The Last Boat
from the author of 'Against the Tide'
by John F. Hanley
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Pub Date 13 Aug 2013 | Archive Date 26 Sep 2013
Troubador Publishing Ltd | Matador
Description
The Last Boat is the second novel by Jersey author John Hanley – and the follow up book to the acclaimed, Against the Tide.
The book opens in the middle of the greatest naval disaster in British history when the Luftwaffe bombs and sinks the hastily converted Cunard liner, HMT Lancastria. In the ten minutes of bombing and strafing, over 5,000 troops and civilians are blown apart by the high explosive bombs. These losses represent more than one third of all members of the British Expeditionary Force killed in the nine months of war so far. The news is so shocking that Churchill suppresses it and the report into the loss will remain sealed until 2040.
Author John Hanley observes, 'I grew up in Jersey surrounded by the artefacts of the German Occupation. My mother lived through it and every adult I knew had a story to tell. Through extreme good fortune my mother avoided the fate of several islanders when the Germans bombed and strafed the harbour on Friday 28th June 1940.' He goes on to add, 'I've always had a strong affinity with that period of history for Jersey and wanted to experience what it must have been like to cope with all that was thrown at the islanders after the British government abandoned them.'
Through the immediacy of John's storytelling we are compelled to witness events which cannot leave us unmoved. The Last Boat is an intense, exciting, absorbing and frightening account of a shocking period of World War 2 that will appeal to readers of historical fiction who appreciate the complexities and uncertainties facing young adults as their world is forever shattered by war.
Advance Praise
5 out of 5 stars on Amazon:
The Last Boat by John F. Hanley is the eagerly awaited sequel to Against the Tide, which ended with the outbreak of WWII.
The second book takes us to the evacuation of Dunkirk and Allied troops from Northern France. I was amazed at the amount of detail the book was able to supply. So much happened in such a short time span at the beginning of the war that few of us can imagine the multitude of factors that came into play for the people of the Channel Islands and Northern France: Where to escape to, how to escape and how far exactly the Germans had progressed, to name a few. The book gives a rich and realistic impression of the invasion and its progress.
Most of the cast from the previous book return and so several personal dramas and issues between the main characters are still to be resolved and these add splendidly to the illustration of the uncertainty of the time.
Written in excellent prose and rich in plot the book was hard to put aside, with new turns, dramas and events in nearly every chapter.
Civilian and military considerations, espionage, some precious cargo and personal tragedies mingle with some historical events, such as the eventual sizing of the Channel Islands and the famous sinking of transport ships.
The book is an amazing compilation of data and facts and with its great characters and plot historical fiction at its best. It gets to show how much there was to events that in most history books only get a sentence or two, and how much there is to say and feel about them.
This is a gripping and compelling read as much as it is informative.
Highly recommended
Reviewed by ChristophFischerBooks
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Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781783069231 |
| PRICE | £2.79 (GBP) |
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