Vimy

by Berton, Pierre

• ISBN13: 9780385658423
• ISBN10: 0385658427
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-10-09
• Publisher: Anchor Canada

Summary

One chill Easter dawn in 1917, a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France went over the top of a muddy scarp knows as Vimy Ridge. Within hours, they held in their grasp what had eluded both British and French armies in over two years of fighting: they had seized the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front. How could an army of civilians from a nation with no military tradition secure the first enduring victory in thirty-two months of warfare with only 10,000 casualties, when the French had lost 150,000 men in their unsuccessful attempt? Pierre Berton's haunting and lucid narrative shows how, unfettered by military rules, civilians used daring and common sense to overcome obstacles that had eluded the professionals. Drawing on unpublished personal accounts and interviews, Berton brings home what it was like for the young men, some no more than sixteen years old, who clawed their way up the sodden, shell-torn slopes in a struggle they innocently believed would make war obsolete. He tells of the soldiers who endured horrific conditions to secure this great victory, painting a vivid picture of trench warfare. In his account of this great battle, Pierre Berton brilliantly illuminated the moment of tragedy and greatness that marked Canada's emergence as a nation. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Author Biography

Pierre Berton, Canada's most widely read historian, was born in the Yukon and educated at UBC. Author of forty-seven books, he has received three Governor General's awards for nonfiction, two Nellies for broadcasting, two National Newspaper awards, the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, and the National History Society's first award for "distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history." He holds eleven honorary degrees, is a member of the Newsman's Hall of Fame, and is a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Table of Contents

Overture: Ten Thousand Thunders Book One: Marching As To War

Sam Hughes's Army

A Ribbon of Deadly Stealth Book Two: The Build-Up

Marking Time

The Byng Boys

The Raiders

Not What They Expected

Things Worth Remembering

The Final Days

The Final Hours Book Three: The Battle

The 1st Division

The 2nd Division

The 3rd Division

The 4th Division

Mopping Up Aftermath

British Army Formations

The Canadian Battalions at Vimy Author's

Note

Acknowledgements Select

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.