Twenty Five Days : the Rescue of the Bef, Dunkirk 10 May-3rd June 1940 - Hardcover

Masefield, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1844150372 ISBN 13: 9781844150373

Publisher: Leo Cooper Ltd, 2003

Synopsis

Shortly after the miraculous rescue of the bulk of the British Expeditionary Force in late May/early June 1940, the Poet Laureate John Masefield wrote his impressions of the extraordinary events of the 25 days between 10 May and 3 June. Intriguingly his book was suppressed at the highest level and only a sanitised version was published. Here for the first time is his full account.

About this title

About the Author

John Masefield (1878-1967) is in the highest class as a writer of clear, muscular English, whether he is writing about the countryside he loved so well, or, as in this book, the sea, with which he maintained that love-hate relationship which is the hallmark of the genuine seaman, ' writes Professor Lloyd. Brought up in Herefordshire and soon orphaned, Masefield was trained on the Conway at Liverpool, served his apprenticeship in windjammers, sailed around the Horn and was beached in New York before he was eighteen. His experiences in these impressionable years stayed with him for the rest of his life. Back in England at the turn of the century, Masefield worked for the Manchester Guardian and published two books of verse (one which contained 'Sea Fever') and a collection of short stories before Sea Life in Nelson's Time was published in 1905. He became famous in 1911 with the publication of Everlasting Mercy, when the use of the word 'bloody' created a sensation. Reynard the Fox, published in 1919, consolidated his position. In 1930 he was appointed Poet Laureate and other honours followed, notably the Order of Merit in 1935.

Synopsis

Although a chronicle by British poet laureate Masefield of the joint World War II British-French military "Dynamo" campaign appeared in 1972 based on a 1940 proof, this reprint is based on his 1941 version that he had intended for publication. British historian Jon Cooksey explains why Churchill's government suppressed this account of the May-June

Edition details

• Publisher: Leo Cooper Ltd
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1844150372
• ISBN 13: 9781844150373
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224