The Black Jackals - the chaos of Normandy 1940

The Black Jackals, by Iain Gale is a novel of war. It is not pretty. It shows all the things I imagine war to be - violent, dirty, exhausting, exhilarating, ugly, heroic and most of all, chaotic. Set during the retreat of the British army in France during the summer of 1940, the action opens with Lieutenant Peter Lamb leading his Black Jackals as they try to delay the advance of German tanks overs a bridge by blowing it up ... but this throws up his first dilemma, as the bridge is teeming with refugees. We see him struggle to balance honour, duty and his own moral core with the tasks he is ordered to do. In the face of overwhelming odds, unreliable information and orders which either don't make sense or contradict each other, he tries to get as many of his men through a series of short, but dangerous sorties in the hope that eventually, they will get to the coast and be picked up and taken back to dear old Blighty. Along the way there are acts of true heroism, cynicism, cruelty and madness. This is a gripping story, that feels very real - it is woven around events from history and the author has created characters that are totally believable. Not always a comfortable read (no book about any war should be a comfortable read), it is well worth the effort and I was not disappointed, even learning something new ... this is NOT about Dunkirk, but a much lesser known evacuation that took place a little later down the coast. I can heartily recommend this title to anyone who is likes to be transported to another time and place, but who doesn't mind getting their hands dirty in the process. I am happy to report that this is not the only outing for the character of Peter Lamb, and I will definitely be seeking him out again.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 328 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00, it was a gift.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook