Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk: Defeat Into Victory

by Michael Korda

In an absorbing work peopled with world leaders, generals, and ordinary citizens who fought on both sides of World War II, Alone brings to resounding life perhaps the most critical year of twentieth-century history. For, indeed, May 1940 was a month like no other, as the German war machine blazed into France while the supposedly impregnable Maginot Line crumbled, and Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister in an astonishing political drama as Britain, isolated and alone, faced a triumphant Nazi Germany.

Against this vast historical canvas, Michael Korda relates what happened and why, and also tells his own story, that of a six-year-old boy in a glamorous movie family who would himself be evacuated. Alone is a work that seamlessly weaves a family memoir into an unforgettable account of a political and military disaster redeemed by the evacuation of more than 300,000 men in four days―surely one of the most heroic episodes of the war.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Military Fiction, Audiobook, Biography

544 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2017

About the author

is an English-born writer and novelist who was editor-in-Chief of Simon & Schuster in New York City.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Keeten · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Side by side...the British and French people have advanced to rescue not Europe only but mankind from the foulest and most soul-destroying tyranny which has ever darkened and stained the pages of history. Behind them gather a group of shattered states and bludgeoned races, the Czechs, the Poles, the Norwegians, the Danes, the Dutch, the Belgians--upon all of whom the long night of barbarism will descend unbroken by even a star of hope, unless we conquer--as conquer we must--as conquer we shall.”

----Winston Churchill


Winston Churchill addressing the nation, nay the world, he was trying to save.

If you ever feel the need to be inspired about humanity again, take the time to read or listen to the wartime speeches of Winston Churchill. He was not only a gifted writer, but a brilliant orator. He could move even his most ardent enemies to tears. I can’t imagine the world would be the place it is today if Churchill had not become Prime Minister of Great Britain at one of the most critical eras in the history of the World. There were many moments, especially during the early part of the war, when he took the fears of his whole nation on his back and molded that fear into an unshakeable resolve.

”We shall fight on beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender and if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and liberation of the Old.”

----Winston Churchill

Michael Korda was a young boy of privilege during WW2. The actress Merle Oberon was his aunt. The great director and producer Alexander Korda was his uncle. His father was an art director in the movies, and his mother was an actress. When the war started coming to the shores of England, the Kordas were in America making movies, like That Hamilton Woman (1941), as propaganda films to raise morale in England. There is no better way to bring a tear to the eye of an Englishman than to evoke the name of Horatio Nelson. The movie, which stars Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, is actually really good, so do watch it if you get a chance. Korda’s mother always felt guilty that they did not suffer in London with the rest of their friends, as if avoiding the pain and danger was somehow shirking the duty of her heritage.

A few years ago, I read this diary of a German soldier, and he wrote about how the Germans had such a hard time catching up with the French because they were fleeing like rabbits in front of them, but they knew instantly when they hit the British line. They weren’t running. They were there to fight. The blitzkrieg was blowing through countries within days that should have taken months. The French had one of the largest standing armies in the world, and the Germans were going through it like tinfoil. ”It was not for lack of brave officers and soldiers that the French Army was collapsing; it was more because of the fatal strategic misjudgment, paralysis of will, helpless pessimism, and political intrigue at the top, combined with certain areas in which the French armed forces were poorly equipped for a modern war, especially an inadequate and obsolete air force.” There was the lure of Paris, a mere 30 miles in their rear where their beautiful girlfriends/wives, good food, and bottles of wine were waiting for them. Korda commented that the French soldiers also felt like they were doing all the dying for the British. This bothers me given the fact that these French soldiers were defending their own soil. If that was their attitude, I can see why morale was an issue.


I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been to see a division of Panzer tanks coming down the hill towards me.

There were opportunities. The German tank blitzkrieg was running so far ahead of the German foot soldiers that some organization on the part of the French could have punched holes in the German line and cut the tanks off from their support and inflicted some defeats on an army that was starting to feel unbeatable. When I watch football and the defense is blitzing the quarterback, I always think about the opportunities that overcommitment from the defense has for a steely nerved quarterback who can hang in the pocket long enough to find those open receivers. The French needed that one guy who could provide the leadership to achieve victory out of defeat.

Meanwhile, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were doing all they could to slow the Germans long enough to find a way back to England. No one had expected the French army to be crushed so easily. As the BEF slowly compressed backwards onto the beaches of Dunkirk, the situation was dire; in fact, if the Germans managed to capture the British Army, the war would most certainly be over. The appeasers in the British government would gain the power to negotiate a peace settlement, which would have been dire for France, but would have most certainly gutted the British of their pride and joy...the navy. Hitler would have wanted that glittering array of ships.

Who would have stood in the way of Adolf Hitler?

The title of this book is apt…Alone; that is the situation that Britain found herself in, with the flower of her army trapped on a beach a mere thirty miles from the white cliffs of Dover.

If you haven’t seen Dunkirk (2017) directed by Christopher Nolan, please do so. There are scenes in that movie that are going to haunt me for the rest of my life. It is simply brilliant. The quiet, the building tension, the desperation, and the moments of true heroics are just so splendidly balanced to leave the viewer completely emotionally wrung out by the ending credits.

I’ve always been emotional about Dunkirk because I feel it is quite possibly the grandest moment in world history. When the call is made to the British civilians to go get their boys off the beaches of Dunkirk, 850 crafts, a flotilla of shallow draft boats that could reach the beach, were launched.

Everything that floats.

I can only image what it must have looked like to see those tiny boats appearing on the horizon. They must have looked so fragile bobbing out on that big ocean. They helped save 198,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French soldiers.


The Little Boats of Dunkirk.

Korda will take you through it all, step by step. You will experience Churchill’s battles in Parliament and the rearguard action of those who slowed the German advance to give the men on Dunkirk beach a chance. The book is loaded with photographs, sprinkled throughout the text the way I like them best. Korda will also show you the important, baffling moment when Adolf Hitler... blinks... that allows Britain the slenderest of hopes of fighting on. They had to hold on until the New World could once again come and save the Old World.

If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
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[Jill H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book about the Great Rescue of Dunkirk doesn't necessarily add anything new for those of us who have read several books on this subject, Korda's style makes it all seem new again. This is a two layered story.......one about Dunkirk coupled with a partial autobiography about Korda's family during this very tense time in Britain. The author's father and uncles, Hungarian by birth, were in the top echelon of the film industry and were friends with the Churchill government which added a bit of color to their lives and to the book.

Lots of pictures of everyone from Rommel to Merle Oberon (the author's aunt by marriage) and maps of the movement of the German army as they slowly caught the BEF and French armies in a pincer movement which forced them to retreat until the sea was at their back. Over a million soldiers were trapped on the beaches under constant fire from German troops and the Luftwaffe. How to save the BEF was probably one of the hardest decisions that had to be made by the British and their solution was, to say the least, unusual.........the use of the "little boats", everything from ferries to privately owned yachts were gathered at Dover from all over the island and, accompanied by a limited number military ships, they set out for Dunkirk to rescue the trapped troops. It certainly sounded like an impossible task but instead turned a disaster into a victory. The author includes many personal stories of the rescuers/survivors which may be one of the reasons that the story is so appealing. There is even a connection with the ill-fated Titanic!

I highly recommend this book, even if you have made a study of the Dunkirk experience. Fascinating.

[Sean Smart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the Dunkirk story and the fall of France in 1940 and very well illustrated but I found some errors and was not too impressed perhaps because it was written with an American audience in mind.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much has been written about Churchill. Historians and authors are challenged to present information differently. Recently there have been several books published about Churchill.

Michael Korda combines military history and memoirs in a unique manner to tell of the beginning of World War Two, the fall of France and the miracle of Dunkirk. Korda has stories within stories of tragedies and heroic acts. Korda states the French Army collapsed because of fatal strategic misjudgments, paralysis of will, helpless pessimism, political intrigue and lack of leadership. The author reminds us that the British had a courageous, canny, inspirational leader in Winston S. Churchill.

The book is well written and researched. This is definitely a British story. I enjoyed that the author included his family’s story into the mix of civilian stories. The story’s main thrust is of the British Expeditionary Forces retreating from the Nazi Blitzkrieg that leveled Belgium then turned toward Paris. Korda focused on the key players of Chamberlain, Churchill, Hitler and Admiral Bertram Ramsey. If you are interested in Churchill or World War II, you will enjoy this book.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is thirteen hours long. John Lee does an excellent job narrating the book. John Lee is one of my favorite narrators. Lee has won multiple Earphone Awards. In 2009 he won the Golden Voice Award and he has won a number of Audies in different genre over the years.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book that I have read by Michael Korda. He is a fine writer who adds just enough youthful reminiscences to make it interesting. Korda discusses the period leading up to September, 1939, the Phoney War, and then the debacle of Germany's attacks on Norway, the Low Countries and finally on France. It is this attack on France which ends with the 'Miracle of Dunkirk' that is the focus of the book since it results in Britain being 'alone' for a fateful year.

Korda relates the efforts of the British to aid the French until it is obvious that Britain's survival depended on saving as much of the BEF as possible. They also saved over 100,000 French soldiers as well. Needless to say, there were harsh feelings by many French that the British didn't 'fight to the end', however unrealistic that might have been.

Those must have been terrifying days for the world. One small island against darkness. Those enslaved in Europe could only pray that Britain would remain a glimmer of hope for all.

[Ozymandias · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was interested in this book because it seemed to promise an account of a relatively unexplored aspect of World War 2: the activities of Britain during the time it alone was resisting the Nazis. It quickly became clear that this was not quite the intent of the book. Rather, it was a personal memoir about the author’s childhood mixed with an account of the start of the war up to the evacuation of Dunkirk.

It would be unfair to judge a book harshly because it does not cover the material I’d want it to, but I feel the confusion stemming from the title reflects deeper issues with the book. What is the book’s theme? It’s not Britain “alone” since The United Kingdom is allied with France for the entirety of the book. It would be closer to say that the theme was Britain coming to terms with the fact that it would inevitably have to conduct the war on its own, but this awareness really only shows up at the end. Most of the book is a basic narrative of the Battle for France. If this was the intended focus, then why does the book stop at Dunkirk and not the surrender of France? And why does the final chapter try so hard to capture “the national mood” as if this was the main purpose of the story? If this book is meant to show the effect this catastrophe had on the English then why doesn’t the homefront get any attention outside of the goings-on in Parliament and Downing Street? Honestly, this book feels like a collection of stories thrown together with no real thought to how they interconnect or relate to each other.

As I understood it, the personal memoir seemed to be the main hook, but as Korda was all of seven when this was going down his personal observations offer little of value or interest. His family’s reactions are only dealt with on perhaps twenty of the book’s more than 500 pages and invariably get awkwardly inserted into the bigger picture. He clearly had only the vaguest idea what was going on and what his fellow countrymen were thinking. What’s more, his father (a successful Hollywood artist from Hungary) and mother (a famous British stage actress) were rather isolated from British society themselves and in fact took themselves to America shortly after the book ends. In other words, the personal connection is of the most tenuous sort.

So it’s fair to say I found this book quite underwhelming. There are many better accounts of the opening year of the war out there. Shirer’s caustic The Collapse of the Third Republic remains a classic, although somewhat outdated. Ernest May’s iconoclastic Strange Victory is said to be excellent. Or seek out a general history of World War II, such as the ones by Martin Gilbert and John Keegan. For the English homefront there’s Juliet Gardiner’s excellent Wartime Britain, 1939-1945. All of these books know what story they want to tell and what subjects they want to cover.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a ton (literally) of good Churchill biographies. The problem is that his life was so enormously full and important, traditional biographies must necessarily give single events or small time periods within his life briefer treatment than they deserve. The crowded events of May 1940 and Dunkirk are among those. Thankfully, two recent movies (Dunkirk and The Darkest Hour) have brought deeper public attention and interest to that critical time. “Alone,” by Michael Korda, does an excellent job of providing the deeper story, including detail around the build-up, actual events and strategic implications of the Dunkirk evacuation.

The book is comprehensive but still very readable. It flows steadily and keeps the reader engaged. Like any good history, Alone blends the big-picture with individual human stories -- from homes in England and battlefields in Holland and Belgium, to a massively complicated evacuation of over 300,000 soldiers from a beach in France. Yet for all of it, the one theme that can’t help but emerge from the book is the singular courage of Winston Churchill. A truly amazing human yet not without his fair-share of human flaws and contradictions. Churchill himself wrote that courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others. Thank goodness for Churchill’s courage, for the world even today would look much different without it. Alone tells that story well.

[Blaine Welgraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

“For the first time it was clear to those who listened to Churchill’s speech—and the whole country listened carefully—that all of the easy presumptions that had shored up appeasement, among them belief in the French Army, the legendary strength of the Maginot Line, the fighting qualities of the BEF, above all the hope that a deal of some kind might be made with Hitler at the last moment, were all swept away by his stark realism, and by the fact, now suddenly clear, that across the Channel a huge, historic battle was being fought—and would very likely be lost." - Michael Korda, Alone

Korda's writing is clear and crisp, summarizing highly complex military, political, and social elements in a narrative that manages to perfectly balance the personal and historical. Korda's narrative is also distinctive, for three separate reasons:

1. Korda represents a rapidly dwindling number of British citizens who lived through Dunkirk, the Blitz, and World War II. Alone shines when Korda combines his meticulous research and incredible narrative with personal recollections (e.g.,"On this day, I was here with this person at his boat dock when the NCO arrived to 'inspect' his 15 foot yacht"). Korda doesn't overdo these personal moments; rather, he manages to find a perfect narrative rhythm, inserting his story into history at precisely timed instances, thus leaving the reader with a richer, more intimate picture of that long ago world.

2. Korda's autobiographical notes frequently move past mere personal reflection to elucidate oft forgotten social realities. Britain, as painted through Korda's eyes, was still a deeply class-conscious society, and remained riddled with stark political differences to boot. Korda carefully but clearly removes some of the "romance" from Dunkirk, by using his personal memories to remind the reader of these political and social realities. No where is this tendency better illustrated than when Korda discusses Operation Pied Piper, the attempt by the British government to move millions of school children out of London to the English countryside. Korda describes "being moved about" between the homes of relatives, all in a sincere attempt to keep him from being sent countryside, and delves into the deep unpopularity of Pied Piper, which managed to upset both the urban families forcibly losing their children - and the rural families forced to receive them. These moments - where Korda uses the personal to illustrate the social - really make Alone stand apart.

3. Korda was - and is - the direct descendant of film royalty - the famous Korda brothers Zoltan and Alexander were his uncles, and his father was award-winning set-director Vincent Korda. I completed my Master's thesis in 2011, and chose to write as my subject the development of World War II filmography from 1941-1945, a study which included Zoltan Korda's Sahara. All this to say, I found it fascinating to learn more about the Korda brothers' fears, concerns, and continued efforts to move their various film projects forward, even as the British film industry essentially crashed down around them (they would ultimately move to California, allowing such film projects as That Hamilton Woman to continue).

The above items lift Korda's Alone above most other narratives I've read, providing it with a uniqueness, complexity, and heart that is all its own. There are other more detailed accounts of the individual battles or engagements that led to Dunkirk, and even Dunkirk itself, but there are none I’ve encountered that quite capture this book's scope and soul. We won't have the Korda's of the world with us much longer - and ultimately that's a critical function of all good history - to remember what we’ve lost, and to understand what we’ve had.

Deeply intimate, carefully historical, and beautifully written, Alone may do for you what it did for me - an immediate revisit of Nolan's 2017 film on Dunkirk. Truth be told, when I read Korda's chapter on "The Little Ships of Dunkirk," I literally turned on Zimmer's score for Nolan's film.

Perhaps you will as well.

[Brad Lyerla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not forgiven Michael Korda for his two truly awful books that purported to teach weak-minded people how to acquire “power” in personal relationships. He penned those in the 1970s. Back then, a roommate of mine read one of them and was transformed into a plotting and manipulative human being for a time. Shame on Mr. Korda.

But I must say that I enjoyed his recent book, entitled ALONE, very much. It tells the story of the first year of the British war with Hitler and of Winston Churchill’s brilliance during that crucial time when Great Britain stood alone. ALONE is also partly a personal remembrance of Mr. Korda’s who was a child in London during that time.

I cannot say that have I learned much that is new to me from reading ALONE. But it is an extremely engaging and well written book. ALONE is reassuring in reminding readers that courage and resolution do make a difference in standing up to bullies and tyrants in the world. Korda does an excellent job in comforting someone like me in that regard.

I recommend ALONE for those reasons. But I suggest that William Shirer’s THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH and volume 3 of William Mansfield’s THE LAST LION are even better books if one wants to acquire a deeper understanding of the history of this period of time in Western Europe.

[Katherine Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely the backstage-gossip history of Dunkirk. Korda is focused on the individuals who were making decisions and he writes about them as if he knew them all personally. He also writes about his own experiences as a small boy in a very wealthy and powerful family (his uncle DID know Churchill personally). He is a very vivid writer and an excellent storyteller, and it's a cliche to say he makes the story of Dunkirk "come alive," but because he's relying wherever possible on someone's first-hand account, HIS account has a great deal of immediacy. This is a very engaging read.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judging by most World War 2 histories, the war only heats up once Hitler's rapid takeover of northern and western Europe is accomplished in the spring of 1940, and England is left facing a continent controlled by two execrable men and Mussolini. The fall of the low countries and the fighting retreat of the Allied army happen so quickly that they're dispatched almost as a prologue to the greater drama. Alone takes that prologue as its subject, opening at Munich and moving quickly to the invasion of Poland and the state of war which followed. Readers witness stiff desire not to fight again quickly replaced by a mixture of chivalrous indignation and less chivalrous resignation, as England again dispatches her army to Europe to check the German advance, standing alongside the even more resigned French. Here too are chronicled the desperate struggles by the Dutch and Belgian armies, who though colossally outmatched, refuse to yield . The finish, of course, is the great drama of Dunkirk, where the men of the British expeditionary force are surrounded by the German advance, but escape to safety by means of a fleet of civilian ships, a brilliant of example of England expecting every man to do his duty -- even men out of uniform. Korda notes that the triumphant escape of Dunkirk sometimes overshadows the sheer awfulness of getting there and enduring it: some regiments lost as many as two-thirds of their men, and the beach itself was a spectacle from Dante, filled with burning debris, scattered bodies, and the stench of both. Alone is a personal history as well, as a very young Michael Korda was just old enough to realize something bad was happening; the Korda family's involvement in British and later American film industry adds an interesting flair to a more familiar subject. Korda strikes a good balance between narrative and detail, and includes a generous amount of in-text illustrations of personalities and movements.

Related:
With Wings Like Eagles: The Battle of Britain, Michael Korda. This was my favorite history read of 2011.
The Miracle of Dunkirk, Walter Lord

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A smoothly written and easy to read book about the political climate and personalities in the 1930's leading into World War II and ending with the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk prior to the French surrender to the Germans. A good, popular history that presents no great surprises or new insight. I thought the best sections were the ones dealing with individual relationships in the backroom political life; and the all too infrequent stories related to the author's own family's place in the story. In fact, I really think the author wrote the wrong book. What would have been much more interesting, and which has not been much covered, would have been the story on how three Central European brothers established themselves in a still very class bound country. And not only established themselves, but became powerful in their own right, with connections in all the right places both in England and the United States.

[Miki · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Alone was a great introduction to the personalities that were at play in the 1930's before the onslaught of World War II. I really enjoyed this, although it did take me and extremely long time to finish.

I just feel that I couldn't quite get into it and got easily frustrated with it. Not due to the writing, the writing to me felt like I was reading a novel and not a history book. So it was entertaining, but the thing that frustrated me was that the parts where he brought in his family they just didn't bring me in.

I got bored frequently when Korda brought up his family and what they were doing at the time. It felt like that information belonged in a different book. Overall the historical part of the book, from the battle plans, to the leaders who were given tasks and took charge and everything in-between was a great and enjoyable read about a time where it looked like the enemy was going to win.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent--a must read for anyone interested in the subject. Great combination of a compelling personal family biography and the amazing true story of Britain standing alone following the fall of Holland and Belgium and the shocking collapse of the Maginot Line in France. As German troops blaze through France, Neville Chamberlain's government teeters, and tens of thousands of British troops retreat to the sea, prelude to mass slaughter and a likely German victory. Yes, another version of the familiar tale of Churchill coming to the rescue--but Korda tells it with a generosity of spirit and honesty, with an understanding of Chamberlain's striving for peace and France's horrifying underestimation of the German threat. Compelling and thrilling.

[Ted Haussman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating non-fiction mashup of the story of Dunkirk (and the collapse of the Allies in May 1940) and a memoir of a 7 year old child at the time who interweaves his family’s tale with that of the overall war going on. Blended in are some seriously hilarious anecdotes, which helped offset what was a somber tale, but then a defeat that became the impetus of the ultimate victory in WWII. The insider stories of the politics at the time are fascinating and he does a nice job portraying Churchill, a really fascinating figure in his own right.

[Jim D · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant history ofa period of WW II that is both gripping and eminently readable. I learned much about Dunkirk, Churchill, the fall of France, and Operation Pied Piper, the forced evacuation of British children from their homes in the cities. The book is a welcome addition to any WW II bookshelf and brings personal perspectives to the political and social situation in the thirties and forties. An incredible story that fills a niche that few could have told as well.

[Tanner Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is both a history and memoir. It's good, but there is little else here other than a personalized perspective on an incredibly famous period of an incredibly famous era. I didn't encounter anything new in this narrative aside from the author's own recollections. If you're unfamiliar with the fall of France, evacuation at Dunkirk, and rise of Churchill, this is a passable introduction. If you're a fan of the Korda family's artistic productions, this is probably worth more of your time.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

very good narration, if you feel you like to read something light about the Battle of France. The author shares his family experience, which is that of an upper class movie tycoon, and not that of average British citizen.

[Za Bakar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly told. A witty and informative blend of history, politics, and personal memoir.

[Dell Hilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly enlightening. Michael Korda has done a great job in writing this history of a pivotal time in the history not only of England and WWII, but also of the world.

[Brett Milam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last week, I read Lynne Olson’s book, Those Angry Days about the “Great Debate” the United States had between 1939 and 1941 about whether to get involved in WWII or not. It was an agonizing, if nevertheless captivating, read because of how dithering, apathetic, and opposed (Anglophobic is the word used in my latest read) citizens and government officials alike were in the response to the plight of Europe, and in particular, Britain, standing alone against the deluge of Nazi Germany’s attack. “Alone” is the keyword, because even when the war moved from “phoney” to real, Britain was quite literally alone from the time of the French surrender on June 22, 1940 until U.S. entry into the war after Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. That’s 533 days, nearly a year and a half. What if Britain didn’t possess the national character and befitting stereotype of a “stiff upper lip” and being willing and able to “take it”? Yes, as outlined in Those Angry Days, the U.S. eventually began helping to arm Britain and escort its ships, but that action wasn’t nearly the same as actually being “in it.”

All of this wind-up is to say, it felt apropos to go from reading Those Angry Days about the U.S. perspective of that time to reading Michael Korda’s 2017 book, Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk: Defeat into Victory about the British perspective. Even more so than I originally thought because Michael Korda is part of the famous film and theater family the Kordas, behind The Thief of Bagdad, That Hamilton Woman, and other notable films of that time. As such, Korda weaves in his own experience being in England as a seven-year-old, a kid witness to history, and his memories all these years later, but also, Olson’s book touched on Hollywood and its political awakening, and here, Korda also talks about the influence of film, and how Churchill and the British government were using film (through Michael Korda’s uncle, Alex Korda) and Hollywood for propaganda purposes to make Americans sympathize with the British. I’d be happy to watch a documentary or a feature-length film about Alex Korda because his life seems extraordinary.

Nonetheless, the book follows the intricacies and political squabbling that led to Winston Churchill being in Neville Chamberlain’s War Cabinet and then prime minister. I do get the sense that Korda was sympathetic to a degree about the role Chamberlain played in the events of the day and how history has remembered him. I read Korda’s sympathies as perhaps an argument that it isn’t fair for Chamberlain to be so synonymous with appeasement when a.) much of what we know about Britain during WWII was written by Churchill himself (making his quip that he will “write that history” all the more prescient); and b.) others within the government, even amid the Dunkirk evacuation, were agitating for some sort of peace agreement with Nazi Germany. So, the British politics of it all was quite interesting and I’m certainly not going to do it justice in this review, but just as interesting was the French side, Churchill’s own strident belief in the French, and indeed, the entire world’s (including Germany’s) mistaken, old view of French military dominance and prowess.

In short, the problem (among many) of a global war following so closely after the first global war, is that some of the nations, like France, not only didn’t update their strategies, tactics, arms, machines, and transports because they were comfortable in the fact that it “worked” in WWI, so, it ought to work in WWII, but that they didn’t want war again. Understandably! War is hell, and the French knew that that they were going to be bear the brunt of Nazi aggression and that Hitler’s ultimate goal was taking Paris. Even if they eventually wanted to invade Britain, the French reasoned that the Nazis would need to go through France first. As it happens, the French still lost a great deal in the short time they fought ahead of surrender: 90,000 French dead, 200,000 seriously wounded, and 2 million (equivalent to about 10 percent of the adult male population of France!) sent to Germany’s brutal prisoner-of-war camps for hard labor in Poland.

As I always mention when reading these history books, I can’t help but marvel at how much of history turns on both luck and the smallest of details. To the latter, how much of the French response to WWII and Nazi Germany revolved around Premier of France Paul Reynaud’s mistress, Hélène de Portes, who was an Anglophobe and exerted pressure on him? Korda at least thinks it an important variable to consider. But it wasn’t just Hélène de Portes; I didn’t realize how much French culture at the time was distrustful and disdainful of the British. After all, as Korda puts it into perspective, the British and the French had been fighting for nearly a millennium, whereas the French and Germans had only been fighting since 1870.

But luck comes into play in the Germans hesitating in continuing their forward march (that was the distinctive difference between the German Army and military strategy that set it apart from the old days of WWI: forward movement, perhaps most pronounced in the Panzer tank divisions) against the BEF, or British Expeditionary Force, due to miscommunication of how well they were actually doing in the fighting. Such hesitation is what set the groundwork for the BEF (and the French; I also didn’t realize nearly half of the upwards of 400,000 soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk were French soldiers) to be evacuated from Dunkirk by the Royal Admiralty and the “little ships” from common British persons, and not so common British persons, like Charles H. Lightoller, the 66-year-old former second officer of the Titanic. Yes, the Titanic! Imagine surviving the sinking of the Titanic, and then ending up in service to the evacuation of soldiers from Dunkirk, which Korda describes terrifyingly as the picture of hell: continuous bombing and shelling, machine gun fire, dead bodies everywhere, burning rubber, diesel oil slicking the waterways, abject hunger and thirst, and the difficulty of even getting on to the boats. And the retreat itself to even get to the beaches was one of the bloodiest, most violent fighting the world had ever seen; Korda compares it to the fighting in WWI and the American Civil War.

It is extraordinary what was achieved with the “spirit of Dunkirk,” in evacuating so many soldiers, often improvising and haphazard, and of course, I get goosebumps even reading Churchill’s speech about fighting on the beaches. I also didn’t realize Churchill never actually deliver perhaps his most famous speech, and instead, it was relayed by the BBC (Churchill wouldn’t actually put his own voice to the speech until 1949). Korda does throw some cold water on the Dunkirk myth-making (occurring in real time, and obviously, in the years since), mainly that the British were still terrified of a Nazi invasion and the true British spirit wouldn’t be galvanized until after the Battle of Britain was won in the fall of 1940.

Overall, this book, like Olson’s before it, gave me an appreciation for the British “national character” as it were to “take it” or in a darkly humorous image, to obsessively abide by queuing on the beaches by the thousands to evacuate. The idea that the British weren’t just going to roll over for Nazi Germany, even if they had to go it alone, is one that still fills me with a weird sense of pride, even though I’m not British. Human pride, I suppose. That there were those in that time willing to stand athwart the Nazi storm no matter the onslaught. Someone, some country, had to do it, and I’m glad the British were willing to “take it” until the United States finally got involved to help tip the scales.

As I now wind-down, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention as an aside, that Korda’s book has a blurb from Henry Kissinger on the back. I get it, but I’d also rather commit the ultimate blasphemy of burning my own book before allowing a blurb by Kissinger to appear on it. But I digress.

I would highly recommend this book because of its important documentation of history, because of the interesting way it is told weaving in Korda family history and recollection of that time period, and because Michael Korda’s way of writing is easy-going, accessible, and at times even sarcastic and funny. History books should be informative, but accessible. Korda’s book achieves that feat. (And besides, the book also gave me film recommendations, albeit it not directly, and I always appreciate that!)

[Nestor Rychtyckyj · Rating 5 out of 5]

2017 was definitely the year to get a deeper understanding of the momentous events that took place in Europe in the early stages of World War II. Two excellent movies (Dunkirk and Darkest Hour) have already shown this on the big screen and this new book by Michael Korda continues this trend.

Michael Korda has a unique perspective as he was a 7-year old child living in the UK during this time. The book is strengthened with his personal memories and observations of the time when many thought that England would soon be surrendering to Germany. Winston Churchill of course plays the major role here, but Korda skillfully weaves many different story lines into the narrative including the perspectives of Hitler and his generals, the French, Belgians and Dutch as well as the the British. We all know how the story ends but this 462-page book fills in the blanks that "Dunkirk" and "Darkest Hour" could not cover.

An interesting and quite disturbing episode that is not discussed much anymore was a program by the British government to remove children from their parents and send them away to rural areas or even to Canada was certainly not the proudest moment for Churchill, but desperate times lead to desperate and indefensible measures. This was demonstrated again and again including the internment of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor.

This is an excellent book and highly recommended to anybody looking for more details about the time the England stood alone against Hitler.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

In all the books that I have read about WWII and even in the college course I took on WWII left out much of the non-American version of the war. Having that background made Alone very cool. It was nice to see the war from the perspective of an English citizen. Although Micahel Korda was very young when he experienced the war, the book being very well researched, he also mentions much of what he and his family were experiencing. His family were in the movie and theater businesses so international and inter-European travel were frequent occurrences and kept them up to date on most prewar activities.

Korda's book starts with the appeasement process. The world had just been at word not twenty years earlier, so even though Germany was breaking the disarmament terms of the Treaty of Versailles, other countries were bending over backwards not to get involved in another war. As appeasement dragged on through the invasions of the Sudetenland and up through Poland, Korda recounts the tepid British response and slow rearmament. The French, counting on the Brits to be their allies, were also woefully underprepared for the onslaught brought by the German invasion of Belgium and France. By the end the first offensive, the Belgians were all but disbanded, the French were falling apart, and the British were being cornered in Dunkirk, as the ports at Calais and Boulogne had already fallen. General Ramsey had the forethought to assemble a seafaring rescue operation even before the BEF thought it would be necessary. Finally, when pushed to the English Channel the BEF retreated via the beach at Dunkirk.

Rather than glamorize the retreat, as many are prone to today, Korda tells the gritty tale of soldiers lined up on beaches, dying of thirst, getting shelled consistantly, and being carted off haphazardly by a fleet of Naval and civilian forces. Nothing about the evacuation was glamorous and Alone did a wonderful job of summing up Operation Dynamo and it's lasting effect on the war.

[H.W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those books the library had on display. It is newly out and popular, so I was lucky to get a copy to check out. Being a student of history, I've been familiar with the general activities that led up to the British evacuation at Dunkirk, but I've always been starved for details. How did the British manage to get all those men out? How many made it? What about the French? Why wasn't the German army able to stop them? Did the small boats really help all that much? This book is well-researched and does a great job of answering those questions. It also, importantly, introduces the politics--domestic and military--that maneuvered Britain into the situation in the first place. Along the way, Michael Korda weaves a compelling narrative with a information-rich but eminently readable style.

He manages this by interweaving personal points of view into the story, with his parents and extended family doing their best British best to get on with their business in the midst of warfare. In fact they were almost caught by the battle on the continent (like most well-off families, they were vacationing in France that spring). Another aspect of Korda's success is his storytelling. Every chapter tells a story, and each story hangs on a salient, unexpected fact--for example, the indomitable control Chamberlain had over his party. Whereas we Americans often see him painted as weak, a sop to Hitler, Korda paints the picture of a man so in control he perhaps missed the bigger picture. He also fills in the blanks of what Chamberlain did after he fell from the prime minister's position.
more detail here https://wp.me/p4S3cq-qm

[Michael Caryl]

I lived through these times as a young man late in college in 1968. For no good reason, I assumed that this book would only deal with 1968 in the US, but the author covered many other countries. In many of those countries, I wasn’t terribly interested in what was happening. Although 1968 was a major year of upheaval around the world. I learned a lot that I didn’t know earlier and I’m glad that I did finish reading the book.

There was an enormous amount of conflict and dissent around the world in 1968.this was the year that the Soviet union invaded Czechoslovakia. There was more than enough conflict and strife here in the US in that year, not to mention the death of Martin Luther King and racial riots throughout the country over the poor treatment of black people. And no one should forget that 1968 was probably the bloodiest year during the Vietnam War.

[Mike Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Korda comes from a theatrical and film-making family from upper class England, even though his father was an immigrant from Austria-Hungary who fought for them in the First World War. His father helped make the film “That Hamilton Woman” about Nelson, supported by Churchill to make Americans more sympathetic to UK. It starred Olivier as Nelson and Janet Leigh as Lady Hamilton and was produced in Hollywood. His main thesis is that Churchill was able to turn around a defeatist, appeasing government to stand up to Hitler, even though Dunkirk was largely a defeat. Korda makes an interesting point about the French leadership – Edouard Daladier, former premier and defense minister under Reynaud had a mistress, the Marquise de Crussol who was the daughter of the owner of France’s most important sardine cannery who was the mortal enemy of Reynaud’s mistress, the Countesse de Portes, daughter of a family of shipowners. Both were bourgeois who married into nobility and both had forceful personalities unwise to cross. They fought each other in fashion and in politics. Helene de Portes was bitterly Anglophobe and opposed the war. Each leader received political advice from their respective mistresses and revealed to them military secrets as pillow talk.
He also presents some important facts about the war – France’s army was 10X larger than the BEF. France wanted the UK to commit RAF fighters to France while the RAF wanted to save them for defense of England. Dunkirk was north of Calais. Thus, the Germans had completely cut off the BEF and French First Army from the south of France. When Belgium surrendered, the BEF was left with its left flank in the air. Concerning the stop order at Dunkirk, numerous canals hampered tanks; there was also a desire to save them for the battle of the south of France. Finally, Goering promised to destroy the BEF on his own. But oil fires made smoke that obscured targeting on the beach. Also, sand absorbed much of the explosive force of bombs. The Luftwaffe also found it hard to hit moving ships, especially when zigzagging. During the evacuation, some British officers left in advance of their men, which aggravated class resentments, although the press largely ignored it. Admiral Ramsay, on his own initiative, started an inventory of civilian goats to facilitate the evacuation, Operation Dynamo, that he led from Dover. He especially needed boats with shallow draft to bring soldiers from the beach to larger boats. Most of the evacuees were carried off by the Royal Navy off of a mole with destroyers, not civilian craft. A total of 190,000 British and 140,000 French evacuated. All but 3K of the French returned to France to fight and eventually became POWs. The 3K remaining joined de Gaulle’s Free French. About 2 million French soldiers remained POWs for 5 years in German slave labor camps.
The BEF had to destroy all of their heavy guns and trucks, which seriously depleted the BEF’s armaments, although the evacuation saved trained regulars to fight again. The morale boosting image of civilian boats rescuing soldiers created a myth of success. It was still a huge defeat. Halifax, as foreign secretary, wanted to get a deal from either the Germans or Mussolini, but absolutely opposed by Churchill. Eventually sent to US as Ambassador to exile him away from policy decisions.
The evacuation of children from London started under Chamberlain and was very unpopular. Fear of poison gas attacks by Germans was suggested by HG Wells in a story of the future. Uncle Alex (uncle of Michael Korda) had even made a movie called “Things to Come,” which led to widespread fear that war would begin with a huge aerial attack using high explosives and poison gas to kill large numbers of civilians. It helped explain the initial reluctance of the British and French to challenge Hitler. The British government not only issued gas masks to everyone, but also secretly selected sites for mass grades, and ordered 1000s of cheap, cardboard coffins. Some couples feared Nazi execution after invasion and got poison pills from doctor to prepare. Harold Nicholson and his wife called them the “bare bodkin” from Hamlet.
Korda’s book is engaging and fast-paced. It is also quite informative and persuasive. I highly recommend it!

[Anne Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Michael Korda's new book Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk: Defeat into Victory examines the the early days of World War II. Alone covers a lot of events, mostly from the British point of view but also French and German: Chamberlain's failed appeasement policy, France and England reluctantly being drawn back into war, Churchill becoming Prime Minister, Germany rewriting the use of tanks in warfare, conflicting personalities and agendas among allied generals. All leading up to the evacuation of over 300,000 English and French troops from the beach of Dunkirk, late May 1940. Scattered throughout the researched history are personal stories and a bit of family history as Korda reflects on his own memories as a 6 year old in a wealthy family of actors and movie makers.

Based on the book blurb for Alone, I had high hopes this would be a World War II history along the lines of Lynne Olson's Last Hope Island- meticulously researched, written with vivid detail and an eye for making individuals and their experiences leap off the page and into your mind. Alone is certainly well researched. I now have a much better understanding of the creation and purpose of the famed French Maginot Line after reading the early part of Alone. The research into the French and British military leaders, their different approaches, their conflicts among themselves, and the difficulties they had in communicating with each other (not only with radios, and phones, but personal dislikes that often meant one man in charge wasn't on speaking terms with another) was well done and gave you a sense of what the chaos on the ground must have been like. How they accomplished any successes with so many personal clashes going on is (as is the case in most military histories I've read recently) amazing.

The Korda family moments interspersed within Alone were occasionally interesting, but generally felt like they belonged in a separate book. Instead of showing what life on the home front was normally like, more often than not they showed how money could soften difficulties. Korda frequently mentions how his uncle Alex worked with Churchill and the government to make his (then current) movies into subtle propaganda designed to gain the sympathy and support of the United States. The Thief of Baghdad and That Hamilton Woman were eventually made in the US to seem like 'regular' big budget Hollywood movies instead of British propaganda. But the reader never gets an idea of what that meant, or if it worked- which would have made me much more interested in it. The actual telling of the evacuation from Dunkirk only takes place in the last 100 or so pages of Alone and often seemed scattered and disorienting. I'm sure that this is what the people on the ground experienced at the time, but I was hoping for a more coherent and understandable account to this interesting and unique moment in history.

Overall I was disappointed in Alone. Instead of being a vivid account of a slice of history it was often repetitive, and choppily written. Personal family stories didn't blend in to give us a better feeling for the time but mostly jarred the reader from the military narrative. Military leaders and personalities blended together, making it hard to remember who was who (often even what side they were on) and even Winston Churchill didn't spring to life here. The evacuation story itself almost seemed like an afterthought, with a few good, clear moments. People who have seen Chris Nolan's 2017 movie Dunkirk will recognize the inspiration for the "sea" story of The Moonstone, and find the original story ( in my opinion) even more interesting and gripping- one of the few moments I could say that about Alone.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review


For my full review, go to:
https://bookwyrmreader.blogspot.com/2...

[Susie Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Korda tackles this moment in history through weaving memories from his 6 year old life into the story of the evacuation at Dunkirk. Korda's father, Vincent and his uncle, Alex were strong supporters of Churchill and moved fluidly between Britain and Europe prior to Second World War. Having survived the Austro-Hungarian breakup after the First World War they became increasingly more cynical with the misinformation that was portrayed by media and government in Britain and France.

Korda does not disparage the appeasers in the British Government who were reluctant to commit their country to war and identifies Churchill's weaknesses, particularly that of believing the French Government and military were capable of withstanding the German onslaught.

To my mind there are three key factors that made this calamitous situation such a success. The Royal Navy comes out as the real hero of the moment, with the Admiralty having farsightedly started, almost as soon as Germany had attacked France and the Low Countries, to prepare for a future evacuation from France's coastline. Vice-Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, appointed by Churchill to command the Dover operations, immediately and quietly started the planning on what was code-named Operation Dynamo. Ramsay, thoroughly and efficiently led a team that prepared the plan for an evacuation of the BEF from the beaches and port of Dunkirk armed with a thorough census of the civilian maritime world of small vessels and their owners, their skill and capabilities, as well as the destroyers under his command.

Korda gives credit where it is due to the civilians who staffed many of these large and small boats and to the Royal Navy for its role in the transport of the majority of the troops from Dunkirk. With so many people arriving at the port chaos could easily have occurred and Ramsay wisely appoint Captain W. G. Tennant as senior naval officer Dunkirk to keep order during the evacuation. Over a period of a few days 338,226 personnel of whom 139,921 were French were transported to England, many more than had been thought possible.

It is also clear that without the determination and bravery of the BEF in holding the perimeter around Dunkirk and delaying the approach of the German army many personnel would not have been saved. Their military training, dedication and loyalty to their regiment kept them fighting even when they ran out of rations and ammunition.

France’s political and military leaders were unprepared for the assault by the Germans and Korda criticises them for their defeatist attitudes which is attributed to their inability to defend their people and their country. Both they and the political appeasers in Churchill’s parliament were still convinced that a peace deal could be negotiated with Hitler even as the evacuation was occurring.

Even for a non-military enthusiast I enjoyed reading about this much mytholigized episode that occurred early in Britain’s war against Germany. It is an easy read and Korda raises the issue Churchill had with an antagonistic Parliament, his self-doubts and the propensity of the media to turn defeats into victory. Churchill still did not have the full support of the government after Dunkirk and used words as his weapons of persuasion and defiance to show that the British people would fight, even if alone against “the foulest and most soul-destroying tyranny which has ever darkened and stained the pages of history.”


In June 1940 Churchill warned his countrymen “not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of victory. Wars are not won by evacuations.”

[Wes Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alone by Michael Korda was a wonderful book, a page-turner at every stage. Alone carefully details every single action that led to the outbreak of war in 1939 and to the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940. The book talks about the author’s personal experience as a six-year-old living in England when war broke out. The author, Michael Korda, perfects the mix of an autographical and historical novel. He even manages to sneak a bit of humor into his book. Michael Korda orchestrates both personal accounts from soldiers in the field and personal accounts of himself into an amazingly engaging novel. The first event in Alone begins with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s decision to allow Hitler to annex Chezslovacia. The idea of letting Hitler annex Chezslovacia was unpopular amongst Britain’s ally, the French, who did not want to let go of half of Chezslovacia. Thus began the first of many disagreements between the French and British that plagued their allyship and that Micheal Korda talks so much about. One of the main reasons France collapsed so quickly was because of incompetent leadership and disagreements like this. Micheal Korda talks about every single step, mistake, and argument that led to the complete collapse of France. Then, as the author details, NAZI Germany and Soviet Russia invaded Poland, and Britain and France, both allied with Poland, declared war on Germany. What happens next is known as the phony war, where for a year neither side does anything for fear of retaliation from the enemy. Both sides had a war plan ready for when the phony war ended, The allies had plan D, and Germany had Fall Gelb (Case Yellow) The Allied plan of war was as soon as the war was declared, to get most forces in northern France into Belgium to defend the Dyle river against an expected German attack on the low countries. The German plan of war was to fake a full assault on Belgium and focus the real attack through the Ardenne and onto the French town of Sedan. This plan worked brilliantly, catching the Allies off guard and in a place of weak defense, quickly defeating pockets of soldiers and reaching Sedan in a matter of days. These swift victories, as Micheal Korda points out, were part of the German war philosophy, Blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg, meaning lighting war in English, lived up to its name, requiring quick victories to destroy the enemy's fighting spirit and deep penetrations to deprive the enemy of its resources. This blitzkrieg tactic was incredibly effective against an enemy who fought battles in a straight line and who we not used to concentrated attacks from both the land and air. Using their superior tactics, the Germans were able to quickly surround the French first army and the entire British Expeditionary Force in Dunkirk, with their backs to the sea. What ensued was an incredible evacuation by sea, the scale of which was thought to be impossible. The evacuation of Dunkirk. All in all, Michael Korda’s book Alone was incredibly engaging and I would strongly recommend it to any history geeks like me. 10 out of 10.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who saw the recent movie "Dunkirk" and thought that it was exciting, I recommend that you read " Alone" by Michael Korda.
I saw that movie and was appalled at the simplified, dumbed-down portrayal of what occurred there. There was very little sense of the disaster that had befallen the allied armies and the horrifying conditions of the beaches of Dunkirk. The movie showed some little straffing and bombing , not the almost constant German attacks , and gave no information as to what had happened to put the Brisish forces in such a dire situation. The movie was, as most movies are these days, a mosh-mash of SFX, sketchy history, juvenile writing and hammy acting.
This book is a necessary antidote to that.
"Alone" by Michael Korda, is a well-written, easily accessible history that covers the events leading to the beginning of the war, the speed and devasting power of the German army on the ground and in the air and the tenacious , though doomed, efforts of the allies to stop their advance. The book is filled with personal stories of both General's and common and common soldiers, including the famously idiosyncratic British trait of coolness under pressure ( a soldier reading a Gertrude Stein novel in a ditch while being shelled is one I recall). Churchill, often idolized , is in the book is shown as a master politician, cheerleader, negotiator and fiddler with the General Staff's war plans ( a trait he shared with Hitler, by the way, though not to Hitler's extent.) Churchill maneuvers politically in Paliament to keep Britian' s morale up even as the army retreats. He is shown as every bit the tenacious bull dog, a trait shared with his fighting men. Truly a man who was where he had to be , when he had to be.
But this is not a political book. Nor is it a military history. It is a popular history written to be enjoyed by everyone with an interest in what, why and how Dunkirk came about and why it was so important to the long war ahead.
There are plenty of picutures and maps for the reader. Mr. Korda also inserts brief , but interesting vignettes of his family life . He is a seven year old son of a family of Hungarian background all of who were involved in the movie industry . He uncle, Alexander, was a director who created films in Britain and the US , not to mention France and Germany before the war. An interesting aside was that the Korda family gave financial assaisstance to Churchill when during his "out" years by finding movie script jobs for him, to be rewarded while he was PM by his, or the British film board, financing some Hollywood movies / pro- British, of course. Korda's production company was also used by British secret agents as a front from which they worked to speed US involve the into the war.
And that is just a small bit of what you may learn in "Alone."
So get the book "Alone" , sit down , read it and see how enjoyable history can be in the hands of a very good writer with a great story to tell.

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