Dünkirchen 1940

The German View of Dunkirk

By: Robert Kershaw

Narrated by: Richard Trinder

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

Finally, Dunkirk makes sense!

I was pretty ambivalent about getting this book... we all know all about the odd Halt Order and British evacuation, right? Well fine, I'll give it a try.

Oh wow! This book was SO MUCH MORE than I had ever expected!

Regarding Hitler's baffling halt order and "well, I'll let the British escape on purpose" odd behavior. The author said the halt order was only for one day out of the nine, and the baffling behavior is because we only view it in hindsight, and from the British point of view. I don't want to give spoilers so I'll just say that the author clearly explains the German point of view and how they had "one or two other things to think about" at the time. Ohhh... good point!

Most other German WWII books end with Berlin 1945 and the Germans being continually beaten back. But this book is set in 1940, which presents a completely different "Hey we're successful at anything we do" German army. It's a fascinating juxtaposition to the later war years.

Talking of which... the SS? Yep, a bunch of amateur street-fighters who don't really have military training, at this point. Hey, what? Again, a fascinating alternate view of what we take for granted.

The author has many excellent British turns of phrase, which really add life to the story, and the British narrator presents them perfectly, which enhances their effect. (Though they come across as a bit odd when used to convey what the Germans say).

I love the "easter eggs" that the author plants, without explaining them... such as references to Bastogne, St.Vith, Malmedy and "The sea! The sea!" when the Germans reach the Channel. I wonder how many others I missed but you will catch?

The narrator is outstanding and was a perfect choice for this story (unlike anything narrated by Bruce Mann, I'm just saying). Interestingly, he refers to the Heinkel Three. The what? Oh... right. Oh wow, so he knows almost nothing about WWII and still gives excellent narration? Wow, I'm even more impressed. Amusingly, he later narrates "Me 109... Me 110..." and you can just imagine him going "Heinkel Thr... wait a moment... 109, 110, oh! 111! Oh my. Well, maybe no one noticed..." from this point on, he refers to the Heinkel one-one-one (he wouldn't know to say one-eleven), but it's a pretty smooth transition!

So anyway, listen to this book. The Germans' behavior at Dunkirk finally makes sense!

Awesome great job on the Germany view of dunkirk

An awesome history of the German view of the history of Dunkirk I recommend it to everyone who travels to the area