The Sinking of the Lancastria: The Twentieth Century's Deadliest Naval Disaster and Churchill's Plot to Make It Disappear - Couverture souple

'Ask almost anyone what was the greatest maritime tragedy in British history, and they think of the Titanic or the Lusitania. Yet in reality, the sinking of another ship sixty-five years ago cost the lives of more people than both those liners' losses together . . . It is a ghastly story, and Fenby tells it well'
Max Hastings, Daily Mail
On 17 June 1940, thousands of British soldiers and airmen left behind in France after the Dunkirk evacuation died after their troopship, the Lancastria, was hit by a German dive-bomber. There was carnage as the bombs exploded inside the stately ship. Men, and a few women and children, fought for their lives in the oily water of the Loire estuary, enduring strafing runs from German planes as they clung to rafts and wreckage; others stood on the 16,000-ton ship's upturned hull singing patriotic songs as she went down.

In an effort to keep up morale Churchill kept news of the heroism and tragedy of that day from the public. Finally, in The Sinking of the Lancastria, Jonathan Fenby uncovers this forgotten story from the Second World War.
'Fenby has rescued lives from the condescending oubliette of history - and written an epic story into the bargain. It is an admirable achievement'
Frank Fairfield, Literary Review
'Vividly gripping . . . pacey'
Soldier Magazine
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‘In his vividly gripping, pacey narrative, Fenby partly explains the confusion by reminding us that for morale reasons, Churchill ordered a news blackout on the disaster’.
Solider Magazine May Issue
‘Fenby’s images of men floundering in an oil-covered sea are familiar to students of the Battle of the Atlantic. By focusing on one ship only, the author, who interviewed many survivors, adds much to our understanding of such horror.’
Nathan Greenfield, TLS
In the space of a couple of hundred pages, Jonathan Fenby has rescued lives from the condescending oubliette of history - and written an epic story in the bargain. It is an admirable achievement. Journalism may be the first draft of history, but, as this book demonstrates, it is often the last word as well.
Literary Review, June 2005
Critics Choice
‘Ask almost anyone what was the greatest maritime tragedy in British history, and they think of the Titanic or the Luisitania. Yet in reality, the sinking of another ship 65 years ago today cost the lives of more people than both those liners’ losses together ... Today, Fenby argues that those who suffered on that terrible afternoon off the Loire estuary deserve to be remembered. It is a ghastly story, and Fenby tells it well.'
Max Hastings, DAILY MAIL
‘[An] engaging, moving book’
Glasgow Evening Times