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 organising the operation. This is the true story of Dunkirk from its almost nebulous beginnings to the astonishing triumph of its end. 'Dunkirk tells the sublime story of an evacuation such as the world had never seen and is never likely to see again, and Divine tells it the only way such a story could be told, by collating in a single volume all the first-hand material available.You have to get hold of the book and read it for yourself.' Compton Mackenzie, The Evening News 'An authoritative, fully-documented, full-length record. The Illustrated London News (The Evening News) A.D. 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 organising 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.