This is a trade paperback, leafed through but not read, of The Guns of Victory, A Soldier's Eye View, Belgium, Holland and Germany 1944-45, by the Canadian writer George Blackburn (1917-2006). Blackburn was also a WWII veteran, awarded both the Military Cross and the French Legion of Honour. He wrote about his experiences and his books were best-sellers. (I have the companion book, the Guns of Normandy, also listed here on eBay.)
This book is in near-mint condition. The original owner leafed through it, dog-eared it once, then apparently didn't pick it up again. 506 pages, including maps and photos.
This is one review:
For the Canadian Soldiers who lived through the momentous battle for
Normandy in the summer of 1944, it was inconceivable that the conflict
in Europe could continue for another eight long months. The war was won,
they thought, and to win it they had been pushed to what seemed like
the limits of endurance. But ahead lay not only an enemy with no
thoughts of surrender, but also appalling battle conditions reminiscent
of the legendary miseries of Passchendaele.
This much-anticipated
sequel to
The Guns of Normany picks up where its critically acclaimed
predecessor leaves off, and it continues in the same absorbing,
startlingly vivid style. After the battle for Normandy, Blackburn's 4th
Field Regiment, with the rest of 1st Canadian Army, is called upon to
pursue the enemy through the flooded Low Country, clearing the Scheldt
estuary - a task equal to that of D-Day - and opening the port of
Antwerp to allow for the huge influx of supplies necessary to press on
against the German forces, now fighting with mounting desperation and
ferocity.
After enduring the worst winter in local memory, and
spending yet another Christmas far from home, in the spring of 1945 the
Canadians are thrust into the crucial Battle of the Rhineland, which
will eventually allow Allied forces to plunge into the heart of the
Reich.
When victory comes, it is with no sense of triumph over a
vanquished foe, but with the profoundest relief that this most terrible
conflict in history is finally over.
Told with Blackburn's now
trademark sense of drama and eye for detail, this story of the desperate
struggle for Europe becomes as large as life. It should fully establish
Blackburn as the author of an acknowledged classic on the Second World
War.