Résumé
“A gripping new history of the British naval raid in April 1918 on the German-held Belgian port of that name” (Chronicles).
The combined-forces invasion of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on April 23, 1918, remains one of the most dramatic stories of the First World War, and in this book, it’s recounted in vivid detail. A force drawn from Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Marines set out on ships and submarines to try to block the key strategic port in a bold attempt to stem the catastrophic losses being inflicted on British shipping by German submarines. It meant attacking a heavily fortified German naval base. The tide, calm weather, and the right wind direction for a smoke screen were crucial to the plan.
Judged purely on results, it can only be considered a partial strategic success. Casualties were high and the base only partially blocked. Nonetheless, it came to represent the embodiment of the bulldog spirit, the peculiarly British fighting élan—the belief that anything was possible with enough dash and daring.
The essential story of the Zeebrugge mission has been told before, but never through the direct, firsthand accounts of its survivors—including that of Lt. Richard Sandford, VC, the acknowledged hero of the day and the author’s great uncle. The fire and bloodshed of the occasion is the book’s centerpiece—but there is also room for the family and private lives of the men who volunteered in the hundreds for what they knew to be, effectively, a suicide mission.
Christopher Sandford is a successful author and journalist. His highly acclaimed books include The Final Over (2014), and the New York Times bestseller Masters of Mystery: The Strange Friendship of Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini (2015). He has worked as a film and music writer and reviewer for over 20 years, and frequently contributes to newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. He divides his time between Seattle and London.
Détails produit : livre relié, neuf, grand format, en anglais, quelques photos.
