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BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
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Description
Commander A.F.C. Layard, RN, wrote almost daily in his diary, in bold, neat script, from the time he entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1913 until his retirement in 1947. The pivotal 1943-45 years of this edited volume offer an extraordinarily full and honest chronicle, revealing Layard’s preoccupations, both with the daily details and with the strain and responsibility of wartime command at sea.
Enhanced by Michael Whitby’s explanatory essays, the diary sheds light on the inshore anti-submarine campaign in British waters; discusses pivotal events such as the invasions of North Africa and Normandy and convoys to Russia; describes encounters with important personalities; and records the final surrender of German U-boats. It is a highly personal piece of history that greatly enhances our understanding of the Canadian naval experience and the Atlantic war as a whole.
A consummately well-researched work, Commanding Canadians will appeal to both naval scholars, as well as to general readers interested in military history.
Contributor Notes
Michael Whitby is Senior Naval Historian at the Canadian National Defence Headquarters.
Awards
- Commended, Keith Matthews Prize, Canadian Nautical Research Society
Editorial Reviews
Michael Whitby writes that readers of Layard's wartime diary 'will find a very human story of a man struggling to maintain his way in difficult circumstances and under enormous pressures. His success marks a triumph of the human spirit over adversity, and deserves to be known.' Absolutely.
— H-Net
Commanding Canadians is an important new contribution to the history of the Battle of the Atlantic ... Whitby has edited this important diary very well, and it can therefore be recommended to all ...
— International Journal of Maritime History, vol. XVIII, no.1
If there was one book I wish I had had a chance to read early in my career, this is it. Commanding Canadians is a gripping history of a small part of the Battle of the Atlantic, a fascinating picture of the realities of life at sea and ashore throught extended periods of operations and, most valuably, a wonderful case study of leadership.
— Canadian Naval Review, vol. 2, no. 2, Summer 2006
