The River Battles - (Canadian Battle) by Mark Zuehlke (Hardcover)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br><p>The story of I Canadian Corps's crossing of the Emilia-Romagna plain, in the thirteenth instalment of the bestselling Canadian Battle Series.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><b>The story of I Canadian Corps's crossing of the Emilia-Romagna plain, in the thirteenth instalment of the bestselling Canadian Battle Series.</b><br><p>The Canadians called it the Promised Land. In late September 1944, the Emilia-Romagna plain before I Canadian Corps stretched to the far horizon--a deceptively wide-open space where the tanks could run free. Throughout British Eighth Army, hopes ran high that once it entered the plain, the Germans could be driven from Italy. As soon as the advance began, however, the plain's true nature was revealed: the land was criss-crossed by rivers, canals and drainage ditches over which all bridges had been demolished.</p> <p>With higher command urging haste, the Canadians entered a long and nightmarish series of battles to win crossings over each waterway, whose high banks provided the Germans with perfect defensive positions. Early fall rains caused rivers to spill their banks and transformed the countryside into the worst quagmire the soldiers had ever seen.</p> <p>More than five months of battle followed, with weeks of hard fighting required to advance from one river to the next. Each month, conditions only worsened, and the casualty rates rose appallingly. As their comrades fell one by one, most soldiers sought merely to survive. Doing that much required every measure of stamina, courage and fighting skill they possessed.</p> <p>The fifth and final Canadian Battle Series volume set in Italy, <em>The River Battles</em> tells the story of this campaign's last and hardest months. In riveting detail and with his trademark "you-are-there" style, Mark Zuehlke shines a light on this forgotten chapter of Canada's World War II experience.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>"Mark Zuehlke has produced by far the best series of books about Canada's war on the ground in Italy and Northwest Europe. <i>The River Battles</i> only adds further proof. And perhaps final proof, because this might be the end of the line for the Canadian Battle series, unless it extends eventually to Hong Kong or perhaps the garrison of Iceland. Last installment in the series or not, this is another excellent book. Zuehlke should be proud of it, and readers should be sure to take a look. Recommended." &mdash<i>Stone & Stone</i></p><p>Exceedingly detailed, impressively comprehensive, exceptionally informed and informative, <i>The River Battles: Canada's Final Campaign in World War II Italy</i> is an inherently compelling read and a simply outstanding contribution to the growing library of World War II histories. Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of a seven page Bibliography, twenty-six pages of Notes, a four page Index of Formations, Units, and Corps, and a nine page General Index, <i>The River Battles</i> is unequivocally and unreservedly recommended for personal, community and academic library World War II collections and supplemental studies reading lists. --<i>Midwest Book Review</i></p><p>"As a Canadian military historian, Mark Zuehlke stands with Tim Cook, Ted Barris and David O'Keefe. He belongs to the elite. To write this fifth and final volume in his Canadian Battle Series, Zuehlke assimilated an astonishing amount of detailed information from a multiplicity of primary sources. Building on the focused unities of time and place - six months in 1944-45 and a waterlogged plain called Emilia-Romagna - he has delivered a vivid, hard-slogging narrative...total casualties were 26,254. Such numbers make one wary of lightly going to war. Perhaps that is the greatest achievement of books like <i>The River Battles</i>." --Ken McGoogan, <i>The Globe & Mail</i><br>
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