D:Day: Juno Beach, Canada's 24 Hours of Destiny [Paperback]

Compared to a book like Tim Saunders' JUNO BEACH, this book falls well short of the mark in presenting a detailed description of the events that took place on the Canadian invasion beaches during the invasion of Normandy on June 6th, 1944. Despite the book's length and the number of photographs, as well as the celebrity endorsement by the well known Major General Rohmer, the book simply fails to deliver. The photographs are all well known by now and can be found in other sources, including, many of them, for free online at the Library and Archives Canada website. The maps in the book are almost non-existent, save for a crude map that is repeated with hourly updates on the progress of the troops; it is poorly drawn and hard to relate to the material in the text, which jumps from personal anecdote to broad strategy and back again.

The book's introduction states it is intended as a companion to a television series; perhaps as such it is not intended to be taken seriously. I don't think companion books need to be relegated to simple supporting roles; Gwynne Dyer's "War" was an outstanding volume in its own right. This book doesn't even make an attempt to be taken seriously. Certainly the introduction gives no good account of itself off the bat, by insisting that "D-Day" was the - and I quote - "single most important experience of the twentieth century." Whatever that means. He follows up this baldly ridiculous statement by suggesting the Nazi's actions "were evil, their intent vicious." This kind of silly writing peppers the text throughout, though luckily the words of the veterans themselves are allowed to predominate, so it is not all bad. But other than that, there is little to recommend about this.

Definitely seek out Tim Saunders' book if you are looking for nuts and bolts info about the invasion itself, or seek out Ted Barris first for the experiences of the veterans.

I was delighted to read this marvellous companion to the television programme. Lance Goddard's book provides a fascinating perspective of Canada's involvement in the D-Day landings at the level of the individual participants.

With hourly, almost blow-by-blow, accounts from veterans who survived the battle, Mr. Goddard's book brings the invasion to life in a way that no dry third-person narrative could. The voices of these soldiers, sailors and airmen quietly demonstrate a pragmatic heroism with combined humility and pride. Indeed there seems a common thread of comrades doing a job that just had to get done.

Numerous photographs and evolving beachhead maps effectively support the narrative and bring to life concepts like tanks that swim and thousands of virtually worthless bicycles.

Together, in words and images, this book provides a rich Canadian view of D-Day that should be of equal interest to non-Canadians. As these elderly veterans are finally defeated by General Time this book will help later generations remember the essential sacrifices they, and their friends still in Normandy, made to defeat the Nazis.