During nine days in May/June 1940, the British Army in France was evacuated from Dunkirk, a brilliant escape from a military defeat. Ever since, the 'Dunkirk spirit' has become part of our national mythology - a particularly British catchword for muddling out of disaster with a stiff upper lip and a strong cup of tea. But this investigation is not a military history - it looks instead at the creation of a legend and reveals that the truth we think we all know about Dunkirk is not quite the truth after all.