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Sergeant Jack Tanner #2
Darkest Hour
The second novel in the series featuring Sergeant Jack Tanner.
May, 1940: Following his return from Norway and a short time on coast guard duty in Kent, Sergeant Jack Tanner finds himself in Belgium with the 1st Battalion of the Kings Own Yorkshire Rangers, under Captain Nick Barclay. Their task is to hold the bottom part of the British line along the River Escaut against an increasingly powerful and impressive German army. But, Tanner is dismayed to find that his new Company Sergeant Major is Bill Scrutton — a hard and unscrupulous former thief, and Tanner’s first sergeant in India. Tanner and Scrutton loathe one another.
Soon after his arrival, Tanner is sent on a rescue mission when a Spitfire comes down nearby. The pilot is Captain Barclay’s brother and he has landed just yards away from the German position. Against the odds, and under a rain of machine gun fire and falling mortars, they manage to haul him to safety and retreat to rejoin their Battalion.
But the Battalion has moved, for the Germans have advanced. Tanner and his platoon are stranded. Somehow they must find a way to reach their Battalion and get to Dunkirk; otherwise they will never make it out alive.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
May, 1940: Following his return from Norway and a short time on coast guard duty in Kent, Sergeant Jack Tanner finds himself in Belgium with the 1st Battalion of the Kings Own Yorkshire Rangers, under Captain Nick Barclay. Their task is to hold the bottom part of the British line along the River Escaut against an increasingly powerful and impressive German army. But, Tanner is dismayed to find that his new Company Sergeant Major is Bill Scrutton — a hard and unscrupulous former thief, and Tanner’s first sergeant in India. Tanner and Scrutton loathe one another.
Soon after his arrival, Tanner is sent on a rescue mission when a Spitfire comes down nearby. The pilot is Captain Barclay’s brother and he has landed just yards away from the German position. Against the odds, and under a rain of machine gun fire and falling mortars, they manage to haul him to safety and retreat to rejoin their Battalion.
But the Battalion has moved, for the Germans have advanced. Tanner and his platoon are stranded. Somehow they must find a way to reach their Battalion and get to Dunkirk; otherwise they will never make it out alive.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2009
28 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
About the author
James Holland
67 books1,026 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. He has worked for several London publishing houses and has also written for a number of national newspapers and magazines. Married with a son, he lives near Salisbury.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. He has worked for several London publishing houses and has also written for a number of national newspapers and magazines. Married with a son, he lives near Salisbury.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
August 9, 2019
Anyone remember the brilliant Commando comics ? Well ,Darkest Hour is essentially one of those in novel form. Great fun and highly entertaining. All fans of military historical fiction will find much to enjoy here. Highly recommended.
June 17, 2023
A scholar of military history who blends researched truth and substantiated facts to weave an entertaining fiction.
Alt the same time he is thrilling you with set piece action and covering the retreat and potential defeat of the British army before the miraculous withdrawal and evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940. He is not only recounting the events of WWII and presenting the reader with information about that conflict he is fashioning it into a readable format.
I enjoy first hand accounts of warfare. Goodbye To All That by Robert Graves and the documentary/fiction of books All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. The my interest was further engaged with WWI poets like Wilfred Owen and I was hooked while still a young man.
Historical works are often for me more satisfying; especially when well sourced and researched. But others would never read more that a couple of pages and have no interest in facts and statistics.
Here though is an author who has taken the craft of the historian and mixed it with the heart of a fiction novelist.
The result is a heady mix that never glorifies in the horrors of war nor delights in the cruelty of combat. The characters in the main bring the truth out and the author’s fine writing clarifies death as messy; painful, frightening and indiscriminate. While the story propels you along in the spirit of the best wartime action movies you remember, the reader never gets lost in the number of enemy soldiers killed. Indeed there are clever notes to an earlier generation who fought over the same ground and reminders of the futility of events repeating themselves less than 23 years later with similar distraction of the same villages.
This structure to the writing allows a wider understanding for the reader; it is the history lesson that doesn’t get in the way of a good story.
It is the entertainment that offers the educational dimension and it is the fiction that illuminates the facts. We take from it as we wish but it shouldn’t disappoint.
Alt the same time he is thrilling you with set piece action and covering the retreat and potential defeat of the British army before the miraculous withdrawal and evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940. He is not only recounting the events of WWII and presenting the reader with information about that conflict he is fashioning it into a readable format.
I enjoy first hand accounts of warfare. Goodbye To All That by Robert Graves and the documentary/fiction of books All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. The my interest was further engaged with WWI poets like Wilfred Owen and I was hooked while still a young man.
Historical works are often for me more satisfying; especially when well sourced and researched. But others would never read more that a couple of pages and have no interest in facts and statistics.
Here though is an author who has taken the craft of the historian and mixed it with the heart of a fiction novelist.
The result is a heady mix that never glorifies in the horrors of war nor delights in the cruelty of combat. The characters in the main bring the truth out and the author’s fine writing clarifies death as messy; painful, frightening and indiscriminate. While the story propels you along in the spirit of the best wartime action movies you remember, the reader never gets lost in the number of enemy soldiers killed. Indeed there are clever notes to an earlier generation who fought over the same ground and reminders of the futility of events repeating themselves less than 23 years later with similar distraction of the same villages.
This structure to the writing allows a wider understanding for the reader; it is the history lesson that doesn’t get in the way of a good story.
It is the entertainment that offers the educational dimension and it is the fiction that illuminates the facts. We take from it as we wish but it shouldn’t disappoint.
May 19, 2014
The second in James Holland's Jack Tanner series, following on from THE ODIN MISSION. This series is best thought of as Sharpe in a WW2 setting, featuring fictional leading characters fighting their way through various theatres in the Second World War. The first novel was about some early action in Norway, and this sequel uses the Dunkirk evacuation as its backdrop.
It's a fun, light and frothy read and, to my mind, an improvement over its predecessor. The reason it works is because the story is so action-packed; there are no slow parts, just one battle or dilemma after the next. As is typical with these sorts of books, the characters are very thin and the plotting is hardly anything to write home about, but the battle sequences are well described with lots of visual flourishes that really bring them to life in your mind's eye.
Of course, Holland is no Cornwell, and his books lack the intricate plotting of the Sharpe series, for instance. His villains are one-dimensional and the story as a whole lacks the kind of intrigue and double-crossing we expect from such stories. Nonetheless, it is good fun, and hard to put down once you get into it, so it's impossible to complain too much.
It's a fun, light and frothy read and, to my mind, an improvement over its predecessor. The reason it works is because the story is so action-packed; there are no slow parts, just one battle or dilemma after the next. As is typical with these sorts of books, the characters are very thin and the plotting is hardly anything to write home about, but the battle sequences are well described with lots of visual flourishes that really bring them to life in your mind's eye.
Of course, Holland is no Cornwell, and his books lack the intricate plotting of the Sharpe series, for instance. His villains are one-dimensional and the story as a whole lacks the kind of intrigue and double-crossing we expect from such stories. Nonetheless, it is good fun, and hard to put down once you get into it, so it's impossible to complain too much.
November 6, 2016
Another cracking adventure with Sgt Jack Tanner and his lads. James Holland is a great WW2 historian and writes great prose. Not only do you get a fantastic boys-own page-turning adventure but also a history lesson too! Enjoyed this as much as the first, and look forward to Jack Tanner 3: Blood of Honour.
January 4, 2018
Darkest Hour
A really good read that's full of action and drama associated with the battle for France at the start of WW2. The book has some very good characters on both sides of the conflict and is very fast paced which lends itself well to the turbulent times it depicts. The book is well written and is thoroughly recommended for all interested in the early days of WW2.
A really good read that's full of action and drama associated with the battle for France at the start of WW2. The book has some very good characters on both sides of the conflict and is very fast paced which lends itself well to the turbulent times it depicts. The book is well written and is thoroughly recommended for all interested in the early days of WW2.
February 19, 2023
It’s déjà vu all over again. Sergeant Jack Tanner, only recently arrived back in England from the doomed British defense of Norway, has been sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force – only to find the BEF forced to conduct a fighting retreat, let down by French allies who are led by old men paralyzed by indecision and stupefied by Blitzkrieg. To make matters worse, an old enemy and Cain-like brother in arms named Blackstone is his company sergeant major, and he’s arguably more dangerous than the Wehrmacht – at least, to Tanner, who has a talent for small-arms action that makes The Darkest Hour a superb work of military fiction.
I was introduced to Tanner via The Odin Mission last year, thanks to Cyberkitten’s tip, and enjoyed it so much that I sent for the other two books from England itself, and enjoyed it enormously – appreciating the way Holland made his hero Tanner confront personal and military challenges at the same time, by having him fight continually with an absolute ass of a French ally while their isolated group attempted to make its way through the Norse winter and avoid falling into the hands of Hitler’s army. That formula is replicated nicely here, and suffers nothing for it: again, Jack’s group is cut off from the main body of troops, this time because they attempt to save an incredibly ungrateful crashed airmen, and Tanner is continually sabotaged, undermined, and outright attacked by a malicious, cowardly, and criminally industrious officer who knows Tanner is a threat to his career and blackmarket schemes. To make things more interesting, there’s a very embittered Waffen-SS major who Tanner’s men succeed in humiliating by knicking four trucks from under their noses, and then taking POWs – and he’s out for revenge, nevermind the whole establishment of the Aryan world empire thing.
Darkest Hour made for excellent reading, especially since I’m familiar with the evacuation at Dunkirk but not of the often confusing retreat that led to it. Holland’s subtle use of little historic details (the peppering of slang, enough to add flavor but not enough to make the reader conscious of it), imminently sympathetic and admirable main character, and the varied action all work to make this a solid hit. The SS-man borders on being an over-the-top villain, but this is the SS. If you’re wearing comically evil skull and crossbones and black uniforms, you can be an over-the-top villain.
I was introduced to Tanner via The Odin Mission last year, thanks to Cyberkitten’s tip, and enjoyed it so much that I sent for the other two books from England itself, and enjoyed it enormously – appreciating the way Holland made his hero Tanner confront personal and military challenges at the same time, by having him fight continually with an absolute ass of a French ally while their isolated group attempted to make its way through the Norse winter and avoid falling into the hands of Hitler’s army. That formula is replicated nicely here, and suffers nothing for it: again, Jack’s group is cut off from the main body of troops, this time because they attempt to save an incredibly ungrateful crashed airmen, and Tanner is continually sabotaged, undermined, and outright attacked by a malicious, cowardly, and criminally industrious officer who knows Tanner is a threat to his career and blackmarket schemes. To make things more interesting, there’s a very embittered Waffen-SS major who Tanner’s men succeed in humiliating by knicking four trucks from under their noses, and then taking POWs – and he’s out for revenge, nevermind the whole establishment of the Aryan world empire thing.
Darkest Hour made for excellent reading, especially since I’m familiar with the evacuation at Dunkirk but not of the often confusing retreat that led to it. Holland’s subtle use of little historic details (the peppering of slang, enough to add flavor but not enough to make the reader conscious of it), imminently sympathetic and admirable main character, and the varied action all work to make this a solid hit. The SS-man borders on being an over-the-top villain, but this is the SS. If you’re wearing comically evil skull and crossbones and black uniforms, you can be an over-the-top villain.
July 19, 2022
Shortly after returning from Norway (assume this isn’t a spoiler for book 1!), Sergeant Jack Tanner is posted to a training unit at an Manston air base on the south coast. Tanner is quickly in the thick of the action – a fuel theft racket, the death of some Polish workers, and a meeting with someone he knew in India who he did not get along with. The German Blitzkrieg is sweeping aside the armies of western Europe, and Tanner falls out with his commanding officer. It is not long before Tanner and his company are sent to France, and thrust into the chaotic May days leading up to the Dunkirk evacuation.
Sykes and Hepworth return from book 1, and Tanner is up to his usual tricks as something of a super-soldier as I outlined in my review of The Odin Mission. Not wanting to be too critical, the book follows along the lines of the first. There is an evil German, and an internal conflict which is so obvious there is little intrigue. It is also rather hurriedly wrapped up. There was also a stylistic point I found a bit irritating – the constant use of the full name of the units. I understand Mr. Holland is a non-fiction writer, but in my opinion we did not need D Company, 1st Battalion, the Yorkshire Rangers (and other equivalents) quite as often. We know it is Tanner’s unit. It might have shaved 30 pages off the book.
All that said, it is not a bad story. Mr. Holland’s knowledge of WW2 means you can trust the setting, and there is none of the annoyance of him giving the soldiers the wrong kit. It kept me interested, although it is not as pacy as the first book, and I look forward to the remaining books in the series as some escapist fun.
Sykes and Hepworth return from book 1, and Tanner is up to his usual tricks as something of a super-soldier as I outlined in my review of The Odin Mission. Not wanting to be too critical, the book follows along the lines of the first. There is an evil German, and an internal conflict which is so obvious there is little intrigue. It is also rather hurriedly wrapped up. There was also a stylistic point I found a bit irritating – the constant use of the full name of the units. I understand Mr. Holland is a non-fiction writer, but in my opinion we did not need D Company, 1st Battalion, the Yorkshire Rangers (and other equivalents) quite as often. We know it is Tanner’s unit. It might have shaved 30 pages off the book.
All that said, it is not a bad story. Mr. Holland’s knowledge of WW2 means you can trust the setting, and there is none of the annoyance of him giving the soldiers the wrong kit. It kept me interested, although it is not as pacy as the first book, and I look forward to the remaining books in the series as some escapist fun.
July 24, 2025
An extremely well written and researched novel set around the rearguard fighting in Northern France and retreat to Dunkirk. The action was brilliantly paced and the camaraderie very believable. I ripped through reading this, unable to put it down, not because I wanted to know the ending but because it was a rollicking bit of escapism. Rugged heroic characters, loathsome villains and realism that was just the right mix of technical detail and accessible to the ordinary reader. I did not realise that I had picked up the series at number two so will now be going back to the first book "The Odin Mission" before venturing any further into WWII with Jack Tanner and his comrades.
May 20, 2020
I enjoyed this book more than the first book in the series. The story seemed to be tighter and more well thought out.
Now the characters are still the weak point in the series. In this one the CSM was just too over the top.
I am enjoying the series and looking forward to reading the next book.
Now the characters are still the weak point in the series. In this one the CSM was just too over the top.
I am enjoying the series and looking forward to reading the next book.
February 11, 2022
Seemingly realistic
This was a fast paced story reflecting I believe the true history of the BEF , if only from a small perspective. The characters are gritty and strong with a touch of predictability and
cliche
This was a fast paced story reflecting I believe the true history of the BEF , if only from a small perspective. The characters are gritty and strong with a touch of predictability and
cliche
June 4, 2022
A very entertaining read. Well written and full of action, with the sort of factual information that makes many scenes very plausible. I like historical fiction but this series is a welcome change, and the value is exceptional.
June 23, 2017
Second in the series. Good read with excellent research and dialogue/narrative. Tanner is very similar to Richard Sharpe but after a break, I think I will read the remaining books.
February 20, 2018
Always a good read
It is not just blood and guys but there is a good
Story to follow through. With victory and history wrapped up in one
It is not just blood and guys but there is a good
Story to follow through. With victory and history wrapped up in one
December 28, 2020
Great book, plenty of action
February 26, 2022
Easy to read page turner. The author rightly blames the French high command for the shameful capitulation which lost this campaign and prolonged the war.
July 27, 2022
Jack Tanner the one man army
March 17, 2023
More brilliant boys own adventure with sergeant Tanner
November 22, 2023
Den andre boken i serien om den modige Sersjant Jack Tanner var som forventet, midt på treet. Denne gangen blir Tanner sendt til Frankrike for å hjelpe sine franske allierte. Det går som forventet.
July 8, 2024
Another solid instalment in the series really rattled along I remember enjoying the book a good amount
September 2, 2024
Entertaining romp with good historical basis.
March 9, 2025
More enjoyable historical fiction from the legend that is James Holland.
September 2, 2025
The hero, Sergeant Jack Tanner has nine lives! A fiction based in the fact of the invasion of France by the Nazis and Dunkirk evacuation, interesting tale.
March 8, 2017
Another really enjoyable read that combines fiction and meticulous attention to detail. The novel provided fresh, challenging, insights for me into life on the front line and in some respects brought them more into line with those I had formed with respect to the Great War.
I really hope James decides to write a further series!
I really hope James decides to write a further series!
May 7, 2012
This is the classic war story brought to the readers of today, for some reason many readers are put off going and picking up some of the classic war stories and thrillers by great writers like Mclean and Higgins, and there has been a sad lacking in the market of new writers until recently.
James Holland brings a classic squaddie hero to the fore, and thrusts him into dark and dangerous situations and brings the war to life in all its dark gory glory, War should be a distasteful tale it should be grim and it should also be heroic and full of adventure, and these books give you all that, for some its a little too close and a little to real given that its still in living memory for so many and so many releatives, but that should not mean we lose the pride we can gain from tales, even fictional ones, because i hope they lead readers to go read the true stories.
This latest offering by Holland is great fun to read, the same paced plot, well rounded characters and well thought out plot.
well worth reading.
(Parm)
James Holland brings a classic squaddie hero to the fore, and thrusts him into dark and dangerous situations and brings the war to life in all its dark gory glory, War should be a distasteful tale it should be grim and it should also be heroic and full of adventure, and these books give you all that, for some its a little too close and a little to real given that its still in living memory for so many and so many releatives, but that should not mean we lose the pride we can gain from tales, even fictional ones, because i hope they lead readers to go read the true stories.
This latest offering by Holland is great fun to read, the same paced plot, well rounded characters and well thought out plot.
well worth reading.
(Parm)
July 10, 2011
I read the first in this book in this series a while back as well - that's
.
The author is trying to create a Sharpe for the WWII era, but in my view doesn't succeed very well.
The books are very well researched and give good background to the war what was happening and the reasons Commanders made decisions.
Unfortunately the characters are very one dimensional - e.g. an evil sergeant major who kills 40 POWs for no real reason.
Having said that the books are quite fun light reads, very like the Battle and Commando books of old.
There are another 2 books in the series, and I'm not sure that I'd actively seek these out but may grab them in a 3/2 offer or some such.
.The author is trying to create a Sharpe for the WWII era, but in my view doesn't succeed very well.
The books are very well researched and give good background to the war what was happening and the reasons Commanders made decisions.
Unfortunately the characters are very one dimensional - e.g. an evil sergeant major who kills 40 POWs for no real reason.
Having said that the books are quite fun light reads, very like the Battle and Commando books of old.
There are another 2 books in the series, and I'm not sure that I'd actively seek these out but may grab them in a 3/2 offer or some such.
February 12, 2016
It is a gripping story at every turn. Like the Sharpe series Jack Tanner has to have enemies within his own ranks and Holland has done an amazing job of creating such characters and the suspense on every turn of the page was wonderful.
For those who love the historical aspect, you will not be disappointed. The accuracy mixed with a brilliant storyline is spot on.
It is a story I had spent a few years writing with the same idea as following in the footsteps on Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series. When I started reading I couldn't believe how similar my storyline was to this, only James Holland had done a better job of it.
For those who love the historical aspect, you will not be disappointed. The accuracy mixed with a brilliant storyline is spot on.
It is a story I had spent a few years writing with the same idea as following in the footsteps on Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series. When I started reading I couldn't believe how similar my storyline was to this, only James Holland had done a better job of it.
September 6, 2010
This is a thinly veiled historical account of one Regiment's experience around the Dunkirk evacuation.
Although this "series" is labelled as a "Sharpe for WW2", I find the characters very flimsy, any humour very strained, and the attempts to dramatize the events a little forced and unbelievable. James Delingpole's early attempts at producing a series of character novels based around WW2 events leave James Holland standing, I'm afraid.
Nevertheless, a good historical yarn, and not a complete waste of time reading it - but I have read much better on the same themes.
Although this "series" is labelled as a "Sharpe for WW2", I find the characters very flimsy, any humour very strained, and the attempts to dramatize the events a little forced and unbelievable. James Delingpole's early attempts at producing a series of character novels based around WW2 events leave James Holland standing, I'm afraid.
Nevertheless, a good historical yarn, and not a complete waste of time reading it - but I have read much better on the same themes.
April 19, 2015
I really like historical books so a fictional story based on real events really calls to me. I also love a story when small men can be heroes and heroes can behave all but heroic at times. The language is easy but the author manages to fill the story with military terms made easy to understand by the setting.
December 29, 2016
Jack Tanner grew on me in the second title of the series. The book really brings to life how horrible war can be. It was a while since I read this but I can still remember the chaotic scenes of the retreat to Dunkirk and how last ditch the final defence must have been. Like WWII you will enjoy this!
April 21, 2020
So wanted to enjoy this book, but just couldn't get invested with some of the characters. The story line is good and the action nicely paced and detailed, but to me character is central and I just didn't feel these guys.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews