{"product_id":"greatest-raid","title":"Greatest Raid","description":"\u003cp\u003e''\u003cb\u003eI loved this book\u003c\/b\u003e, as I love any\u003cb\u003e good adventure story sublimely told . . . a gloriously exciting high, \u003c\/b\u003efollowed by a crushing realisation of war''s enormous waste'' Gerard deGroot, \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Absorbing . . . The extraordinary bravery of the participants shines out from the narrative''\u003c\/b\u003e Patrick Bishop, \u003ci\u003eSunday Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e_________________________________\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFROM THE AUTHOR OF \u003ci\u003eBRIDGE OF SPIES\u003c\/i\u003e: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eA dramatic and colourful new account of the most daring British commando raid of World War Two\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the darkest months of the Second World War, Churchill approved what seemed to many like a suicide mission. Under orders to attack the St Nazaire U-boat base on the Atlantic seaboard, British commandos undertook \"the greatest raid of all\", turning an old destroyer into a live bomb and using it to ram the gates of a Nazi stronghold. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded -- more than in any similar operation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on official documents, interviews, unknown accounts and the astonished reactions of French civilians and German forces, \u003ci\u003eThe Greatest Raid\u003c\/i\u003e recreates in cinematic detail the hours in which the \"Charioteers\" fought and died, from Lt Gerard Brett, the curator at the V \u0026amp; A, to \"Bertie\" Burtinshaw, who went into battle humming \u003ci\u003eThere''ll Always be an England, \u003c\/i\u003eand from Lt Stuart Chant, who set the fuses with 90 seconds to escape, to the epic solo reconnaissance of the legendary Times journalist Capt Micky Burn.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnearthing the untold human stories of Operation Chariot, \u003ci\u003eBridge of Spies \u003c\/i\u003eauthor Giles Whittell reveals it to be a fundamentally misconceived raid whose impact and legacy was secured by astonishing bravery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e_________________________________\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eEnthralling . . . the heroism on display that night was unsurpassed\u003c\/b\u003e, and Whittell is right to call his book \u003ci\u003eThe Greatest Raid\u003c\/i\u003e'' Simon Griffith, \u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''\u003cb\u003eA compelling page-turner, the work of a master storyteller\u003c\/b\u003e. The drama of the March 1942 operation is \u003cb\u003ecinematic in its sweep and detail\u003c\/b\u003e -- and Whittell''s detective work on the real reasons for the raid is extraordinary. \u003cb\u003eBeautifully written\u003c\/b\u003e'' Matthew d''Ancona\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57312738214270,"sku":"NW9780241992258","price":10.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780241992258.jpg?v=1778522316","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/greatest-raid","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}