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Description
BOOK SIX in the Canadian Battle Series
Terrible Victory is a gripping account of Canada's bloody liberation of western Holland, one of our finest, and most costly, military victories.
On September 4, 1944, Antwerp, Europe's largest port, fell to the Second British Army and it seemed the war would soon be won. But Antwerp was of little value unless the West Scheldt Estuary linking it to the North Sea was also in Allied hands. In his greatest blunder of the war, Field Marshal Montgomery turned his back on the port, leaving the First Canadian Army to fight its way up the long coastal flank.
By the time the Canadians and others serving with them reached the area, it had been transformed into a fortress manned by troops ordered to fight to the death. Crushing the Nazi defenders required all of the Canadians' courage, endurance and skill. The battle that raged until November was Canada's bloodiest of World War II, costing more than 6,000 casualties.
Awards
- , City of Victoria Butler Book Prize
Editorial Reviews
"There is no question that Mark Zuehlke has become one of Canada's best historical writers [and]...Zuehlke has produced another winner. Terrible Victory covers the little known series of battles to wrest the strategically vital Scheldt estuary from the Germans...Zuehlke brings this story to light in his inimitable style."
— Canadian Military Magazine
"Each book is a labour of love for Zuehlke...Terrible Victory, which features a fragmented battle over numerous areas, was a challenge for him to piece together in a linear fashion...Zuehlke is fascinated by the generation who went through the Second World War and lived to shape our nation as it is today. ...[He thinks] in order to understand them you have to understand the experience that they went through."
— Victoria News
"Terrible Victory does not focus strictly on the hostilities between those in command, although the personality conflicts between key planners...are brought to life for the reader. Instead, Zuehlke examines the battle from the point of view of the Canadian and German sides, utilizing memoirs, regimental histories and personal papers of those in the battle...his work is a welcome addition to Second World War literature on the subject."
— Globe & Mail
"Zuehlke has honed his techniques over time..the result, as in his Terrible Victory...is a very good study of the 2nd Canadian Corps’ hard-fought battles in the mud and on the polders of the approaches to Antwerp...Zuehlke has a good eye for the telling detail."
— Legion Magazine
"Mark Zuehlke has brought to life a woefully under-recorded chapter in Canadian history in the excellent Terrible Victory...Zuehlke's skill in writing battle narrative remains unsurpassed. The book conveys a vast amount of detail while remaining an enormously engaging, heart-rendering, and exciting read...Terrible Victory rises to a whole new level and can be enjoyed by anyone interested in Canadian military history...Zuehlke has done a masterful job giving the campaign its full due at last."
— Quill & Quire
"Zuehlke brings readers into the terrifying experience of Canadian soldiers slogging through the mud and wet of the Dutch polders, while providing the strategic context and importance of the battle before them...Terrible Victory continues Zuehlke’s impressive run of bringing to light Canada's most important contributions of the Second World War."
— The Beaver
