REVIEW: Dunkirk

Book: Dunkirk
Author: Joshua Levine
Publisher: 4th Estate Books
Rating: 4/5
Source: 4th Estate Books
Genre: History, Non-fiction




The Dunkirk evacuation is such a remarkable story of survival and the sheer courage humans have, when tested to the absolute limit.
The narrative begins a tad slow, and it did take me a couple of chapters to really be pulled in to the book completely. By the time the actual stages of the evacuation of Dunkirk were being described, I was completely in deep. 

Levine has personal accounts in this book of soldiers on the ground, as well as higher ranks. It was interesting to read the different perspectives from individuals.
An amazing, inspirational story that changed the fate of the world! I thought I knew about Dunkirk from history classes but I learned so much more about the defeat/success that occurred there from this book. This made the action real and personal. This was a treat to read.


"When you're in the middle of what turns out to be history, you don't know it's history. It's not history to you. It's another day for you, it might be a more dangerous day than usual, but it's a day. And then you hear Winston Churchill talking about you and your life. Turns out you were present at the beginning of something" 

Dunkirk is a fascinating look at a historical event that many people don't know about. While some people felt that this event was a story of a failed battle, Levine looks at it as an incredible story of survival. The goal was to save 40,000 troops, and the reality was that over 260,000 troops were rescued from the shores of Dunkirk, an astonishing number.

England used Dunkirk as a rallying cry and people in England today still speak of the "Dunkirk Spirit" when talking about bucking up and working together to achieve a goal that seems unattainable.

This book was an interesting read. I appreciated the fact that it not only held to what the British and French, but also the German and American viewpoints. It is quite simply, unlike most books ever written. While this is now a motion picture 
 The history and the time that this book encompasses shows the authors attention to detail, details that we do not find together. Take the young German girl who laughed at the ideals that were set forth during their education and had a Jewish friend, but refused to think anything about the treatement that was being meted out to Jews all over Germany. I feel as though this book (and the movie) will appeal to many. It is a simple timeline, but begins a chain of events which will, quite literally, change the world.



Thank you 4th Estate books for sending this over !
Highly recommended book.