In this compelling new study of the disastrous 1940 campaign in France and Flanders, Matthew Richardson reconstructs in vivid detail the British army's defeat as it was experienced by the soldiers of a single battalion, the 2nd/5th Leicesters. These men typified the ill-equipped, under-trained British battalions that faced the blitzkrieg and the might of Hitler's legions. They were thrown into a series of desperate, one-sided engagements that resulted in a humiliating retreat, then evacuation from Dunkirk. This is their story. AUTHOR: Matthew Richardson is curator of social history at Manx National Heritage and was formerly assistant keeper of the Liddle Collection at the University of Leeds. He has a long-term interest in military history and research, focusing in particular on the First and Second World Wars and on the history of the Leicestershire Regiment. SELLING POINTS: ? The Dunkirk evacuation as it was experienced by the soldiers of a single British battalion ? Follows the battalion through the entire 1940 campaign in France and Flanders ? Telling insight into the British army on the outbreak of the Second World War ? Important contribution to the history of the Leicestershire Regiment ILLUSTRATIONS 50 photos *
