Days of Victory, Canadians Remember 1939-1945
Thomas Allen Publishers
March 12, 2005
ISBN 0-88762-175-9
When the German capitulation in Europe came on May 8 – VE Day – celebrations swept the continent. Festivities also spilled into the streets of Halifax, Ottawa, Sudbury, Regina, and Vancouver back home. It was a sweet day and a bitter one for millions of people whose lives had been changed forever by nearly six years of global war.
This volume of wartime remembrance carries the reader from the early days of the Second World War – through the struggles in western Europe, Italy, and Hong Kong to the Canadians’ ultimate march to victory that began on D-Day in 1944 and culminated in VE and VJ Day, more than a year later.
From interviews, research, and images originally gathered by father and son writing team Alex and Ted Barris, best-selling author Ted Barris has broadened this revised edition to include stories of Canadian heroism in the Pacific war, accounts of Canadian war correspondents battling to beat the censors, more first-hand impressions from the Canadians who liberated Europe – and from the civilians they liberated in Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, and finally Holland. On the eve of the 60th anniversary of VE Day this book gives voice to that generation who won the world a second chance.
The Days of Victory text is enhanced by 32 pages of personal/archival photographs and maps.
Mr. Barris, I have been waiting for a signed copy of your book, Days of Victory, since Dec.2020. I’d bought it as a Christmas gift for my son-in-law, who’s a veteran. I ordered it through The Canadian Warplane Heritage Society. For months, it’s been delayed (hardcover, to softcover, to publishing delays). As they’re now telling me I have to wait until the end of July, I’ve sadly asked for a refund. I can order it through Amazon, but it’s not signed.
Are you at all able to accommodate me? I, along with my son-in-law, would be most obliged.
Reginald Stephenson