Lightning War: Blitzkrieg in the West, 1940

"So long as the English tongue survives, the word Dunkerque will be spoken with reverence. For in that harbor, in such a hell as never blazed on earth before, at the end of a lost battle, the rags and blemishes that have hidden the soul of democracy fell away. . . . This shining thing in the souls of free men Hitler cannot command, or stain, or conquer. . . . It is the great tradition of democracy. It is the future. It is victory."
— The New York Times, June 1, 1940

In Lightning War, historian Ronald Powaski tells the dramatic story of the German defeat of the Allies in northern France and the Low Countries in 1940. This is the first book to cover the campaign as a whole, examining the issues from all sides— those of the French, British, German, and other involved nations. From the Battle of the Meuse to the German drive to the English Channel, from the Weygand Plan to Operation Dynamo, Powaski relates the events through the eyes of the generals, politicians, and servicemen who witnessed and forever shaped history.

"So long as the English tongue survives, the word Dunkerque will be spoken with reverence. For in that harbor, in such a hell as never blazed on earth before, at the end of a lost battle, the rags and blemishes that have hidden the soul of democracy fell away. . . . This shining thing in the souls of free men Hitler cannot command, or stain, or conquer. . . . It is the great tradition of democracy. It is the future. It is victory."
— The New York Times, June 1, 1940

In Lightning War, historian Ronald Powaski tells the dramatic story of the German defeat of the Allies in northern France and the Low Countries in 1940. This is the first book to cover the campaign as a whole, examining the issues from all sides— those of the French, British, German, and other involved nations. From the Battle of the Meuse to the German drive to the English Channel, from the Weygand Plan to Operation Dynamo, Powaski relates the events through the eyes of the generals, politicians, and servicemen who witnessed and forever shaped history.

RONALD E. POWASKI is Professor of History at Cleveland State University. He has written six books, including Return to Armageddon: The United States and the Nuclear Arms Race, 1981—1999. Powaski lives in Euclid, Ohio.