Fight to the Finish
CBC Books | | Posted: June 5, 2019 6:41 PM | Last Updated: June 5, 2019
Tim Cook
Historian Tim Cook displays his trademark storytelling ability in the second volume of his masterful account of Canadians in World War II. Cook combines an extraordinary grasp of military strategy with a deep empathy for the soldiers on the ground, at sea and in the air. Whether it's a minute-by-minute account of a gruelling artillery battle, vicious infighting among generals, the scene inside a medical unit or the small details of a soldier's daily life, Cook creates an utterly compelling narrative. He recounts in mesmerizing detail how the Canadian forces figured in the Allied bombing of Germany, the D-Day landing at Juno beach, the taking of Caen and the drive south.
Featuring dozens of black-and-white photographs and moving excerpts from letters and diaries of servicemen, Fight to the Finish, along with its companion volume, The Necessary War, broadens our understanding of the Second World War with a gripping account of Canadians who fought abroad and the home front that was changed forever. (From Penguin Canada)
From the book
"Each month brings heavier raids and heavier losses," recounted Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Flight Lieutenant Leslie McCaig of No. 426 Squadron in his diary in late August 1943. "I can't help feeling that before many weeks a real push will begin on the continent. German morale must suffer from the relentless pounding the RAF is giving their cities." The twenty-seven-year-old McCaig from Ormston, Quebec, was a keen observer of the air war and the part he played in it, and he watched as Bomber Command added new planes and squadrons to its growing strike force. His squadron was a part of No. 6 Group, the Canadian-led bomber group that would eventually consist of fifteen RCAF bomber squadrons that were taking the war to German cities.
From Fight to the Finish by Tim Cook ©2016. Published by Penguin Canada.