OYENTE

Andrew Frantz

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A Good Read, Poorly Presented

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 05-13-23

As with the rest of his series on the Canadian Army’s campaigns in the Second World War, Zuehlke presents an incredibly well-researched story of the role Canadian troops played in the long weeks of fighting to break out of Normandy in July and August 1944. Relying heavily on first-hand accounts of both sides, the book sheds light on numerous horrific, yet vitally important battles long ignored in popular memory. That said, some sections of vignettes just read like rolling medal citations and lack broader context to help the reader out the pieces of the Canadian, and broader Allied, effort together. Occasional gaffes in unit and weapons designations can be a bit annoying in passing. Nevertheless, Breakout from Juno is essential reading for anyone trying to grasp the struggles faced by Allied troops in the Normandy bridgehead and breakout.

That said, the book is done a complete disservice by an awful reader. His French pronunciations, which one would expect to be critical for a book on troops (including some Francophone) fighting in France, are awful and even change throughout the book. He also, as some non-fiction readers do, effects accents for direct quotations but once again misses the mark - usually using English, and poor Scottish, accents for Canadian soldiers. The poor reading really detracts from an otherwise good book.

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Well researched, poorly presented

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 12-04-22

Babits did an immense amount of research but almost to a fault, as the narrative flow is lost in the minutiae. An uninspiring reader does not help either.

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A Great Story, But A Disappointing Interpretation

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-06-19

As a keen student of military history, and especially of the American War for Independence, I was very much looking forward to this book (and remembered speaking to the author when I worked at the Yorktown battlefield). Sadly, it did not meet my expectations.

In the introduction, O’Donnell explains that he is trying to create “Band of Brothers” narrative of the War for Independence - illuminating the story of that conflict through the eyes of the fighting men of one unit, in this case, Smallwood’s Maryland Battalion. [Aside - He says this has never been done before, but he must have forgotten about Mark Urban’s stunning “Fusiliers” published nearly a decade earlier].

Unfortunately, he falls short of replicating an Ambrose-esque unit history that engrossed the reader in the lives and fortunes of the fighting men at its heart. On one hand, it’s not his fault - those types of books are possible in the study of modern conflicts due to exhaustive interviews of veterans by the authors and by the greater availability of first-hand accounts from the lower ranks as literacy levels have risen through the years. While the reader is sometimes given the perspective of the rank and file (often not from the unit), this is primarily a book about officers. Additionally, while other unit studies cover a single fighting formation, the original Maryland Immortals, Smallwood’s Battalion, exist for only a portion of the narrative. He then tries to cover all the Maryland Line regiments, flying camp, and militia - weakening his premise and diluting the narrative.

The end result is a book that can’t quite figure out what it wants to do. It’s part micro history of Smallwood’s battalion, part history of all Marylanders (including Loyalists) in the war, and part watered-down survey of the war - his full chapters on battles that included few or no Marylanders, like King’s Mountain, seem completely extraneous. This combined with frequent factual errors (i.e. European armies did not fight in lines 6-8 deep, Atlanta was not a major British outpost during the war, and a poor understanding of the role/status of Scots in the British Empire, and of German auxiliaries), a clear bias/over-reliance on period propaganda (he calls several British commanders ruthless without providing justification while not condemning the war crimes he describes being committed by American leaders such as Light Horse Harry Lee and blames the deaths of most of the Marylanders on Charles Cornwallis personally; he also refers to professional officers who spend their careers in the British army as “soldiers of fortune, and fails to acknowledge any of the available counterevidence to stories like the Waxhaws fight or his claims Cornwallis’s absence from the surrender at Yorktown), and a weakness for imposing anachronistic terms/ideas on the period (“special operations” in a modern sense can not but used to describe any actions of this era). Even the very subtitle of the book shows a muddy grasp of the topic. The Maryland regiments (the first error) proved extremely capable and played a pivotal role in many key battles, but were not in any sense of the definition “elite” - there was no special selection process for their men compared to other units, nor did they have any special training or standards that set them apart. They were capable soldiers who grew, alongside their comrades from other states, into a confident, efficient fighting force that won its country’s independence.

This review is not meant to take away from the actions of these brave Patriots who proved to be some of the most reliable men in Washington’s army, but an acknowledgement that those heroes deserve better scholarship.

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A recording that does not do this work justice

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-04-19

Another great installment in Zuehlke’s series (though hard to digest without a map handy), but poorly brought to audio format by the narrator. Odd inflection and emphasis throughout (not quite monotone, but close) and repeated mispronunciation of names, Roman numerals, abbreviations, and even common English words (for instance, “Hamilton,” the letters “HLI,” “short lived,” and “behemoth” should not be difficult for a professional narrator). I had high hopes for this recording but was disappointed.

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Great Coverage of a Famous Campaign

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 08-11-19

A rare, well-balanced account of the Normandy campaign from D-Day to the liberation of Paris. Drawing on sources from all the participating armies, Beevor provides an accessible and enjoyable retelling of the action, with enough new information to keep even a seasoned armchair general happy!

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An exciting account of an exciting campaign

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 03-23-18

I have always been fascinated by the story of the Great War in Africa and Gaudi presents in an exciting and accessible way (and it is performed very well by Hodgson). My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that occasionally there are side claims and comments made which don't have an impact on the main storyline but are simply false (for instance, he claims tigers only live on the Indian subcontinent, or that an Indian soldier won the first Victoria Cross of the war). These are more distracting than anything else and might make the reader question some of the other claims in the book. Overall, however, it is a great read!

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