eBook - ePub
Vimy
About this book
The bestselling, award-winning author of
The American Invasion of Canada "has given great drama and immediacy to that turning point in Canadian history" (
Maclean's).
On Easter Monday 1917 with a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France seized and held the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front—the muddy scarp of Vimy Ridge. The British had failed to take the Ridge, and so had the French who had lost 150,000 men in the attempt. Yet these magnificent colonial troops did so in a morning at the cost of only 10,000 casualties.
The author recounts this remarkable feat of arms with both pace and style. He has gathered many personal accounts from soldiers who fought at Vimy. He describes the commanders and the men, the organization and the training, and above all notes the thorough preparation for the attack from which the British General Staff could have learned much. The action is placed within the context both of the Battle of Arras, of which this attack was part, and as a milestone in the development of Canada as a nation.
"This wonderful book brings to life the amazing men who came across the Atlantic nearly a century ago and won a famous victory which helped change a nation forever . . . the wonderful prose of Pierre Berton is all from the heart and you should share in it." — War History Online
"The cinematic writing plunks the reader in the midst of the actual battle, and a judicious use of quotes from soldiers' diaries and letters helps provide a ground-level perspective." — Quill & Quire
On Easter Monday 1917 with a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France seized and held the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front—the muddy scarp of Vimy Ridge. The British had failed to take the Ridge, and so had the French who had lost 150,000 men in the attempt. Yet these magnificent colonial troops did so in a morning at the cost of only 10,000 casualties.
The author recounts this remarkable feat of arms with both pace and style. He has gathered many personal accounts from soldiers who fought at Vimy. He describes the commanders and the men, the organization and the training, and above all notes the thorough preparation for the attack from which the British General Staff could have learned much. The action is placed within the context both of the Battle of Arras, of which this attack was part, and as a milestone in the development of Canada as a nation.
"This wonderful book brings to life the amazing men who came across the Atlantic nearly a century ago and won a famous victory which helped change a nation forever . . . the wonderful prose of Pierre Berton is all from the heart and you should share in it." — War History Online
"The cinematic writing plunks the reader in the midst of the actual battle, and a judicious use of quotes from soldiers' diaries and letters helps provide a ground-level perspective." — Quill & Quire
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Vimy by Pierre Berton in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Military & Maritime History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- List of Maps
- Overture: Ten Thousand Thunders
- Book I: Marching As to War
- Chapter 1: Sam Hughes’s Army
- Chapter 2: A Ribbon of Deadly Stealth,
- Book II: The Build-up
- Chapter 3: Marking Time
- Chapter 4: The Byng Boys
- Chapter 5: The Raiders
- Chapter 6: Not What They Expected
- Chapter 7: Things Worth Remembering
- Chapter 8: The Final Days
- Chapter 9: The Final Hours
- Book III: The Battle
- Chapter 10: The 1st Division
- Chapter 11: The 2nd Division
- Chapter 12: The 3rd Division
- Chapter 13: The 4th Division
- Chapter 14: Mopping Up
- Aftermath
- Appendix I: British Army Formations
- Appendix II: The Canadian Battalions at Vimy
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgements
- Select Bibliography
