What do you think?
Rate this book
D-Day: Canadian Heroes of the Famous World War II Invasion
On June 6, 1944, a daring and ambitious invasion of Europe changed the course of World War II, eventually leading to the surrender of Nazi Germany. During the night, through storms and high seas, the Allied forces swept towards the beaches of Normandy in France. This is the story of the bravery, the heroism, and the sheer dumb luck of the more than 14,000 Canadians who played a crucial role in that incredible event.
- GenresHistory
144 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 2004
14 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 10, 2020
First, I will say that I'm biased. I have a BA and MA in history, and I'm a retired Army Logistics Officer who has done a lot of reading about WWII over the past 40+ years for both leisure and university courses.
While I'm not a PhD expert in Canadian military history, I've read enough to know that this book has several factual errors that need to be addressed. I found that important battles that impacted the Canadians, at least indirectly, such as the Battle of the Bulge, were not mentioned at all.
Even more annoying are the many, many formatting and editing errors that exist. At first, I wondered if this book was self-published, but it wasn't. Instead, it was published by a small Alberta press that, after reading two books they have published, I'm not surprised they are out of business as I found that, in my opinion, the quality expected of a finished product is lacking.
I was going to go two stars for the content, but there are simply too many formatting errors to do that and be an honest reviewer. I would say that if you check the bibliography, there are a lot better books out there on the subject. However, I will say that with a lot of editing and some fact checking, the easy reading writing style would maybe make the subject accessible to middle school grades. Without it, don't bother.
Overall, while it was a quick read, it was it was not the best use of my valuable leisure reading time and is not recommended for serious or leisure reading. Normally, I like to try and support Canadian and Alberta authors and give them the benefit of the doubt and a higher rating, but I just can't do that here.
While I'm not a PhD expert in Canadian military history, I've read enough to know that this book has several factual errors that need to be addressed. I found that important battles that impacted the Canadians, at least indirectly, such as the Battle of the Bulge, were not mentioned at all.
Even more annoying are the many, many formatting and editing errors that exist. At first, I wondered if this book was self-published, but it wasn't. Instead, it was published by a small Alberta press that, after reading two books they have published, I'm not surprised they are out of business as I found that, in my opinion, the quality expected of a finished product is lacking.
I was going to go two stars for the content, but there are simply too many formatting errors to do that and be an honest reviewer. I would say that if you check the bibliography, there are a lot better books out there on the subject. However, I will say that with a lot of editing and some fact checking, the easy reading writing style would maybe make the subject accessible to middle school grades. Without it, don't bother.
Overall, while it was a quick read, it was it was not the best use of my valuable leisure reading time and is not recommended for serious or leisure reading. Normally, I like to try and support Canadian and Alberta authors and give them the benefit of the doubt and a higher rating, but I just can't do that here.
April 29, 2025
A brief but excellent overview of Canada’s role in Operation Overload, including the events leading up to D-Day and the aftermath. Douglas combines narrative accounts with the laying down of historical facts skillfully and photographs are included also.
July 7, 2017
a good book on Canada and D-Day
August 6, 2012
When I first started to read D-Day, Canadian Heroes of the Famous World War II Invasion, by Tom Douglas, I realized that I was not going to glean much in the way of new information from its pages. Having read about this topic for decades, that was hardly surprising and was about what I expected, BUT, this book was not written for the likes of me. It is instead, a compact, well researched history of the June 6th, 1944 invasion, focusing on Canada’s contribution to the battle. Douglas begins the story with just enough background history to further whet the appetite of his readers.
Those who have not spent a lot of time delving into military history and especially younger people, will find this an informative cache of information, covering everything from the original planning stages to biographies of the military leaders involved in planning and carrying out the invasion.
A nice addition is the last two sections of the book – a glossary of military terms and a mini encyclopaedia of the weapons used.
I would recommend this book to anyone seeking knowledge about D-Day beyond what they may have seen in the movies or heard during Remembrance Day services. I would especially suggest it to teachers who are about to broach the subject with their younger charges who may in fact know very little about the war or Canada’s military history. It will leave them more informed and more importantly, a bit more proud of their country’s participation in forming the world they live in today.
www.daniellittle.com
Those who have not spent a lot of time delving into military history and especially younger people, will find this an informative cache of information, covering everything from the original planning stages to biographies of the military leaders involved in planning and carrying out the invasion.
A nice addition is the last two sections of the book – a glossary of military terms and a mini encyclopaedia of the weapons used.
I would recommend this book to anyone seeking knowledge about D-Day beyond what they may have seen in the movies or heard during Remembrance Day services. I would especially suggest it to teachers who are about to broach the subject with their younger charges who may in fact know very little about the war or Canada’s military history. It will leave them more informed and more importantly, a bit more proud of their country’s participation in forming the world they live in today.
www.daniellittle.com
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews