Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Canada at War - Paul Keery

Title: Canada at War: a graphic history of World War Two
Author: Paul Keery, Michael Wyatt (illustrator)
File Size (Pages): 29296 KB (176)
Published: 2012
Genre: History, Graphic Novel
Challenges: Support Your Library
Edition: E-book
Source: Library

Description: A beautifully crafted graphic novel, tracing the achievements of the Canadian Forces in the Second World War.

In 1914, Canada went to war as a subject of Britain.  In 1939, it made the choice to fight all on its own. Canada at War follows the developments and setbacks, wins and losses, of a nation learning to stand up for itself in the midst of the most difficult war of the 20th century.

In graphic-novel format, fully illustrated and in full colour, Canada at War shows the growth of a nation's army, navy and air force through movingly depicted triumphs and tragedies.  From the disheartening losses at Dieppe and Hong Kong through the Battle of the Atlantic and the invasion of Sicily, it focusses on the human dimension of the key battles and decisions that ultimately swung the war in the Allies' favour.

This poignant graphic account ends, after the victories of D-Day and Juno Beach and the liberation of Europe, with a final reckoning of the legacy these storied years have had on a country forged through war. (via FVRL Overdrive)

Thoughts: Since I knew the broad strokes of the Canadian involvement during World War Two and had a good sense of the war overall, I found this book to be a little simple at times, but nonetheless, I found the book to be very informative in regards to various battles that the Canadian military was involved in during this time period.   I read this as a library download from FVRL (Fraser Valley Regional Library) and found that it took time for the book to load quickly, due to the heavy graphic usage.  I would have liked it more if they had done it on a year by year basis rather than by covering the service branches (army, navy, and air force) individually.

Bottom line: Felt that it was a great overview for those that want a good general overview of the Canadian involvement during World War Two and would be a good resource for secondary schools (high schools) to get their hands on for their students to help them to understand what the military went through.  It does have a pro-military bias and doesn't mention at any point in the book about the men who didn't fight, but instead did their war service in places like logging camps, etc.

Rating: 3/5

Pages for 2012: 15463

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