After Dunkirk Book

What is the fate of a just man in a just war? A young man struggles to retain his humanity-- and to keep those around from losing theirs--in the carnage of World War II. In the summer of 1940, during what later came to be called the Battle of Britain, Wayne Luthie is the leader of an inexperienced British flying unit derisively nicknamed The Wonders. Shot down during the evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk, Luthie was captured and tortured by the enemy before escaping and making his way back to England. In an attempt to come to terms with the emotional as well as physical trauma he has suffered, and to find his place in what he has come to see as an inhumane universe, he begins to write a record of his life. As his very young crew adapts to war from a safe distance, he ponders the delights and puzzles of his childhood in India and falls in love with Nim, a WAAF. But soon the war escalates, and tranquil memories become tinged with remembered violence; riddles are revealed as insidious secrets. In the meantime, the doings of the "men" under Luthie's command are carefully observed by one of their own, Ashley, who, as the horrors of war engulf the little group, keeps his own record of their lives and the death around them through a series of increasingly harrowing photographs. The book blends fragments of dialogue, memories and narrative. The plot unfolds on several time levels, which fit together like pieces of a mosaic.Read More