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The Greatest Raid

St Nazaire, 1942: The Heroic Story of Operation Chariot

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

FROM THE AUTHOR OF BRIDGE OF SPIES: A dramatic and colourful new account of the most daring British commando raid of World War Two

In 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.

Drawing on official documents, interviews, unknown accounts and the astonished reactions of French civilians and German forces, The Greatest Raid recreates in cinematic detail the hours in which the "Charioteers" fought and died, from Lt Gerard Brett, the curator at the V & A, to "Bertie" Burtinshaw, who went into battle humming There'll Always be an England, and 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.

Unearthing the untold human stories of Operation Chariot, Bridge of Spies author Giles Whittell reveals it to be a fundamentally misconceived raid whose impact and legacy was secured by astonishing bravery.

© Giles Whittell 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Armed Forces Europe France Military Naval Forces War U-Boat Winston Churchill Espionage Submarine

Critic reviews

I loved this book, as I love any good adventure story sublimely told...This book has the same effect as that drug. It's a gloriously exciting high, followed by a crushing realisation of war's enormous waste (Gerard deGroot)
Enthralling . . . the heroism on display that night was unsurpassed, and Whittell is right to call his book The Greatest Raid (Simon Griffith)
Absorbing . . . The extraordinary bravery of the participants shines out from the narrative (Patrick Bishop)
A story of extraordinary courage . . . Without Chariot there might have been no further raids such as the much larger, and ultimately disastrous, attack on Dieppe five months later (Jonathan Boff)
A compelling page-turner, the work of a master storyteller. The drama of the March 1942 operation is cinematic in its sweep and detail -- and Whittell's detective work on the real reasons for the raid is extraordinary. It is also beautifully written (Matthew d'Ancona)
A spellbinding account of one of the most astonishing episodes of the whole war. Thrilling and tragic in equal measure, it is a story of self-sacrifice, comradeship and courage on an unimaginable scale (Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the Third Reich)
Churchill called St Nazaire "a deed of glory intimately involved in high strategy." This vivid and moving book shows why (David Reynolds, author of Island Stories: An Unconventional History of Britain)
Giles Whittell's crisp, tight, prose is perfectly suited to record one of World War 2's great moments of heroism: his journalistic skills tease apart the flaws in the plan, while expertly bringing back to life the rich cast of protagonists (Charles Spencer, author of The White Ship)
World War Two's Operation Chariot against Nazi Germany's battleship repair facility is the greatest commando raid of all time. So bravo to Giles Whittell for this meticulously researched and utterly gripping account of the heroism at St Nazaire. The Greatest Raid does great justice to its subjects (Dr Amanda Foreman)
All stars
Most relevant
great book brave men story of bravery and daring of the great generation of all time

Brave men amazing storie

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A thrilling, compelling and complex story of incomprehensible bravery. A thoroughly recommend listen with fantastic narration.

A thrilling listen

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Amazing story. Narration languid in parts. Often ridiculous use of analogies that distracted and sometimes annoyed. Cut the analogies and it a good book of an extraordinary event

The Greatest Raid

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A fantastic story of the greatest raid of all time. unfortunately, it is badly narrated. The narrators voice constantly croaks and brakes throughout the reading.

A story that isn't told enough

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