On to Victory
The Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands, March 23 - May 5, 1945
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
On to Victory
Buy Now for £21.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
William Dufris
-
By:
-
Mark Zuehlke
About this listen
It is remembered in the Netherlands as "the sweetest of springs", the one that saw the country's liberation from German occupation. But for the soldiers of First Canadian army, who fought their way across the Rhine River and then through Holland and northwest Germany, that spring of 1945 was bittersweet. While the Dutch were being liberated from the grinding boot heel of the Nazis, their freedom was being paid for in Canadian lives lost.
On to Victory is the story of those final cruel days of the war. From the brutal battlefields of Holland and northwest Germany where a collapsing enemy army still fought with fierce determination, to the unique truce in which the Germans and Allies provided food to millions of Dutch citizens starved almost to death, to those heady moments when each town and city was finally liberated, this is the little-told story of First Canadian Army's last campaign of World War II. With his trademark "you are there" style that draws upon official records, veteran memories, and a keen understanding of the experience of combat, Mark Zuehlke brings to life this final chapter in the story of Canada in World War II.
©2011 Mark Zuehlke (P)2011 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
Editor reviews
Having fought their way through western Germany and Holland, the First Canadian Army received a jubilant welcome from the newly liberated Dutch people in the waning days of World War II. Author Mark Zuehlke is famous for his "you are there" brand of history writing, and prodigious voice actor William Dufris does him justice here, deftly affecting the colloquial drawl of a battle-weary soldier one moment, the hushed, academic calculations of a backroom tactician in the next. Dufris recants Zuehlke's painstaking research in his rich natural baritone, so that listeners can easily distinguish where the author's own analysis gives way to first-person role playing.
Excellent account of a near forgotten part of ww2.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Deeply moving
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I then reached about halfway and the Canadians were joined by their colleagues who had fought in the Sicily landings and up through the the Gustav and Gothic lines. Having just read Holland’s Sicily I felt obliged to go back to Mark’s earlier volumes and pick up the Canadians through there, until we reached the point whereby they are relieved and relived to rejoin their comrades in NW Europe. So glad I did.
These are 3 mighty tomes, very well read (preferred 1.1 and sometimes 1.2 speed) by a performer who either knows his stuff or is well researched and advised. The usual ‘impressions of characters’ but this didn’t seem to grate so much this time.
As a Brit I now have a much better idea of what Canada - often eclipsed by the British and US in these campaigns for convenience and perhaps purposeful disrespectfulness - this is the book to read to get a much better perspective. Thank you Mark and thank you Canada. Soon I’ll get to the Netherlands and ‘walk some of the ground. And would be happy to be mistaken for a Canadian.
An excellent book in all respects. Stuart
40,000 thank yous Canada (and to you too Mark)
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.