described as the largest raid in history. The result was a complete disaster. Here Brian Villa unravels all the complexities that led to it: the political interests in both Britain and Canada; the pressures placed on Churchill and the British Chiefs of Staff; and especially the vagaries of Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was ultimately responsible as Chief of Combined Operations. As the first thorough examination of the disaster, the book is an important contribution to the literature on World War II.

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