society to take part in the rescue of these men. Though originally published in 1982, Lord’s book has lost none of its punch and command of events that led to the evacuation, the evacuation itself, and its implication for the overall war effort. When reading Lord’s work today it still reflects a historian who had mastered the craft of narrative history and allowed the reader to take part in the action being described.
The approach taken in the film is reflected in Lord’s work. It presents three important elements of the rescue; the outnumbered brave British pilots who met and tried to neutralize German Stukas, the employment of anything that would float represented by a family fishing boat, and the men stuck on the French beaches trying to survive German bombing. All aspects help capture the bravery, spirit, audacity of the British people that allowed them to save their army – an achievement that would go a long way in finally defeating the Nazis five years later.
Having seen the film I decided to read Lord’s highly readable study of what occurred. Events in France shocked many, particularly Prime Minister Winston Churchill who was informed early on the morning of May 15, 1940 by French Premier Paul Reynaud that the French had been defeated after the Germans surprised them by attacking through the supposedly impenetrable Ardennes Forest. German Panzer Divisions poured through the French countryside trapping the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), two French armies, and all Belgium soldiers, nearly one million men pinned against the sea at Flanders.
Lord does a superb job describing British resiliency as they tried to block the German advance at the same time they instituted a massive withdrawal to save the BEF. Lord points out French arrogance in dealing with the British, how quickly their troops and leadership became demoralized, and how the British were confronted with French “invisibleness” as they tried to cope with the German advance. British policy seemed to always have to take in to account the French state of mind. Once the French had given up, the BEF command had to prod them to hold certain areas so an escape route could be protected. Further, the French felt they were not being treated equally once the evacuation began to gather steam. They wanted the use of British ships and equal extraction of soldiers. Churchill was very cognizant of French sensitivities as he was afraid of losing an ally at a time when things were becoming desperate.
Once the Germans realized what was occurring as the BEF and its allies began retreating north they worked to close off any access to French ports, be it Boulogne, Calais, and Dunkirk. The Germans were spreads very thin and were stunned the allies did not attack their flanks as they raced for the beaches. Luftwaffe head, Herman Goring grew jealous of Heinz Guderian’s Panzer unit and pleaded with Hitler to halt the German advance and allow his air force to complete the job of wiping out the BEF. Hitler was concerned about his armor and viewed Paris as his main target so he went along with Goring. This decision was very telling as it gave the BEF three days to organize its retreat before Hitler changed his mind – probably creating the opportunity for the “miracle” at Dunkirk.
Perhaps Lord’s best chapter, “Operation Dynamo” deals with how the Admiralty bureaucracy organized the diversified types of ships and crafts that would take part in the rescue of the BEF. On May 14, 1940 the BBC called for “all owners of self-propelled pleasure craft between 30 and 100 feet in length to send all their particulars to the Admiralty within fourteen days.” Lord provides intricate details how this miracle at sea was organized under the leadership of Vice Admiral Betrum Ramsay who was located deep in the White Cliffs of Dover. The result was a “strange fleet of ferries, hoppers, dredges, barges, coasters, and skoots.” Once Boulogne and Calais fell, Dunkirk was the only option.
What sets Lord’s work a part from others is how he integrates the private stories and individual experiences of the soldiers and civilians who came to their rescue during the evacuation. The harrowing trip across the channel and back avoiding German mines and bombers, placing the reader with the heroic individuals Lord describes. Lord presents a number of important personages in his narrative that include King Leopold III of Belgium who quickly surrendered to the Germans, General Bernard Montgomery who organized his troops to fill the gap in the BEF escape route, and General Gort (Viscount Lord) who was in charge of BEF at Dunkirk, among others. In addition, Lord has interviewed numerous survivors, civilians, and officers whose personal experiences helped create a fascinating narrative that began with a disorganized movement of troops onto the beaches, the need to create a pier to allow ships to pick the men up, and organizing the men into small units that would make for an efficient extraction. What resulted at times was “bewildered waiting” and trying to avoid being hit by German bombers.
The British command also had to make important choices as a number of destroyers dispatched to evacuate men began to be sunk. Churchill and company were concerned that the losses were too much in light of what they thought would be a long war. At one point a number of destroyers were withdrawn. What facilitated the evacuation was low cloud cover and smoke for a good part of the end of May, 1940. As the Admiralty withdrew the destroyers the void was filled by car ferry’s, fishing boats, open motor launches, barges, cabin cruisers, trawlers, and rusted scows – ships/boats of every conceivable type. By the end of May, it became a deluge of “little ships.” These craft were mostly unarmed and many were piloted by everyday civilians, a number of which were on their maiden voyage with little knowledge of nautical equipment. The ingenuity of the British was seen as troops cannibalized materials from wherever they could, be it partially sunken destroyers, damaged buildings etc. all to create a temporary pier or mole so rescue boats could come astride and extract as many men as possible.
By the end of the evacuation 224,686 of the BEF and 123,095 French soldiers were evacuated. This would be a problem for Churchill for the remainder of the war as the French believed that the British did not do their utmost to save French soldiers. Lord also does a marvelous job detailing the intricate and frosty relationship between England and France, especially as the Germans began to turn their attention away from Dunkirk and moved their panzer divisions to conquer Paris.
The significance of the evacuation lay in the large number of British troops that were saved. Guns and vehicles could be replaced, but not the only trained troops that Britain had left. It would form a nucleus of the great allied army that would win back the continent. Further, leaders such as Lt. General Alan Brook, Major-General Harold Alexander, and Major-General Bernard Montgomery “all cut their teeth at Dunkirk.” In addition, the evacuation electrified the British people and gave them a sense of purpose that the war previously lacked. It was an opportunity for ordinary citizens to feel they had made a direct contribution to the war effort.
Lord has written a highly readable account of the rescue of allied forces from Dunkirk. An accomplishment many historians credit for saving Britain from being forced out of the war with Germany. Though written and researched over thirty five years ago it still stands as the best narrative of the rescue and provides numerous insights into the mindset of the hundreds of thousands who survived the Nazi onslaught in the late spring of 1940.
The approach taken in the film is reflected in Lord’s work. It presents three important elements of the rescue; the outnumbered brave British pilots who met and tried to neutralize German Stukas, the employment of anything that would float represented by a family fishing boat, and the men stuck on the French beaches trying to survive German bombing. All aspects help capture the bravery, spirit, audacity of the British people that allowed them to save their army – an achievement that would go a long way in finally defeating the Nazis five years later.
Having seen the film I decided to read Lord’s highly readable study of what occurred. Events in France shocked many, particularly Prime Minister Winston Churchill who was informed early on the morning of May 15, 1940 by French Premier Paul Reynaud that the French had been defeated after the Germans surprised them by attacking through the supposedly impenetrable Ardennes Forest. German Panzer Divisions poured through the French countryside trapping the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), two French armies, and all Belgium soldiers, nearly one million men pinned against the sea at Flanders.
Lord does a superb job describing British resiliency as they tried to block the German advance at the same time they instituted a massive withdrawal to save the BEF. Lord points out French arrogance in dealing with the British, how quickly their troops and leadership became demoralized, and how the British were confronted with French “invisibleness” as they tried to cope with the German advance. British policy seemed to always have to take in to account the French state of mind. Once the French had given up, the BEF command had to prod them to hold certain areas so an escape route could be protected. Further, the French felt they were not being treated equally once the evacuation began to gather steam. They wanted the use of British ships and equal extraction of soldiers. Churchill was very cognizant of French sensitivities as he was afraid of losing an ally at a time when things were becoming desperate.
Once the Germans realized what was occurring as the BEF and its allies began retreating north they worked to close off any access to French ports, be it Boulogne, Calais, and Dunkirk. The Germans were spreads very thin and were stunned the allies did not attack their flanks as they raced for the beaches. Luftwaffe head, Herman Goring grew jealous of Heinz Guderian’s Panzer unit and pleaded with Hitler to halt the German advance and allow his air force to complete the job of wiping out the BEF. Hitler was concerned about his armor and viewed Paris as his main target so he went along with Goring. This decision was very telling as it gave the BEF three days to organize its retreat before Hitler changed his mind – probably creating the opportunity for the “miracle” at Dunkirk.
Perhaps Lord’s best chapter, “Operation Dynamo” deals with how the Admiralty bureaucracy organized the diversified types of ships and crafts that would take part in the rescue of the BEF. On May 14, 1940 the BBC called for “all owners of self-propelled pleasure craft between 30 and 100 feet in length to send all their particulars to the Admiralty within fourteen days.” Lord provides intricate details how this miracle at sea was organized under the leadership of Vice Admiral Betrum Ramsay who was located deep in the White Cliffs of Dover. The result was a “strange fleet of ferries, hoppers, dredges, barges, coasters, and skoots.” Once Boulogne and Calais fell, Dunkirk was the only option.
What sets Lord’s work a part from others is how he integrates the private stories and individual experiences of the soldiers and civilians who came to their rescue during the evacuation. The harrowing trip across the channel and back avoiding German mines and bombers, placing the reader with the heroic individuals Lord describes. Lord presents a number of important personages in his narrative that include King Leopold III of Belgium who quickly surrendered to the Germans, General Bernard Montgomery who organized his troops to fill the gap in the BEF escape route, and General Gort (Viscount Lord) who was in charge of BEF at Dunkirk, among others. In addition, Lord has interviewed numerous survivors, civilians, and officers whose personal experiences helped create a fascinating narrative that began with a disorganized movement of troops onto the beaches, the need to create a pier to allow ships to pick the men up, and organizing the men into small units that would make for an efficient extraction. What resulted at times was “bewildered waiting” and trying to avoid being hit by German bombers.
The British command also had to make important choices as a number of destroyers dispatched to evacuate men began to be sunk. Churchill and company were concerned that the losses were too much in light of what they thought would be a long war. At one point a number of destroyers were withdrawn. What facilitated the evacuation was low cloud cover and smoke for a good part of the end of May, 1940. As the Admiralty withdrew the destroyers the void was filled by car ferry’s, fishing boats, open motor launches, barges, cabin cruisers, trawlers, and rusted scows – ships/boats of every conceivable type. By the end of May, it became a deluge of “little ships.” These craft were mostly unarmed and many were piloted by everyday civilians, a number of which were on their maiden voyage with little knowledge of nautical equipment. The ingenuity of the British was seen as troops cannibalized materials from wherever they could, be it partially sunken destroyers, damaged buildings etc. all to create a temporary pier or mole so rescue boats could come astride and extract as many men as possible.
By the end of the evacuation 224,686 of the BEF and 123,095 French soldiers were evacuated. This would be a problem for Churchill for the remainder of the war as the French believed that the British did not do their utmost to save French soldiers. Lord also does a marvelous job detailing the intricate and frosty relationship between England and France, especially as the Germans began to turn their attention away from Dunkirk and moved their panzer divisions to conquer Paris.
The significance of the evacuation lay in the large number of British troops that were saved. Guns and vehicles could be replaced, but not the only trained troops that Britain had left. It would form a nucleus of the great allied army that would win back the continent. Further, leaders such as Lt. General Alan Brook, Major-General Harold Alexander, and Major-General Bernard Montgomery “all cut their teeth at Dunkirk.” In addition, the evacuation electrified the British people and gave them a sense of purpose that the war previously lacked. It was an opportunity for ordinary citizens to feel they had made a direct contribution to the war effort.
Lord has written a highly readable account of the rescue of allied forces from Dunkirk. An accomplishment many historians credit for saving Britain from being forced out of the war with Germany. Though written and researched over thirty five years ago it still stands as the best narrative of the rescue and provides numerous insights into the mindset of the hundreds of thousands who survived the Nazi onslaught in the late spring of 1940.
July 30, 2017
This book, published in 1982, has a very personal touch as a history of the Great Rescue. Many of the survivors were still living when Lord wrote the book and his interviews with hundreds of them provide the reader with the "real" story based on their memories, even though some may have been a bit faulty.
One of the greatest feats in military history, the rescue of the BEF and French armies with their backs against the sea, had everything against it and failure probably would have meant the invasion of England and a completely different outcome to WWII in Europe. But it wasn't called the Miracle of Dunkirk for nothing. There were several factors that contributed to the success....the English Channel, usually unpredictable at best, was a calm as a millpond; the weather over Dunkirk prevented the Luftwaffe from being utilized to advantage; Hitler's mysterious "halt order" of the panzers let the BEF reach the sea; the equipment lost could be replaced but the 224,686 British soldiers who were returned to England were irreplaceable......but the most amazing thing was the involvement of almost every person in the Island nation with a boat, barge, and anything else that floated answered the call and crossed the Channel many times at great cost to lives, to rescue "their army".
The French were less enchanted as they felt that "perfidious Albion" deserted the French troops on the beaches, although the number of poilus who didn't make it to the boats ranges from 20,00 - 50,00. (Books written later on the subject may have more accurate numbers.)
One of the strengths of Lord's telling of this disaster turned into a victory, is his attention to the action taking place on the perimeter, away from the beaches where the diminished and trapped BEF/French troops fought gallantly to hold off the Germans until the rescue could take place. Some of the incidents, as told by the survivors, are heart breaking and seem to support the brutality of the Nazis who killed prisoners rather than take them alive.
There may be books with more updated statistical data about the Miracle of Dunkirk but for pure readability I would highly recommend this one.
One of the greatest feats in military history, the rescue of the BEF and French armies with their backs against the sea, had everything against it and failure probably would have meant the invasion of England and a completely different outcome to WWII in Europe. But it wasn't called the Miracle of Dunkirk for nothing. There were several factors that contributed to the success....the English Channel, usually unpredictable at best, was a calm as a millpond; the weather over Dunkirk prevented the Luftwaffe from being utilized to advantage; Hitler's mysterious "halt order" of the panzers let the BEF reach the sea; the equipment lost could be replaced but the 224,686 British soldiers who were returned to England were irreplaceable......but the most amazing thing was the involvement of almost every person in the Island nation with a boat, barge, and anything else that floated answered the call and crossed the Channel many times at great cost to lives, to rescue "their army".
The French were less enchanted as they felt that "perfidious Albion" deserted the French troops on the beaches, although the number of poilus who didn't make it to the boats ranges from 20,00 - 50,00. (Books written later on the subject may have more accurate numbers.)
One of the strengths of Lord's telling of this disaster turned into a victory, is his attention to the action taking place on the perimeter, away from the beaches where the diminished and trapped BEF/French troops fought gallantly to hold off the Germans until the rescue could take place. Some of the incidents, as told by the survivors, are heart breaking and seem to support the brutality of the Nazis who killed prisoners rather than take them alive.
There may be books with more updated statistical data about the Miracle of Dunkirk but for pure readability I would highly recommend this one.
May 12, 2021
The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord is the true story of the World War II British evacuation portrayed in the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk, by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Day of Infamy. In May 1940, the remnants of the French and British armies, beaten back by Hitler’s blitzkrieg, retreated to Dunkirk. Surrounded by overwhelming Nazi strength, the 338,000 men gathered on the beach were all that stood between Hitler and Western Europe. Unable to retreat any farther, they set up defensive positions and prayed for deliverance. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered an evacuation on May 26, 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. This "miracle" was aided by mistakes on the part of the nazis with infighting between the German army tank divisions and the Luftwaffe who wanted to bomb and strafe the allied soldiers pinned to the coast thus enabling such huge numbers to escape back to England on the flotilla of anything that would float. "Based on interviews with hundreds of survivors and told by “a master narrator,” The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the outcome of World War II hung in the balance." (Arthur Schlesinger Jr.). If you've seen and liked the movie, you'll definitely get hooked on this book! As usual, there is so much more detail in the book about small episodes that took place in the absolute chaos that led to the great gathering of the retreating troops on the beach as well as many who couldn't make it there who then looked for alternate ways to get through the German lines to escape to the south.
March 4, 2018
Having seen (and enjoyed) the film DUNKIRK, I wanted to read a book on the subject that would give a fuller picture of the events concerning the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk, France in 1940. This book by Walter Lord does give an overview of what happened and at the same time draws on interviews with hundreds of participants (listed in the back). Though published in 1982, the book does not feel like it needs any updating. Very readable, this is superb historical narration and may be the definitive account of the greatest rescue of World War II. I assume the "miracle" is the halt order for the German panzers (tanks) that Hitler gave on May 24, 1940, an order that seemed inexplicable to the British as it stopped the panzers when they reached as close as ten miles from the beaches of Dunkirk. Lord explains that Hitler had his focus on the most important goal of his invasion of France--and that was Paris. Through all World War I, the Germans were never able to capture the French capital. "Der Fuehrer" did not want to lose a chance to capture Paris and so did not want to waste any panzers trying to destroy an already defeated enemy. The German High Command would capture Dunkirk mainly with infantry, thus saving the tanks for the main push.. In this way, the British and French were able to hold a perimeter and 224,686 British troops and 123,095 French troops were evacuated to Britain. One thing I did not realize--and the film does not indicate any of this--is that so many French soldiers were rescued. Sadly, when the evacuation was called off, thousands of French troops were still waiting to be taken off the beaches. But the rescue of so many soldiers who could fight again was a great accomplishment--a miracle if ever there was one.
May 10, 2010
The reader should be familiar with the events prior to reading the book. Otherwise the book will appear to be a random collection of personal accounts.
January 24, 2018
Captivating war story, portrayed some true events, and how much war hurts us, destroyed us, and yet, people still do this all the time. For the sake of what? Greed. Only greed.
March 31, 2024
Walter Lord is one of my favorite historian authors, mainly because of his outstanding depiction of the sinking of the Titanic in A NIGHT TO REMEMBER. I decided if any of his other books crossed my path, each one would be swooped up to be read, which is why I added this book about the World War II rescue at Dunkirk.
Dunkirk was the name of the French port town from which hundreds of thousands of men were evacuated back to England, but it’s now remembered as more of a historical event than a location. The Germans had completely overwhelmed the French and Belgians which just left the main British expeditionary force. Their backs literally up against the sea, the easy response would have been to surrender as the other European armies already had done or were about to do. But Winston Churchill decided this was impossible, as a bigger war was going to be fought to defend his island, so a magnificent rescue mission began to bring the British force back home.
Think about it…this wasn’t just a rescue of a handful of men. It meant gathering 338,000 soldiers into one spot so they could be picked up by whatever means necessary. Ships of all kinds were put into action, from naval vessels to barges to weekend yachts. If an owner or crew didn’t want to make the trip, the boat was immediately confiscated by the government and new crews were installed. Imagine the courage of these folks! Some only used their boats on weekends while others had never even seen an ocean trip. Yet they voluntarily answered the call to save their soldier countrymen and made the dangerous maritime voyage, knowing the Germans were strafing from the air. Sometimes a boat could only take a handful of men, but that was enough. Then the ordinary citizen would return to England, unload his passengers, and turn right around to go again. To me, it remains the “amber point” of the war. If Hitler thought he was going to overwhelm the British the way he overwhelmed everyone else, he was in for a long war.
Walter Lord was known for his research, with the ability to conjure up stories from survivors which keep the reader glued to the page. One of my favorites was the story of Captain Jack Churchill, who had gone to war with his bagpipes and a bow with arrows. When he discovered a group of German soldiers about to take aim at fellow British soldiers, the Captain shot an arrow into the chest of one of the enemies and then led his infantrymen in the elimination of the remaining group of Germans. Lord also notes the difference between the nasty Nazi SS, who executed allied soldiers who surrendered, and the regular German soldiers, who took them prisoners instead.
This book didn’t hold as much of my attention as Lord’s Titanic volume, but I think that’s because there are so many stories from so many men scattered across the chapters. Walter Lord clearly saw the everyday heroism of the sailor citizens and the never-give-up soldiers and his admiration comes across very clearly in the pages.
Book Season = Spring (human breakwaters)
Dunkirk was the name of the French port town from which hundreds of thousands of men were evacuated back to England, but it’s now remembered as more of a historical event than a location. The Germans had completely overwhelmed the French and Belgians which just left the main British expeditionary force. Their backs literally up against the sea, the easy response would have been to surrender as the other European armies already had done or were about to do. But Winston Churchill decided this was impossible, as a bigger war was going to be fought to defend his island, so a magnificent rescue mission began to bring the British force back home.
Think about it…this wasn’t just a rescue of a handful of men. It meant gathering 338,000 soldiers into one spot so they could be picked up by whatever means necessary. Ships of all kinds were put into action, from naval vessels to barges to weekend yachts. If an owner or crew didn’t want to make the trip, the boat was immediately confiscated by the government and new crews were installed. Imagine the courage of these folks! Some only used their boats on weekends while others had never even seen an ocean trip. Yet they voluntarily answered the call to save their soldier countrymen and made the dangerous maritime voyage, knowing the Germans were strafing from the air. Sometimes a boat could only take a handful of men, but that was enough. Then the ordinary citizen would return to England, unload his passengers, and turn right around to go again. To me, it remains the “amber point” of the war. If Hitler thought he was going to overwhelm the British the way he overwhelmed everyone else, he was in for a long war.
Walter Lord was known for his research, with the ability to conjure up stories from survivors which keep the reader glued to the page. One of my favorites was the story of Captain Jack Churchill, who had gone to war with his bagpipes and a bow with arrows. When he discovered a group of German soldiers about to take aim at fellow British soldiers, the Captain shot an arrow into the chest of one of the enemies and then led his infantrymen in the elimination of the remaining group of Germans. Lord also notes the difference between the nasty Nazi SS, who executed allied soldiers who surrendered, and the regular German soldiers, who took them prisoners instead.
This book didn’t hold as much of my attention as Lord’s Titanic volume, but I think that’s because there are so many stories from so many men scattered across the chapters. Walter Lord clearly saw the everyday heroism of the sailor citizens and the never-give-up soldiers and his admiration comes across very clearly in the pages.
Book Season = Spring (human breakwaters)
July 18, 2017
3.5-4/5
My reading this book right before the release of Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk film is not sheer coincidence. I actually went to the google machine, typed in "best books about Dunkirk" and this was one of the most highly rated. Lucky for me, my library had an e-copy of the book allowing me to read it when my work day was dwindling away...
The Miracle at Dunkirk is a book about the mass evacuations of Dunkirk, France. During the formative years of World War II, the Allies occupying France and Belgium were out manned and out gunned by the occupying German army, forcing them into a bottleneck-style retreat to the coast.
Lord does a very interesting and excellent job of describing this retreat (in the third person) through the use of personal accounts of the events. There are no direct links or sources indicated, however, making me initially question the accuracy of many of the descriptions and anecdotes. This was until I learned that it was based on a series of interviews -- and later backed up at the end of the book.
His style of writing is documentary-like, fusing the events descriptions with various quotes. There were a few excerpts that were very nearly poetical in nature and that really gave a visual "heart" to what one is reading. Like many other reviews mentioned, however, some of the book was hard to get into. If one does not have basic military knowledge, or existing knowledge of the events at Dunkirk (which I did not have), nor the use of the internet to google terms and maps of the retreat/army lay outs, then I would say this book may rank lower than the 4 stars I have given it. So, to answer what you have probably already guessed: yes, I did use a ton of side resources. I kept a map open for most of my reading and I looked up what the type of ships and planes were.
Overall, I think this is a very thorough and positive account of the events at Dunkirk. Lord was able to present the situation somewhat clearly to the average reader and included French and German perspectives of the events. Additionally, the ending didn't just END after the final hours of the evacuation, rather Lord concisely wrapped up and analysed what the evacuation meant for the Allies and the future of the war.
I'm glad I got to read such a friendly historical account of this event.
My reading this book right before the release of Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk film is not sheer coincidence. I actually went to the google machine, typed in "best books about Dunkirk" and this was one of the most highly rated. Lucky for me, my library had an e-copy of the book allowing me to read it when my work day was dwindling away...
The Miracle at Dunkirk is a book about the mass evacuations of Dunkirk, France. During the formative years of World War II, the Allies occupying France and Belgium were out manned and out gunned by the occupying German army, forcing them into a bottleneck-style retreat to the coast.
Lord does a very interesting and excellent job of describing this retreat (in the third person) through the use of personal accounts of the events. There are no direct links or sources indicated, however, making me initially question the accuracy of many of the descriptions and anecdotes. This was until I learned that it was based on a series of interviews -- and later backed up at the end of the book.
His style of writing is documentary-like, fusing the events descriptions with various quotes. There were a few excerpts that were very nearly poetical in nature and that really gave a visual "heart" to what one is reading. Like many other reviews mentioned, however, some of the book was hard to get into. If one does not have basic military knowledge, or existing knowledge of the events at Dunkirk (which I did not have), nor the use of the internet to google terms and maps of the retreat/army lay outs, then I would say this book may rank lower than the 4 stars I have given it. So, to answer what you have probably already guessed: yes, I did use a ton of side resources. I kept a map open for most of my reading and I looked up what the type of ships and planes were.
Overall, I think this is a very thorough and positive account of the events at Dunkirk. Lord was able to present the situation somewhat clearly to the average reader and included French and German perspectives of the events. Additionally, the ending didn't just END after the final hours of the evacuation, rather Lord concisely wrapped up and analysed what the evacuation meant for the Allies and the future of the war.
I'm glad I got to read such a friendly historical account of this event.
August 15, 2009
The book recreates the greatest rescue of all time. In May of 1940, 400,000 allied troops were pinned against the French port of Dunkirk with Hitler's forces closing in. It seemed impossible to escape but most of the troops did.
The story leads up to the rescue with hundreds of interviews of the participants. Walter Lord lets the reader experience what is happening as if we were reading the conflict and episodes from the daily paper or in letters home. If it was happening today, the information would have been on Twitter.
However, with the excessive interviews, I found the reading was laborious and I failed to maintain interest.
The story leads up to the rescue with hundreds of interviews of the participants. Walter Lord lets the reader experience what is happening as if we were reading the conflict and episodes from the daily paper or in letters home. If it was happening today, the information would have been on Twitter.
However, with the excessive interviews, I found the reading was laborious and I failed to maintain interest.
March 4, 2024
This book is in desperate need of more context. The author pings around stories at breakneck speed, throwing out 40 new names per page, assuming you understand more than a little about WWII history, geography, military jargon, and even conversational French. The stories are organized primarily by "type" (what's the army up to, what are the boats up to, how about the planes, how about the politicians) rather than chronologically. Every chapter I was dying to know: how many soldiers escaped? how many are still trapped? how much time remains? how close are the Germans? I wanted more maps, and simpler ones.
I understand the details of individuals transform the story from arrows and numbers on a whiteboard into a feeling that you were present - a chance to consider the terrifying reality up close. And I get that with hundreds of thousands of stories available, it makes sense to take only snippets and move quickly to the next dramatic scene. But without the larger picture to fit each segment into, it only feels like a continuous stream of individual stories. The enormity of the disaster, the stress and crushing weight of impending doom, and the relief and triumph of this story are lost.
At the end of the day, most of the information I was hoping to learn was here. It was just a lot harder to access than I thought it should be. I wanted a page turner, what I got was homework.
I understand the details of individuals transform the story from arrows and numbers on a whiteboard into a feeling that you were present - a chance to consider the terrifying reality up close. And I get that with hundreds of thousands of stories available, it makes sense to take only snippets and move quickly to the next dramatic scene. But without the larger picture to fit each segment into, it only feels like a continuous stream of individual stories. The enormity of the disaster, the stress and crushing weight of impending doom, and the relief and triumph of this story are lost.
At the end of the day, most of the information I was hoping to learn was here. It was just a lot harder to access than I thought it should be. I wanted a page turner, what I got was homework.
March 27, 2022
The writing was generally good but some basic flaws made for a subpar reading experience.
There are no breaks in any of the chapters. With all of the many people and stories depicted in the book a simple break in between would have been helpful to the reader. Often these stories only spanned a paragraph or two so the result was dizzying at times. Although I read every word I felt like I was skimming much of the time.
The book contained passages in French and German and none of them were translated. I'm sure they were important but I didn't care enough to find their meanings. For a book published long before the internet this is really annoying.
Other than Churchill and several of the truly significant participants I completely lost track of who was who and lost interest in trying to keep up.
Technical information about weaponry and equipment was never explained. Bren guns? They sounded impressive but I couldn't say why.
The author seemed fixated on telling stories about Allied officers pointing guns at subordinates to maintain order. After seven or eight different occurrences it just wasn't noteworthy. In one instance a soldier was shot and killed. That one story was sufficient to make the point of the desperation of war.
The last chapter was very good but not enough to make reading the book worthwhile. Not recommended.
There are no breaks in any of the chapters. With all of the many people and stories depicted in the book a simple break in between would have been helpful to the reader. Often these stories only spanned a paragraph or two so the result was dizzying at times. Although I read every word I felt like I was skimming much of the time.
The book contained passages in French and German and none of them were translated. I'm sure they were important but I didn't care enough to find their meanings. For a book published long before the internet this is really annoying.
Other than Churchill and several of the truly significant participants I completely lost track of who was who and lost interest in trying to keep up.
Technical information about weaponry and equipment was never explained. Bren guns? They sounded impressive but I couldn't say why.
The author seemed fixated on telling stories about Allied officers pointing guns at subordinates to maintain order. After seven or eight different occurrences it just wasn't noteworthy. In one instance a soldier was shot and killed. That one story was sufficient to make the point of the desperation of war.
The last chapter was very good but not enough to make reading the book worthwhile. Not recommended.
did-not-finish
May 15, 2017DNF @ 20%
What I knew about Dunkirk going into this book:
-it is a place in France (probably)
-something happened there in WWII
What I knew about Dunkirk after 20%
-definitely a place in France
-something happened there in WWII
-this is not a good book to start with if you know nothing about Dunkirk
I'd like to give this another try after I know some basics of the Dunkirk scenario.
What I knew about Dunkirk going into this book:
-it is a place in France (probably)
-something happened there in WWII
What I knew about Dunkirk after 20%
-definitely a place in France
-something happened there in WWII
-this is not a good book to start with if you know nothing about Dunkirk
I'd like to give this another try after I know some basics of the Dunkirk scenario.
August 16, 2018
The review that led me to read this book was Dana Stabenow's, and you should read hers first:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Now, that's a proper review!
Back already? OK, I didn't like it as much as she did, mainly because Walter Lord felt compelled to put every bit of his research into the book. And just about everyone who was involved in the war, and the evacuation are dead and gone. So the principal audiences for the book, I think, are WW2 buffs and descendants of the people involved.
But Lord is a *great* storyteller. He wrote the book when he could still talk to eyewitnesses and participants, and I found myself getting sucked in, more than I was expecting when the big infodumps started. And he's clearly done his homework. I'm on the line between 3 and 4 stars, but annoyed enough with the infodumps to round down. I might change my mind.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Now, that's a proper review!
Back already? OK, I didn't like it as much as she did, mainly because Walter Lord felt compelled to put every bit of his research into the book. And just about everyone who was involved in the war, and the evacuation are dead and gone. So the principal audiences for the book, I think, are WW2 buffs and descendants of the people involved.
But Lord is a *great* storyteller. He wrote the book when he could still talk to eyewitnesses and participants, and I found myself getting sucked in, more than I was expecting when the big infodumps started. And he's clearly done his homework. I'm on the line between 3 and 4 stars, but annoyed enough with the infodumps to round down. I might change my mind.
March 4, 2018
Walter Lord has a history of documenting the past and "Dunkirk" is no exception. Meticulously researched and written, Lord puts you right in the bunkers with the senior officers and has you dig in on the beaches with the grunts. Five to seven days to pull off the amazing, almost impossible logistical feat of getting close to 400,000 combatants off a section of beach, across the English Channel to England and safety from the Luftwaffe, panzers and troops of the Germans hell bent on annihilation of the French and British Expeditionary Force.
Lord's book is an eye opener for those who think Dunkirk was just a bunch of citizens rallying to pull a few men from harms way.
Lord's book is an eye opener for those who think Dunkirk was just a bunch of citizens rallying to pull a few men from harms way.
March 27, 2024
Engaging and well written account of this particular chapter of WWII history.
February 29, 2012
I loved this book! History is a passion of mine, and to read this story about the British retreat from Dunkirk, it felt like I was right there with them. Vivid and entertaining! The author of this book is most famous for writing the classic Titanic tale "A Night to Remember," so it was fitting to learn from him that Charles Lightoller was a civilian sailor who also helped the British Navy with the use of his private ship during his nation's rescue of her soldiers. Who was Charles Lightoller? Why, he was the Second Officer who had served on the RMS Titanic! Goes to show that history is connected in ways one never suspects. A great read!
June 8, 2018
Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
The full inside story of one of the golden moments of World War II.
Description: On May 24, 1940, Hitler's armies were on the brink of a shattering military victory. Only 10 miles away, 400,000 Allied troops were pinned against the coast of Dunkirk. But just 11 days later, 338,000 men had been successfully evacuated to England. How did it happen? Walter Lord's remarkable account of how "the miracle of Dunkirk" came about is based on hundreds of interviews with survivors of all nations who fought among the sand dunes of northern France.
Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
The full inside story of one of the golden moments of World War II.
Description: On May 24, 1940, Hitler's armies were on the brink of a shattering military victory. Only 10 miles away, 400,000 Allied troops were pinned against the coast of Dunkirk. But just 11 days later, 338,000 men had been successfully evacuated to England. How did it happen? Walter Lord's remarkable account of how "the miracle of Dunkirk" came about is based on hundreds of interviews with survivors of all nations who fought among the sand dunes of northern France.
April 25, 2019
This was an informative book about the events that drove allied British and French troops to the beaches of Dunkirk and the efforts made to rescue them. Lord seemed very honest in his telling of this point in history, quoting interviews from men who had been there to convey the reality of the situation.
I found this quite fascinating and learned a lot from it. I listened to the audiobook, but I would like to try the physical version in the future, as I think I would be able to learn more from reading it in that format.
Jeff Cummings was an excellent narrator. If you're interested in learning more about the happenings at Dunkirk, listen or read this, I think you will be glad you did.
I found this quite fascinating and learned a lot from it. I listened to the audiobook, but I would like to try the physical version in the future, as I think I would be able to learn more from reading it in that format.
Jeff Cummings was an excellent narrator. If you're interested in learning more about the happenings at Dunkirk, listen or read this, I think you will be glad you did.
September 13, 2025
A Successful Failure
I thought I knew about the miracle of Dunkirk, but what I learned from reading this was how hectic it was, and what struck me the most was how many men who were saved from the Dunkirk shores...were lost on the crossing when ships were sunk. The numbers are truly staggering. And sobering. War is not a happy read, and yet we read so that we do not forget this fact.
I thought I knew about the miracle of Dunkirk, but what I learned from reading this was how hectic it was, and what struck me the most was how many men who were saved from the Dunkirk shores...were lost on the crossing when ships were sunk. The numbers are truly staggering. And sobering. War is not a happy read, and yet we read so that we do not forget this fact.
February 1, 2020
3.5 stars
This is a really well told history of what happened at Dunkirk. It was interesting to see what really happened in those few days and even with the crazy lack of communication how they were able to get so many men out. In listening to this one, I sometimes got lost about the who's and wheres and so on. It might have been easier to follow reading the actual book.
This is a really well told history of what happened at Dunkirk. It was interesting to see what really happened in those few days and even with the crazy lack of communication how they were able to get so many men out. In listening to this one, I sometimes got lost about the who's and wheres and so on. It might have been easier to follow reading the actual book.
October 3, 2017
This book is a very good book, you have to be able to really pay attention while reading this book because there is a lot of very confusing scenes and a lot of vocabulary that you need to know to understand the book. This book is full of parts about how war is not a fair thing and how it is very scary at times. This book is a longer read for some but was a good one for me.
August 18, 2019
Rescuing 300,000+ British soldiers and 100,000+ French ones from the beaches along a stretch of coastline on the French-Belgian border was indeed a miracle. So many coincidences/serendipities enabled the effort over a five-day stretch from May 29-June 5, 1940. This memoir of the effort would have been more interesting to those who lived through that era than it was to me, unfortunately.
The major take-away for me was the total randomness of death. A major
Character in the tale was the officer in charge of evacuating men off the pier at Dunkirk. He evacuated on one of the final boats to pull up to the pier; that boat was sunk by the Germans; he was rescued by a different boat after being injured in the previous sinking. When the Luftwaffe bombed that boat, he was trapped b/c of his injuries on the sinking boat and drowned! How unfair! He helped save thousands of men! There was more than one story like this, but this man’s death really hit me hard.
The scholarship and number of interviews were amazing. The writing style just didn’t do it for me.
The major take-away for me was the total randomness of death. A major
Character in the tale was the officer in charge of evacuating men off the pier at Dunkirk. He evacuated on one of the final boats to pull up to the pier; that boat was sunk by the Germans; he was rescued by a different boat after being injured in the previous sinking. When the Luftwaffe bombed that boat, he was trapped b/c of his injuries on the sinking boat and drowned! How unfair! He helped save thousands of men! There was more than one story like this, but this man’s death really hit me hard.
The scholarship and number of interviews were amazing. The writing style just didn’t do it for me.
March 28, 2018
This is a good book written by a good historian. The book is not new, I believe it was originally released in the 80's, but it has become more popular due to the film version of Dunkirk. The movie did not necessarily use this book as the raw material for the screenplay. Read this book either before or after seeing the movie and you will see how different the reality of this retreat was from what was portrayed on screen.
September 18, 2018
This is possibly on of the most enjoyable works of history I’ve ever read. After watching Nolan’s film, I came away hazy but interested. The film can’t hold a candle to the book. Lord has great story to work with, true. The pride of one German general, bad weather, a small staff working from an office in a rock-cliff and a fleet of privateers, all cooperated to rescue nearly the whole of Churchill’s army from the crushing German forces. Exciting stuff. Lord tells the story by weaving a million and one private stories but without losing the focus on the rescue plan or giving away the grand finale. He does not make the mistake of following any one actor too long. Instead he uses each private story to illustrate the larger story. A copy-editors dream, Lord manages to make simple factual statements but keep enough detail to nail a scene. There’s the French bride losing her hat and courage for lack of bath water. There’s the soldier under air fire looking up only to find a puppy licking him. There’s the French soldiers trying to sail across the channel in a rigged-up raft with 6 bottles of booze through mined waters. Great research and suspense. That’s all it takes and Lord knows it.
April 23, 2017
This is a tough one. I would give this book 3.5 stars, but that's not an option. I listened to it as an audiobook and I think that might be part of the reason I didn't love it as much as I hoped. The way it was written was quite informative and in layman's terms, but the author jumped back and forth between dates so it was hard to follow. Had I been reading it versus listening to it then it might have been easier to follow. I'm not quite sure on that one.
This book was informative and I learned a lot, but I never quite got hooked in. After listening to it I do understand why it was a miracle and am truly amazed and inspired by how many civilians came to the rescue. Unfortunately, for me, I was never able to really connect to any one of the individual stories shared. I would recommend this to someone who is into WWII history books. If they don't have an interest in military history or WWII then I don't know if they'd like this book.
This book was informative and I learned a lot, but I never quite got hooked in. After listening to it I do understand why it was a miracle and am truly amazed and inspired by how many civilians came to the rescue. Unfortunately, for me, I was never able to really connect to any one of the individual stories shared. I would recommend this to someone who is into WWII history books. If they don't have an interest in military history or WWII then I don't know if they'd like this book.
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