The Guns of Normandy: A Soldier's Eye View, France 1944 Paperback - 1997

Media reviews

“This book may well contain the greatest Canadian memories of World War II.”
–from the Trillium Award jury citation

“A very moving and poignant…account.…George Blackburn’s book is a salute to the human spirit and its ability to rise to the challenges that confront it.”
–Vanguard

“Entrancing.…One of the best books to come out of the Second World War.”
–Calgary Herald

“George Blackburn…brings us as close as we will ever come to the tension, savagery, and turmoil of the fighting in Normandy half a century ago. The immediacy of Blackburn’s narrative, his empathy with the fighting men, and his professional insight put The Guns of Normandy in a class of its own as a military memoir.”
–Quill & Quire

“A finer first-hand account of Canadians at war simply does not exist.”
–Tom Clark, National Editor, BBS-TV

“[Blackburn] provides details so graphic that even the most unmilitary reader can appreciate artillery warfare. The Guns of Normandy is no glorious adventure story. Once into the front lines, war is hell.…Tension overlays every minute of every hour of every day for weeks on end.”
–Books in Canada

“A remarkable book.…[It] promises to be definitive about wartime soldiering.”
–Toronto Sun

“The finest personal account of the campaign in Northwest Europe written by a Canadian.…His description of what it was like to live through those desperate days…should be read by everyone who thinks that military history is about strategy and the views of generals.”
–Canadians Military History

“A war book not to be missed.”
–Ottawa Citizen

“Easily the best book yet produced on…the Canadian army’s bloody campaign in Normandy. In terms of describing the nightmare of a massive mechanised war from the ground-level view of somebody who was in the thick of it, it is unique.”
–London Free Press


From the Hardcover edition.