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Dünkirchen 1940

The German View of Dunkirk

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Dünkirchen 1940

By: Robert Kershaw
Narrated by: Richard Trinder
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Bloomsbury presents Dünkirchen 1940 by Robert Kershaw, read by Richard Trinder.

Kershaw’s book is a welcome rebalancing; a thoughtful, well-researched and well-written contribution to a narrative that has long been too one-sided and too mired in national mythology.' – The Times

The British evacuation from the beaches of the small French port town of Dunkirk is one of the iconic moments of military history. The battle has captured the popular imagination through LIFE magazine photo spreads, the fiction of Ian McEwan and, of course, Christopher Nolan’s hugely successful Hollywood blockbuster. But what is the German view of this stunning Allied escape? Drawing on German interviews, diaries and unit post-action reports, Robert Kershaw creates a page-turning history of a battle that we thought we knew.

Dünkirchen 1940 is the first major history on what went wrong for the Germans at Dunkirk. As supreme military commander, Hitler had seemingly achieved a miracle after the swift capitulation of Holland and Belgium, but with just seven kilometres before the panzers captured Dunkirk – the only port through which the trapped British Expeditionary force might escape – they came to a shuddering stop. Only a detailed interpretation of the German perspective – historically lacking to date – can provide answers as to why.

Dünkirchen 1940 delves into the under-evaluated major German miscalculation both strategically and tactically that arguably cost Hitler the war.©2022 Robert Kershaw (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Armed Forces Europe Germany Great Britain Military Naval Forces War
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Critic reviews

Kershaw’s book is a welcome rebalancing; a thoughtful, well-researched and well-written contribution to a narrative that has long been too one-sided and too mired in national mythology. (Roger Moorhouse)
A myth busting history of Dunkirk (Richard Overy)
This is military history of the highest order. Superbly written and drawn from richly original sources, Dünkirchen 1940 throws new light on what the British tend to regard as an heroic humiliation but for the Germans was a victorious sideshow. An abundance of vivid personal memories, woven deftly in a clear narrative, make for a truly gripping read.
Robert Kershaw’s accurate and gritty account provides a fresh coherency to the German action in Belgium and France in the spring of 1940. His methodical approach dispels many of the myths surrounding Dunkirk.
Impeccably researched, a unique and enthralling approach – Dunkirk solely from the victors’ perspective.
Robert Kershaw has produced another superb book that demands a reassessment of the fighting at Dunkirk. In this highly readable and insightful account, Kershaw provides a much needed corrective to some of the assumptions made about the German forces using a new and underutilised sources. The result is blend of absorbing narrative history and clinical analysis, that deserves take its place among the great works about this totemic battle.
An impressive account – Kershaw uses a mass of eye-witness testimony to fashion a compelling narrative. In doing so, he offers an important reassessment of this pivotal moment in World War Two.
Robert Kershaw makes all the complexities of 1940 easy to comprehend. This is a first-class book by a master of his trade. He comfortably combines British, French and German voices in an epic story which traverses the tactical to the grand strategic. In each area, a new and refreshing telling of one of the most decisive years in British history, he demonstrates that he is master of all.
Kershaw tells an excellent story from a hitherto neglected viewpoint.
All stars
Most relevant
The narration is faultless and the story gripping. The book is superbly well written and extremely well researched. It is also humane, balanced and precise. Very enjoyable but also tragic - such a waste of human life and resources, for what end?

An Exciting and Tragic Story

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This was a really good listen as there was input from all the nations involved...

both sides

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Different side of the evacuation of Dunkirk as someone who has grown up with the British story of Dunkirk ,to see how the Germans saw and viewed this was interesting

Different and interesting

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This is the first and only story of the German side of the Dunkirk episode of WW2.
The account from infantryman, tank crew, anti aircraft and artillery men, Kriegsmarine men and Luftwaffe men is a graphic novel of the hard and bitter fighting to capture and close the port to the British and allied armies massed against them.
This book is gripping from start to finish, and I have no doubt that I will be listening to it again in the near future.

Excellent!

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Loved this book. I've always thought that he French just surrendered at Dunkirk. How wrong have I been. The northern French army fought a tremendous battle to keep German forces at bay, right until the end.
The British army as always fought brilliantly, and being one of the smaller armies did tremendously well under the circumstances.
I have been utterly engrossed in this audio book, and got my map of northern France out to see the whole area of battle.
One thing that has always puzzled me though is that the French army was superior in every way to Germany, even their ranks could putting the Panzer 4 German workhorse, and there is little mention of the French air force being used at Dunkirk.
I know it is now history, but this historic defeat of France and Great Britain, tells a sad truth that you must be prepared to confront 'Willie's of which Germany at that time was the biggest and most dangerous.
Great narration throughout this audio book.

A very clear truth of the Dunkirk withdrawal

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