Waterstones Vimy Ridge 1917
19 ratings
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Price: £16.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: In early 1917 Vimy Ridge, one of the most important features on the Western Front, was considered impregnable. However, in a spectacular victory, the four Divisions of the Canadian Army Corps, under Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng, took almost the entire ridge in a day. This book examines every aspect of the secret to their success: preparation. The author shows how effective observation, accurate shelling, and new infantry tactics all prepared the ground for Byng's victory. When the attack opened at 5.30am on April 9 the Canadians easily overwhelmed the forward fire trenches, secured most of the ridge within the day, and all their planned objectives within four days. Waterstones Vimy Ridge 1917 - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9781841768717
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9781841768717
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Author: hacksovius
Rating: 5
Review: Another excellent addition to the Osprey Campaign series. While there is a limitation to the depth in which a subject can be covered in this format, the glory of the series is the exceptional quality of the maps; and lets face it, you can't write a serious book on a campaign or battle without lavish provision of maps. Without a map, you are left with a meaningless gazetteer of towns and places (Read Stutterheim's account of Austerlitz and you will see what I mean). Four full page maps; one half page; and three double page panoramas enable you to follow the action and understand what happened, where, and why. I enjoyed the book immensely.
Author: Mike Dillemuth
Rating: 4
Review: The author, Alexander Turner, did a nice job of providing a comprehensive narrative of this campaign. The book is written in a logical manner and the battle is easy to follow. Although the story is mostly told from the Canadian perspective, the book contains enough information on the German side to provide a decent level of balance. The book also contains a sufficient amount of focus on the use of the creeping barrage which was a major factor in the Canadian's victory. As with all Osprey books, this one has a wide assortment of black and white photos. It also has two recent colored photos of the battlefield. These photos are marked with red lines to show the location of German entrenchments. Unfortunately, these two photos fail to add anything of significance. They just look like marked up color photos. Still, the author can be given credit for tying something different. The book has five 2D tactical maps and two 3D BEV maps. They are pretty good and help the reader understand the course of the battle. The author also included two full color battle scenes that are pretty informative. One in particular gives a good view of allied troops marching over a pockmarked and barren landscape. The second battle scene is of the inside of a German trench. The book has an extremely detailed Order of Battle and a chart showing the distribution of artillery at Vimy Ridge. This is not very useful to the average reader but it could be useful to someone looking for empirical data on the battle. The book's chronology covers all of WW1, not just this campaign. That said, it is short (1 ½ pages) so it is a relatively useful reference. Bottom line, this is a pretty good book that provides a nice overview of the Campaign. Almost half the book is focused on the battle itself. It is well organized and a relatively easy read.
