The Battle of France, Six Weeks Which Changed the World, Warner, Philip. Published by Simon & Schuster London 1990. First Edition. 8vo. up to 9½” tall. 275 pages Including appendix, bibliography and index. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs and maps. Blue cloth boards with gilt spine titles. Light edge toning and otherwise volume in mint condition; jacket is clipped and otherwise fine.
Philip Warner clarifies and personalizes this crucial period of the war, drawing on personal accounts of ordinary people who knew what was happening around them and of those, in authority, who often did not. He discusses the events that characterize this period – how the Allies captured and ignored the detailed plans for the invasion of Belgium and Holland – while the Germans decisively changed their strategy – how the German command halted Guderian’s tanks on two occasions because they could not believe their success – unwittingly assisting in the evacuation of Dunkirk; and how the British planned a re-invasion of France in the midst of their troops withdrawal. Ultimately, this is a story of the courage of ill-equipped and under-trained British forces and the unsung contribution of parts of the French forces.
