Reissued for the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War.

A Sunday Times Bestseller

'Electric... Outstanding.' Guardian

In March 1982 the guided-missile destroyer HMS Coventry was one of a small squadron of ships on exercise off Gibraltar. By the end of April that year she was sailing south in the vanguard of the Task Force towards the front line of the Falklands War.

On 25 May, Coventry was attacked by two Argentine Skyhawks, and hit by three bombs. The explosions tore out most of her port side and killed nineteen of the crew, leaving many others injured. Within twenty minutes she had capsized. In her final moments, after all the survivors had been evacuated, her Captain, David Hart Dyke, himself badly burned, climbed down her starboard side and into a life-raft. This is his compelling and moving story.

A Sunday Times Bestseller. David Hart Dyke's compelling personal testimony is rejacketed and relaunched in paperback. 'Superbly frank and unsentimental... 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

About the Author
David Hart Dyke began his naval career as Midshipman (RNVR) in 1959. He went to Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth as a regular officer before serving as Commander of the Royal Yacht Britannia, Captain of HMS Coventry, and Chief of Staff to the Commander, British Naval Staff, in Washington, DC. After he retired in 2003, he transcribed the voice-recordings that he had made on his return from the Falklands, which became, along with the reminiscences of his ship's company, the gripping story of Four Weeks in May.

Reviews
Superbly frank and unsentimental... 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 *
Electric... Outstanding. -- John Shirley * Guardian *
[An] honest, poignant and moving book. -- Hugh McManners * The Times *
Lively, direct, human and engaging, this is one of the best personal memoirs of the bizarre and intense Falklands campaign. -- Robert Fox * BBC History Magazine *
A down-to-earth, dramatic account of preparing for war and being plunged into the heart of it. * Glasgow Herald *
A justifiably proud account of HMS Coventry's war... A vital but measured story. It will appeal not only to those who were there but to a new generation of readers who will be riveted by this insight into the life on board a Royal Navy ship at war, as well as the sheer drama of Coventry's story... Four Weeks in May is a page-turner, elegantly and tightly written... The tension between his determination to uphold morale, the upbeat letters home, private moments of honest reflection, the self-deprecating humour and what every reader knows will be the disastrous outcome of those four weeks, is compelling... Devastating... Dramatic images of bravery and presence of mind are brilliantly pieced together. -- Alan West * Naval Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9781843545910
Author David Hart-Dyke
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Atlantic Books
Publisher Atlantic Books
Weight(grams) 283g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 23mm