Command And Valour

Known simply as D-Day, most accounts concentrate solely on the initial assault. Here, the entire campaign is re-evaluated and the incredible acts of valour committed by the Allied servicemen who would receive their nation's highest decoration (the Medal of Honour or Victoria Cross) are described alongside their citations and photographs.

The Valour and the Horror Revisited brings together source documents, original essays, and commentaries to provide an analysis of the specific accusations and of larger questions concerning responsible journalism.

A riveting and comprehensive account of the Battle of Anzio and the Alamo-like stand of American and British troops that turned certain defeat into victory The four-month-long 1944 battle on Italy's coast, south of Rome, was one of World War II's longest and bloodiest battles. Surrounded by Nazi Germany's most fanatical troops, American and British amphibious forces endured relentless mortar and artillery barrages, aerial bombardments, and human-wave attacks by infantry with panzers. Through it all, despite tremendous casualties, the Yanks and Tommies stood side by side, fighting with, as Winston Churchill said, "desperate valour." So intense and heroic was the fighting that British soldiers were awarded two Victoria Crosses, while American soldiers received twenty-six Medals of Honor--ten of them awarded posthumously. The unprecedented defensive stand ended with the Allies breaking out of their besieged beachhead and finally reaching their goal: Rome. They had truly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Award-winning author and military historian Flint Whitlock uses official records, memoirs, diaries, letters, and interviews with participants to capture the desperate nature of the fighting and create a comprehensive account of the unrelenting slugfest at Anzio. Desperate Valour is a stirring chronicle of courage beyond measure.

A comprehensive account of Bomber Command's part in the Second World War, together with a personal view of the leadership of the force in those crucial years.

In January 1992 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) broadcast The Valour and the Horror, a three-part television series on Canada's role in World War II. It sparked a major controversy among viewers, war veterans, and historians. Brian and Terence McKenna, the authors-producers of the series, were accused of distorting historical facts, maligning individuals such as commanders Arthur Harris and Guy Simonds, presenting a biased account of events, and overstepping the line between journalism and drama. The Valour and the Horror Revisited brings together source documents, original essays, and commentaries to provide an analysis of the specific accusations and of larger questions concerning responsible journalism. Included in the collection are reports by David Bercuson and S.F. Wise, who were asked by the CBC ombudsman to assess the series; the CBC ombudsman's report; the McKennas' response to the ombudsman's report; the ombudsman's commentary on the McKennas' response; and three new essays by historians John Ferris, William McAndrew, and Scot Robertson on the incidents covered in the series - Canadian involvement in the battles in Hong Kong and Normandy, and the bombing of Germany. The Valour and the Horror Revisited addresses such important issues as the dangers of "docudrama," the calibre of the Canadian media, the meaning of the Canadian experience in the war, and the nature of history.