Four Weeks in May

'Superbly frank and unsentimental ... Brilliant [and] poignant... The literature of the Falklands War would be much the poorer without this pithy, well constructed and brutally honest account of the fighting at sea.' Saul David, Daily Telegraph On 25 May 1982, at a critical juncture in the Falklands War, the destroyer HMS Coventry was attacked by Argentinian aircraft. In a devastating strike, she was hit by three bombs, two of which exploded inside her hull, killing nineteen of her crew and leaving many others badly injured.Four Weeks in May is the highly personal, often harrowing story of Coventry's war told by her captain, David Hart Dyke. It is the tale of a proud fighting ship of the Royal Navy and of the complex ties that bind a commander and his crew, especially in times of mortal danger. It is also the record of one man's private anxieties about his responsibilities as captain, the welfare of his men, and his wife and two young daughters back at home. Four Weeks in May is a riveting account of how men prepare for a war they never expected to fight and how they endure its privations, terrors and, finally, its horrors. 'A down-to-earth, dramatic account of preparing for war and being plunged into the heart of it.' Glasgow Herald 'An honest, poignant and moving book.' Hugh McManners, The Times 'Electric ... Outstanding.' John Shirley, Guardian 'Lively, direct, human and engaging, this is one of the nest personal memoirs of the bizarre and intense Falklands campaign.' Robert Fox, BBC History Magazine Memoir £8.99 B format paperback ISBN 978 1 84354 591 0