Miles Dempsey, Commander of the British Second Army in the invasion of Europe 1944-45, is almost unknown to the general public. Yet his part in Britains contribution to that campaign was second only to Montgomerys in importance. Dempsey survived two and a half years of bitter fighting as an infantry officer on the Western Front before accompanying his beloved Royal Berkshire Regiment in the little-known North West Persia campaign of 1920-21. In six years he rose from Major to command over ...

It is no exaggeration to claim that 46th North Midland Divisions action on 29 September 1918 was the hammer blow that shattered the will of the German High Command.Painting the strategic picture from early 1918 and the dark weeks following the Germans March offensive, the Author lays the ground for the Allied counter-strike. Ahead of them was the mighty Hindenburg Line, the Kaisers formidable defensive obstacle given added strength by the St Quentin Canal.Undaunted the Allies attacked usin...

Small in physical stature Colonel, later Brigadier, Patsy Pagan was seen as a giant by the men of the Gloucestershire Regiment, whom he commanded for over three gruelling years of The Great War.He and his Battalion endured some of the hardest fighting and grimmest conditions on the Western Front; The battles of Loos 1915, Somme 1916 and Passchendaele 1917. Wounded three times, Pagan discharged himself from hospital to rejoin his men rather than be evacuated to Blighty.He reluctantly left h...

This fascinating study of military leadership follows British general Bernard Law MontgomeryÆs military career from his cadet days and service in World War I to his great victories of World War II, including his defeat of the great German panzer commander, Erwin Rommel, at Alamein.Nigel Hamilton presents a brilliant, arrogant Montgomery, who refused to bow to authority and skated on the edge of dismissal like his American counterpart, George S. Patton. Though very different in the...

Two portraits flank the doors leading into Canada's House of Commons: Sir Robert Borden to the left and W.L.M. King to the right. While each man appears flatteringly stern, wise, and charismatic, it is the portrait plaques that are of particular interest. Borden's caption reads: "World War I War Leader, 1914–1918," while King's caption is similar: "World War II War Leader, 1939–1945." No other dates are given. Perhaps that definition makes sense for Borden, who did little of note before th...

Co-winner of the 2014-2015 Charles P. Stacey AwardTim Cook, Canada’s leading war historian, ventures deep into World War Two in this epic two-volume story of heroism and horror, of loss and longing, sacrifice and endurance.Written in Cook’s compelling narrative style, this book shows in impressive detail how soldiers, airmen, and sailors fought—the evolving tactics, weapons of war, logistics, and technology. It gauges Canadian effectiveness against the skil...

Dawn, June 6, 1944. Off the Normandy coast 6,500 ships carry 150,000 Allied troops. This is D-Day, the long-awaited Allied invasion of German-occupied Europe. The Allies will storm five beaches. One is code-named Juno Beach. Here, 14,500 Canadians will land on a five-mile stretch of sand backed by three resort towns. The beach is heavily protected by a seawall, barbed wire, underwater obstacles and hundreds of mines. Behind these defenses a heavily armed German force waits inside thick con...

“An important contribution to the history of World War II . . . I have never before been able to learn so much about maintenance methods of an armored division, with precise details that underline the importance of the work, along with descriptions of how the job was done.”—Russell F. Weigley, author of Eisenhower’s Lieutenants“Cooper saw more of the war than most junior officers, and he writes about it better than almost anyone. . . . His stories are vivi...

**Winner of the 2016 Ottawa Book AwardThe magisterial second volume of Tim Cook's definitive account of Canadians fighting in the Second World War.**Historian Tim Cook displays his trademark storytelling ability in the second volume of his masterful account of Canadians in World War II. Cook combines an extraordinary grasp of military strategy with a deep empathy for the soldiers on the ground, at sea and in the air. Whether it's a minute-by-minute account of a gruelling art...

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States and the Union general who was imperative for the North's victory in the Civil War. His autobiography has long become legendary and can be found here in a complete edition. In 70 detailed chapters Grant tells the story of his life from his birth and boyhood to his graduation at West Point, the Mexican War, the outbreak of the rebellion and his merits in the the civil war to the day of the march to Washington D.C.

A bold new telling of the defining battle of the Great War, and how it came to signify and solidify Canada's national identity.Why does Vimy loom so large in Canada's identity—and should it? Tim Cook, Canada's foremost military historian and a RBC Taylor Prize winner, examines the battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917 and the way the memory of it has evolved over a hundred years. Vimy is unlike any other battle in Canadian history: it has been described as the "birth ...

Based on newly uncovered sources, The Madman and the Butcher is a powerful double biography of Sam Hughes and Arthur Currie and the story of one of the most shocking and highly publicized libel trials in Canadian history.Sir Arthur Currie achieved international fame as Canadian Corps commander during the Great War. He was recognized as a brilliant general, morally brave, and with a keen eye for solving the challenges of trench warfare. But wars were not won without lives l...