The Best Little Army In The World

by J.L. Granatstein

This is the story of the Canadian First Army that fought its way from Juno Beach at D-Day in June, 1944, through Normandy, into the Netherlands to liberate that country, to the terrible battles in the Scheldt area, and finally into Germany in 1945. This is also the story of how Canada, which had no army to speak of in 1939, raised a citizen army and turned it into one of the very best fighting armies in World War II, one which helped defeat the most implacable, desperate and battle-hardened German army over the course of 11 months in ’44 and ’45. Canada has always produced astonishingly effective soldiers, and this book is about one of their finest moments.

The argument of this book is that the Canadian army changed from an amateur force in 1939–41 into the supremely skilled and formidably equipped army by late 1944 that was able to prevail against a first-class enemy. In effect, the citizen soldiers became professionals, able to organize and plan, to move and fight, and to win against the best army the world had ever seen, the Wehrmacht.

This is the astonishing story of how Canada mobilized its men, women and industrial resources to raise a military of 1.1 million from a population of only 11 million. The army trained and learned on the job, and though the losses in killed and wounded were high, they were less than in the Great War. This is a story of courage, skill and persistence.

Genres: History, World War II, Canada, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War, 20th Century

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 24, 2015

About the author

Jack Lawrence Granatstein is a Canadian historian who specializes in Canadian political and military history. Granatstein received a graduation diploma from Royal Military College Saint-Jean in 1959, his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1961, his Master of Arts degree from the University of Toronto in 1962, and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Duke University in 1966.

Reviews

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Granatstein's book provides an overview of the Canadian Armed Forces in the Second World War. His opinion of the CAF are pretty clear from the title; he argues that, presented with very difficult odds. The discussion of the Canadian actions through the war is interesting enough, but it really is a 'history of the generals' in the sense that its very top down, and only really looks internally at the Canadians and not other sources.

The writing is very typical of an older male military historian; it celebrates the soldiers, criticizes the officers, and blames the politicians. Overall is very celebratory of the Canadian military while completely forgiving it for its crimes. While in one paragraph the author condemns the German forces for executing prisoners, he completely forgives the Canadians for systematically doing the same thing, blaming the fog of war, heightened emotions, etc.. Morally speaking, this is not a very strong argument and made me lose respect for the author quite quickly. Its obvious that German atrocities were worse than Canadian ones; that doesn't mean we should ignore or dismiss those committed by Canadians.

Also, one of his overall arguments is that Canada was not prepared for WWII due to neglect of the military by politicians, but when push came to shove it developed fast. Therefore, we should not repeat this mistake and should have high levels of funding for the military so we can be perpetually ready. This argument makes no sense; since if we can react to WWII quickly without a massive standing army, then why have a massive standing army permanently on standby?

[Kristall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book really hard to follow and frankly, a little boring. I haven't read a lot of military history books so I don't think I can properly compare this to anything but the writing lacked passion and intensity and was confusing. I loved the little vignettes of what individual soldiers went through, their thoughts and letters home, but the book is much more an overview of the movements of the military. It's a very top down view and deals with the Generals that lead rather than the brave soldiers that followed their orders.

I was only able to really keep track of the division my grandfather fought in (the 4th Armoured Division) because of that personal connection but found that the author focused on a select few regiments and didn't offer an equal view of what each group did. I would have liked to read more of some regiments and less of others.

I loved the amount of photos that were included but the maps were confusing and not easy to understand. I would have preferred more diagrams of the specific battles rather than such a large overview. For instance, the author describes the battle for the Falaise Pocket (which my grandfather's regiment, the South Albertas, was heavily involved in) in agonizing and dry detail but that meant nothing without a focused map to follow. I couldn't picture the layout at all nor the troop movements. I ended up searching for more maps and information online because I just couldn't understand what the author was saying.

As someone that didn't know much about Canadian soldiers in WWII I did learn a lot so in that respect, it was worth reading.

[Bernie Charbonneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this novel will never be disputed by myself but as much as I praise the involvement of the Canadian Corps during the WWII conflict, this book just doesn't do it justice. I immerse myself with Canadian pov in military history and have read Mr. Granatstein previous works but I must say that this non-fiction rendering of Canada's battles once in Normandy falls way short. If looking for a quick synopsis of our struggles up the coast of France to the Reine then this is sufficient. Like every historical book I did find good tidbits but as the novel is under 300 pages, there was not enough "meat on the bone" for myself.

[Troyj84 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant piece of history on Canada’s campaign in North West Europe in WW2. It avoids the pitfalls of many Canadian historians of being excessively positive of Canada’s role in the war. Instead it offers a balanced perspective of the difficulties that my little country experienced in learning how to fight a modern war. It provides the single best explanation for how Canada did not quite match up to its sterling reputation during The Great War.

[Phillip Sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent look at the Canadian army in WW2 and how it got better and better as the war progressed. Highly recommended!

[Harve Lemelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am more of an aficionado of the First World War, thus I loved Granatstein's last book entitled "The Greatest Victory: Canada's One Hundred Days, 1918”. “The Best Little Army in the World” describes the role of the Canadian Army during the Second World War in Europe, and I am very glad that I have read it, because now I understand far better the challenges that the Canadian Army faced (and overcame) in Italy, France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. This is a good read that is recommended for anyone who wants to learn more about Canada's role in the Second World War.