The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord

Review by Elleanore Vance

"Dunkirk", the Christopher Nolan film, was a favorite almost as soon as I saw it. Something about it just stuck with me over the following days. I am a history nerd, but WWII, especially the European Theater, hasn't been a period of interest for me for a very long time (it's bad for my mental health, mmmmkay?) I knew nothing about what was going on, and that made me curious. That curiosity drove me to pick up this book.

Lord quickly gives us enough detail to tell us where we are and how we got there (It's a whirlwind) before he details the plan to get out. In a time when the British Royal Navy are envied the world over, it is actually the flotilla of privately owned small ships who save the day. We are talking about a dire event with the best projected hopes were saving 45,000 soldiers. 

The miracle, is that over 300,000 were evacuated, all allies: French and British. This occurred over 8 days in 1940 from May 27 to June 4, and is credited with preserving the main bodies of the allied armies.

Walter Lord's book gives us a series of connexted snapshots that serve to give us a nice overview of the events. Once I got my feet under me and knew where I was headed, I sailed right through. My only complaint is that i wanted more of the book to be about the flotilla. The Tiny Ships were what drew me to the book, but they only get about 35% of the overall narrative.  

4/5⭐⭐⭐⭐

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