Escape From Holland - by Chris Hunt (Paperback)

About the Book

The dash for the last British boat out of Holland in May 1940 as the Germans invade, a thrilling true story of football, ballet, journalism and war.

Book Synopsis

Just before dawn on May 10, 1940, German parachute troops rain down on Holland. Watching from his home on the Dutch coast is former international footballer Billy Marsden. It is ten years to the day since the Germans saved his life in a Berlin hospital after he suffered a devastating injury while playing for England - and now it is the German invasion of Holland that is putting his life in jeopardy. In The Hague, Margot Fonteyn and the Sadler's Wells Ballet watch the dogfights from the roof of their hotel. In Amsterdam journalist David Woodward and his American wife, NBC war correspondent Margaret Rupli, are trying to find a way to file the story of the invasion, while young British diplomat Peers Carter attempts to organise an evacuation just eight months into the job.

Set across one weekend in May 1940, this is the story of how these people came together to escape with the last official boatload of British evacuees out of Holland before the country capitulated. This is not just the tale of their escape, but the story of why these fascinating characters were in Holland to begin with.

Review Quotes

"Chris Hunt's ability to craft character-driven narratives shines in Escape From Holland. Blending the precision of history with a storyteller's flair, he reveals how chance encounters and personal courage shaped outcomes in one of the war's overlooked episodes." - Table Read