Dunkirk

Read the book that inspired Christopher Nolan's epic film

This is the story of Dunkirk and of the men who planned it (insofar as it was planned) and of the men who carried it out, and of their ships. Mr Divine, who was himself with the small boats, writes with the authority of direct knowledge. He had the assistance of the men who were intimately concerned with planning and organizing the operation.

This is the true story of Dunkirk from its almost nebulous beginnings to the astonishing triumph of its end.

During the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in 1940, A. D. Divine crossed the English Channel three times in a 35-foot boat to rescue trapped British soldiers. For his efforts, Divine was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. Divine wrote the screenplay for the feature film Dunkirk (1958) and was the likely inspiration for central character Charles Foreman (Bernard Lee), skipper of the motorboat Vanity.