In May of 1940, the armies of Nazi Germany were marching through France. In the face of this devastating advance, one of World War II's greatest acts of heroism would be a retreat: the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk. In Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man, we are given an unprecedented vision of these harrowing days. Hugh Sebag-Montefiore has created a bold and powerful account of the small group of men who fended off the German army so that hundreds of thousands of their comrades could exit this doomed land. These brave troops, members of the British Expeditionary Forces and the French army, held a series of strong points inland, allowing the rest of the battered battalions to escape to the coast. Those that remained were ordered to fight to the last man. Much has been written about the efforts of the Royal Navy in shuttling soldiers to safety, but here we are given an unparalleled look inside this massive operation and the invaluable role played by the BEF. Without the ferocity and bravery of the officers and ordinary soldiers on the ground, the German army would likely have encircled nearly half a million Allied soldiers. The loss of these battalions, Sebag-Montefiore argues, could have dramatically changed the direction of the war, and enabled Hitler to invade a weakened Britain. This is military history at its best: a judicious analysis of the movement of the war, and a vivid feel of what it was like to be on the front line. Sebag-Montefiore brings these men--the forgotten heroes of Dunkirk--to life, and it is their valiant exploits and devotion to their brethren that form the heart of this important book.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations List of Maps Introduction Note to Readers 1. Moment of Truth 2. The BEF Arrives in France 3. The Mechelen Affair 4. The Final Warning 5. The Matador's Cloak 6. Charging Bull 7. Into Battle 8. Over the River Meuse 9. Flight 10. Battle of the Bulge 11. Lambs to the Slaughter 12. The Arras Counter-Attack 13. We Stand and Fight 14. Escape from Arras 15. Boulogne and the Useless Mouths 16. Evacuation ofBoulogne 17. Calais and the French Complaint 18. Calais--Fight to the Finish 19. Lucky Breaks 20. Siege at Cassel 21. Surrounded at Le Paradis 22. Massacre at Le Paradis 23. Manhunt 24. Crisis in the North 25. Up the Glosters 26. Massacre at Wormhout 27. Escape to Dunkirk 28. The Dunkirk Armada 29. Beached 30. Entente Cordiale 31. Evacuation 32. Rearguard 33. Mission Accomplished 34. Payback 35. Sacrifice of the st Highland Division 36. The Sinking of the Lancastria Epilogue Maps Appendices Dramatis Personae Abbreviations Notes Bibliography and Sources Acknowledgements Index