Rating: Summary: A Teen View Review: Thrilling book. I was "Forced" to read a book by Farley Mowat for my OAC Can. Lit. course, and I was quite impressed. In a world of pro-american war stories, books and movies, this is an excellent relief and view into the Canadian side of the war, on a front that we don't often read about or see in the media. The Italian front, and the battle for Rome.A groupd of Canadian troops, a platoon of Intelligence personell led by Mowat's character, land in Italy, expecting harsh, bloody battles, to find a walk through, the only troops they encounter is a platoon of British Commandoes. The Long, hot walk to Sicily is met with no resistance, and no food, water and new clothes. As our hero watches birds from an APC, they ride into a mild German Ambush. This book combines humour, when our hero and an associate ride on a motorbike through Italian antitank defences into an Italian base, to inspect "resistance", the Italians provide trucks and a limo for the tired Canadians, as well as horrific battle scenes, whole platoons lost under artillery. The visual words and imagery make this as much a movie as a book, a definate read for vets, baby boomers and rebelious teens alike.
Rating: Summary: A Teen View Review: Thrilling book. I was "Forced" to read a book by Farley Mowat for my OAC Can. Lit. course, and I was quite impressed. In a world of pro-american war stories, books and movies, this is an excellent relief and view into the Canadian side of the war, on a front that we don't often read about or see in the media. The Italian front, and the battle for Rome. A groupd of Canadian troops, a platoon of Intelligence personell led by Mowat's character, land in Italy, expecting harsh, bloody battles, to find a walk through, the only troops they encounter is a platoon of British Commandoes. The Long, hot walk to Sicily is met with no resistance, and no food, water and new clothes. As our hero watches birds from an APC, they ride into a mild German Ambush. This book combines humour, when our hero and an associate ride on a motorbike through Italian antitank defences into an Italian base, to inspect "resistance", the Italians provide trucks and a limo for the tired Canadians, as well as horrific battle scenes, whole platoons lost under artillery. The visual words and imagery make this as much a movie as a book, a definate read for vets, baby boomers and rebelious teens alike.
Rating: Summary: A Canadian Classic Review: Undeniably the best war memoir written by a Canadian who served in the Second World War. The book chronicles Mowat's experiences in 1943 as a participant in the invasion of Sicily and Italy, and in classic Mowat style captures both the stark reality and lighter side of his experiences. Mowat also wrote a history of his unit--one of the first books he published, and which was later revised (and is somewhat difficult to find at the moment)--entitled The Regiment.
Rating: Summary: A Canadian Classic Review: Undeniably the best war memoir written by a Canadian who served in the Second World War. The book chronicles Mowat's experiences in 1943 as a participant in the invasion of Sicily and Italy, and in classic Mowat style captures both the stark reality and lighter side of his experiences. Mowat also wrote a history of his unit--one of the first books he published, and which was later revised (and is somewhat difficult to find at the moment)--entitled The Regiment.
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