KotiRyhmätKeskusteluLisääAjan henki
Etsi sivustolta
Tämä sivusto käyttää evästeitä palvelujen toimittamiseen, toiminnan parantamiseen, analytiikkaan ja (jos et ole kirjautunut sisään) mainostamiseen. Käyttämällä LibraryThingiä ilmaiset, että olet lukenut ja ymmärtänyt käyttöehdot ja yksityisyydensuojakäytännöt. Sivujen ja palveluiden käytön tulee olla näiden ehtojen ja käytäntöjen mukaista.

Tulokset Google Booksista

Pikkukuvaa napsauttamalla pääset Google Booksiin.

Ladataan...

Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man (2006)

Tekijä: Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

JäseniäKirja-arvostelujaSuosituimmuussijaKeskimääräinen arvioMaininnat
300686,936 (3.98)6
The rescue in May 1940 of British soldiers fleeing capture and defeat by the Nazis at Dunkirk was not just about what happened at sea and on the beaches. The evacuation would never have succeeded had it not been for the tenacity of the British soldiers who stayed behind to ensure they got away. Men like Sergeant Major Gus Jennings who died smothering a German stick bomb in the church at Esquelbecq in an effort to save his comrades, and Captain Marcus Ervine-Andrews VC who single-handedly held back a German attack on the Dunkirk perimeter thereby allowing the British line to form up behind him. Told to stand and fight to the last man, these brave few battalions fought in whatever manner they could to buy precious time for the evacuation. Outnumbered and outgunned, they launched spectacular and heroic attacks time and again, despite ferocious fighting and the knowledge that for many only capture or death would end their struggle.… (lisätietoja)
-
Ladataan...

Kirjaudu LibraryThingiin nähdäksesi, pidätkö tästä kirjasta vai et.

Ei tämänhetkisiä Keskustelu-viestiketjuja tästä kirjasta.

» Katso myös 6 mainintaa

englanti (5)  tanska (1)  Kaikki kielet (6)
Näyttää 1-5 (yhteensä 6) (seuraava | näytä kaikki)
Battle of Dunkirk
  kaki1 | Sep 12, 2021 |
A good history is immersive. It’s easy to sputter and choke as an immense wave of details washes over you, but if you are interested enough, engaged enough, you learn how to take it in—assimilate it—almost as if you have learned to breath underwater. DUNKIRK—FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN is impressively researched and annotated and certainly can swamp you with facts: names, dates, locations and landscapes, troop missions and movements, weaponry and the relative wisdom of those involved all swirl into a dense and vivid presentation. The history however is leavened with enough humanity, tales of bravery and stupidity, that you remember these facts work in service of a greater ambition. To show how history is propelled by a few people, carries many more with its passion but most people are just trying to get out of the way before it crushes them.

A good history also deflates myths. Prior to reading DUNKIRK-FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN, I could draw only the barest sketch of the events surrounding the massive WWII rescue operation. I was aware that a flotilla mixing personal and naval crafts ran stranded soldiers from a disintegrating wartime France back to England in just the nick of time. In my mind it was mostly civilian boats with the almost cartoonish image of the last English soldier escaping unscathed as the Germans run toward the docks shaking their heads and their fists. Rarely is history so clean. The first best way the author deals with this is by saving the actual evacuation for the end of the book. Instead, the evacuation looms in the back of your mind while you live through the early days of the war where the seeds were sewn for catastrophe. The frustration builds as the early political failings and arrogant military fumblings are exposed by the Nazi Blitzkrieg. Once the Germans finally attack, the narrative that spoke in days and hours drops down to an almost minute by minute recreation of events. What fascinated me most during this portion of the book was how it was not so much that the Blitzkrieg was unstoppable (and it may have been) but at how many junctures early in the war entire campaigns turned on the greatness or failings of a few people. And sometimes simple bad timing. This reminded me of the much more familiar territory of the D-Day landings. While history now lends the landings a gravitas of inevitability, success was far from assured. The luck that many German leaders, tanks and troops happened to be in the wrong place at the right time was just as important as the months of planning that went into the landings. Imagine this is true of most wars but likely underappreciated.

The human toll is horrific before the city of Dunkirk is even mentioned—already destroying any remaining romantic myths about this rescue. While the story remains both intriguing and devastating through to the last of the book, it is as we approach Dunkirk that the two major flaws pop up in the book. Early on it is teased that the Germans made a mistake by not addressing the city of Dunkirk earlier with sufficient force. Almost nothing is said after that about the German decision process leading to their not fully appreciating the military importance of Dunkirk. Many other parts of the book benefit from the German perspective and the minute by minute tale continued and I kept waiting, but this discussion never materialized—and it was largely why I read the book! The second flaw may be more personal to my curiosity but also early in the book, the involvement of the individual civilian boat owners was teased but during the actual recovery effort they were given short shrift.

All historians have agendas—at least authors certainly do—and I understand choices have to be made but I would have been happy with two paragraphs for flaw one and two or three more anecdotes for flaw two. I know that newly discovered information regarding the troops sacrificed and left behind so that as many other soldiers as possible could escape was a selling point for this particular take on Dunkirk, but I still felt a little cheated at the end. That being said, I highly recommend this un-sanitized take on Dunkirk for anyone who wants an in depth look at this story in particular or a greater understanding of the mechanics of warfare in general. ( )
  KurtWombat | Sep 15, 2019 |
A must read if you're interested in the period when the phoney war became real, but it has to be said it'd be uncomfortable reading for anyone related to the Belgian and French Generals of the time who are crucified by the author. Whilst there are criticisms of the British it has to be said that the author takes a somewhat jingoistic approach with the Brits generally being heroic to the last and the other allies being inept at best if not actually cowardly. How true a picture this is is difficult to judge, but some eminent historical writers are quoted fawning over the book on its cover, so maybe it isn't seen through quite the tinted spectacles as it sometimes seems to be.
The key conclusion to be drawn from this book, however, is that the German war machine was no all conquering unstoppable sledgehammer. Time and again the forces they were facing failed and failed miserably. Actually it might be that the Germans were actually all-powerful, but this book shows that evidence for that assertion cannot be drawn from the victories in The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. ( )
  expatscot | Nov 25, 2016 |
I believe I picked up this book after browsing someone's library on LibraryThing. This is why I am not supposed to browse. I majored in History in graduate school and the Holocaust and WWII are the topics I am obsessed with. It became quite clear early in the book that I didn't know much about the evacuation at Dunkirk. I knew of it as who doesn't but not about it.

It turns out unsurprisingly to have been horrific. Hugh Sebag-Montefiore takes a day by day, battalion (or brigade or company - I have a hell of a time with these military units) by battalion look at what occurred. Of the 665 pages of text 160 are notes and maps. The book covers the time period of May 14 to June 17, 1940. Obviously it is very detailed. Beginning with the British realization that they were going to need an evacuation plan as the Germans pushed into France and Belgium the tale picks up tension with every chapter. The French do not come off at all well in this book although Sebag-Montefiore gives credit where due to the the instances of French courage. Part of the problem with the French military was that they refused to believe the threat in the East and did not prepare. Far too many of their troops were untrained or poorly trained. If you have read much about war you might be able to understand their fear. Unfortunately the British government, despite Churchill's lone warnings, was not preparing for war either. They, however, had a much better discipline both in the military and at home once the war started.

The entire tale takes place in the north and northeast of France close to the Belgian border, which is where Dunkirk is. In ever smaller circles the British Expeditionary Force and the French attempted to forestall the Germans and guard the corridor to Dunkirk while funneling troops to that location. It sounds very simple but it was far from it. There were constant struggles between the British and French commanders in the field, between the BEF and the British government and between the governments of both countries. There were certain promises given when Britain and France allied themselves against Germany and the French were not happy to see the BEF depart. In many cases they either deliberately or cravenly kept British troops from getting to Dunkirk in time. For anyone who doesn't know this period in history, once France capitulated (which was a foregone conclusion early on) the British would be faced with a German attack on their shores. They needed to pull out as many men as they could to fight the Battle of Britain and to be able to continue the war alone. They also evacuated their troops from Norway.

The tales of heroism and horror are very explicit as are the tales of German treachery. One thing I was mistaken in was thinking the German military were not as bestial as the Nazi SS or concentration camp personnel. It appears they were almost all alike in this way. There are numerous accounts of reprisals taken out on innocent civilians after allied troops pulled back. British prisoners in several cases were summarily executed, burned alive, and horribly mistreated. This is not beach reading. Despite the heartbreaking stories this is a very interesting book. While there are many dates, place names, and personnel to keep track of it is surprisingly easy to do so. And in the end tens of thousands of British and French soldiers lived to fight another day.

I happen to be a wholehearted fan of Churchill. I believe there has never been a world leader as admirable as he. He plays a small role in the background of this book but his reputation remains intact. If you are one of the many who finds history dull, as it usually is in school, this book would change your mind. ( )
  candyschultz | Feb 4, 2009 |
I slutningen af maj 1940 afskar Hitlers blitzkrig en halv million allierede soldater mod kysten ved Dunkirk. Tusinder af store og små fartøjer blev mobiliseret, og den vellykkede evakuering til England blev en del af krigens store epos. Bogen omfatter foruden den dramatiske evakuering også baggrunden for slaget om Frankrig i 1940 fra briternes ankomst november 1939, de hårde kampe efter tyskernes offensiv gennem Belgien og Holland til gennembruddet af fronten mod syd, som afskar briterne fra den franske hovedstyrke. Bogen er skrevet i vekselvirkning mellem en lang række øjenvidneskildringer og udbyggende baggrundsstof om strategi og politik suppleret med en række detaljerede kort til orientering i begivenheder, episoder og slag. Balancen mellem de mange kildeuddrag og øjenvidneskildring i frøperspektiv kontra det lidt knappe forklarende rammestof er dog i store dele af bogen ikke optimal, hvilket ofte bringer forvirring mht. hvor og hvornår og i lange passager får bogen til at virke ustruktureret mht. til det samlede strategiske overblik. Drama er der dog ingen mangel på fx Lancastrias forlis, der kostede 3500 livet. I bearbejdelsen skinner forlæggets sprog og ordvalg ofte igennem. ( )
  kresten | Nov 30, 2008 |
Näyttää 1-5 (yhteensä 6) (seuraava | näytä kaikki)
This came back to me with particular force as I turned the pages of “Dunkirk,” Hugh Sebag-Montefiore’s first-rate panoramic history, and highly affecting worm’s-eye account, of Britain’s absolutely all-time favorite disaster. Has there ever been a more obviously foredoomed military escapade (for once one can employ the word accurately) than the dispatch, for the second time in a quarter-century, of a British Expeditionary Force to defend Belgium and France from German expansionism? The name given to the army was suggestive of the tentative and the improvised, as if its very presence on the European mainland was something rather out-of-the-way and short-term. As indeed it proved to be: the chief historic achievement of the B.E.F. was to have got itself home again, if not quite in one piece. Sebag-Montefiore, the author of “Enigma: The Battle for the Code,” helps amplify and redeem the sad story, though, by telling us of those who followed the terse order that is contained in his subtitle, and who thereby made that great escape possible.
lisäsi simon_carr | muokkaaNew York Times, Christopher Hitchens (Jan 21, 2007)
 
Sebag-Montefiore's level of detail, knowledge and compassion shows that, for readable wartime history, you can't just leave it to Holmes and Beevor.
 
The story of Dunkirk has been told many times. Following his success with Enigma, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore has chosen to highlight not the whole of the 1940 campaign, nor the details of the evacuation itself, but to focus on those British army units that held the line so that more than 300,000 Allied troops could be saved. They did not fight alone, for many French units were trapped alongside them.
 
Sinun täytyy kirjautua sisään voidaksesi muokata Yhteistä tietoa
Katso lisäohjeita Common Knowledge -sivuilta (englanniksi).
Teoksen kanoninen nimi
Alkuteoksen nimi
Teoksen muut nimet
Alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi
Henkilöt/hahmot
Tärkeät paikat
Tiedot englanninkielisestä Yhteisestä tiedosta. Muokkaa kotoistaaksesi se omalle kielellesi.
Tärkeät tapahtumat
Tiedot englanninkielisestä Yhteisestä tiedosta. Muokkaa kotoistaaksesi se omalle kielellesi.
Kirjaan liittyvät elokuvat
Epigrafi (motto tai mietelause kirjan alussa)
Omistuskirjoitus
Ensimmäiset sanat
Sitaatit
Viimeiset sanat
Erotteluhuomautus
Julkaisutoimittajat
Kirjan kehujat
Alkuteoksen kieli
Kanoninen DDC/MDS
Kanoninen LCC
The rescue in May 1940 of British soldiers fleeing capture and defeat by the Nazis at Dunkirk was not just about what happened at sea and on the beaches. The evacuation would never have succeeded had it not been for the tenacity of the British soldiers who stayed behind to ensure they got away. Men like Sergeant Major Gus Jennings who died smothering a German stick bomb in the church at Esquelbecq in an effort to save his comrades, and Captain Marcus Ervine-Andrews VC who single-handedly held back a German attack on the Dunkirk perimeter thereby allowing the British line to form up behind him. Told to stand and fight to the last man, these brave few battalions fought in whatever manner they could to buy precious time for the evacuation. Outnumbered and outgunned, they launched spectacular and heroic attacks time and again, despite ferocious fighting and the knowledge that for many only capture or death would end their struggle.

Kirjastojen kuvailuja ei löytynyt.

Kirjan kuvailu
Yhteenveto haiku-muodossa

LibraryThing-kirjailija

Hugh Sebag-Montefiore on LibraryThing-kirjailija, kirjailija, jonka henkilökohtainen kirjasto on LibraryThingissä.

profiilisivu | kirjailijasivu

Current Discussions

-

Suosituimmat kansikuvat

Pikalinkit

Arvio (tähdet)

Keskiarvo: (3.98)
0.5
1
1.5
2 3
2.5
3 3
3.5 2
4 15
4.5 1
5 9

Penguin Australia

Penguin Australia on julkaissut painoksen tästä kirjasta.

» Kustantajan sivusto

 

Lisätietoja | Ota yhteyttä | LibraryThing.com | Yksityisyyden suoja / Käyttöehdot | Apua/FAQ | Blogi | Kauppa | APIs | TinyCat | Perintökirjastot | Varhaiset kirja-arvostelijat | Yleistieto | 203,231,711 kirjaa! | Yläpalkki: Aina näkyvissä