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Brave Battalion
- The Remarkable Saga of the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) in the First World War
- Narrated by: Thomas Fawley
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
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On to Victory
- The Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands, March 23 - May 5, 1945
- Written by: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
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It is remembered in the Netherlands as "the sweetest of springs," the one that saw the country's liberation from German occupation. But for the soldiers of First Canadian army, who fought their way across the Rhine River and then through Holland and northwest Germany, that spring of 1945 was bittersweet. While the Dutch were being liberated from the grinding boot heel of the Nazis, their freedom was being paid for in Canadian lives lost.
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A story every Canadian should know.
- By jvoftweed on 2020-06-13
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Tragedy at Dieppe
- Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942
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- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
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With its trademark "you are there" style, Mark Zuehlke's 10th Canadian Battle Series volume tells the story of the 1942 Dieppe raid. Nicknamed "The Poor Man's Monte Carlo", Dieppe had no strategic importance, but with the Soviet Union thrown on the ropes by German invasion and America having just entered the war, Britain was under intense pressure to launch a major cross-Channel attack against France. Since 1939, Canadian troops had massed in Britain and trained for the inevitable day of the mass invasion of Europe that would finally occur in 1944.
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Excellent Written
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For Honour's Sake
- The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy Peace
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- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
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In the Canadian imagination, the War of 1812 looms large. It was a war in which British and Indian troops prevailed in almost all of the battles, in which the Americans were unable to hold any of the land they fought for, in which a young woman named Laura Secord raced over the Niagara peninsula to warn of American plans for attack (though how she knew has never been discovered), and in which Canadian troops burned down the White House.
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A very even keeled assessment
- By Left Coast Leo on 2021-03-26
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Ortona
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In one furious week of fighting in December 1943, the First Canadian Infantry Division took Ortona, Italy, from elite German paratroopers ordered to hold the medieval port at all costs. When the battle was over, the Canadians emerged victorious despite heavy losses.
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I had no idea...
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Holding Juno
- Canada's Heroic Defence of the D-Day Beaches: June 7-12, 1944
- Written by: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: Kyle Munley
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
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At D-Day's end, the Canadians, who had landed on Juno Beach, were six miles inland - the deepest penetration achieved by Allied forces on this infamous day. But every soldier on this front line knew worse was yet to come. For in the darkness the Germans were massing, intent on throwing them back to sea. With dramatic intensity, Holding Juno re-creates the ensuing battle and ultimate Canadian triumph and includes fascinating first-person soldier accounts as well as photos and maps.
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Excellent review of the Canadian experience on D-Day
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Terrible Victory
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- Narrated by: James Conlan
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On September 4, 1944, Antwerp, Europe’s largest port, fell to the Second British Army and it seemed the war would soon be won. But Antwerp was of little value unless the West Scheldt Estuary linking it to the North Sea was also in Allied hands. In his greatest blunder of the war, Field Marshal Montgomery turned his back on the port, leaving the First Canadian Army to fight its way up the long coastal flank. By the time the Canadians and others serving with them reached the area, it had been transformed into a fortress manned by troops ordered to fight to the death.
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Well written and compelling history
- By Ken Y on 2023-03-06
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On to Victory
- The Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands, March 23 - May 5, 1945
- Written by: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 16 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
It is remembered in the Netherlands as "the sweetest of springs," the one that saw the country's liberation from German occupation. But for the soldiers of First Canadian army, who fought their way across the Rhine River and then through Holland and northwest Germany, that spring of 1945 was bittersweet. While the Dutch were being liberated from the grinding boot heel of the Nazis, their freedom was being paid for in Canadian lives lost.
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A story every Canadian should know.
- By jvoftweed on 2020-06-13
Written by: Mark Zuehlke
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Tragedy at Dieppe
- Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942
- Written by: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: John Wray
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With its trademark "you are there" style, Mark Zuehlke's 10th Canadian Battle Series volume tells the story of the 1942 Dieppe raid. Nicknamed "The Poor Man's Monte Carlo", Dieppe had no strategic importance, but with the Soviet Union thrown on the ropes by German invasion and America having just entered the war, Britain was under intense pressure to launch a major cross-Channel attack against France. Since 1939, Canadian troops had massed in Britain and trained for the inevitable day of the mass invasion of Europe that would finally occur in 1944.
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Excellent Written
- By Normy on 2021-08-30
Written by: Mark Zuehlke
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For Honour's Sake
- The War of 1812 and the Brokering of an Uneasy Peace
- Written by: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the Canadian imagination, the War of 1812 looms large. It was a war in which British and Indian troops prevailed in almost all of the battles, in which the Americans were unable to hold any of the land they fought for, in which a young woman named Laura Secord raced over the Niagara peninsula to warn of American plans for attack (though how she knew has never been discovered), and in which Canadian troops burned down the White House.
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A very even keeled assessment
- By Left Coast Leo on 2021-03-26
Written by: Mark Zuehlke
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Ortona
- Canada's Epic World War II Battle
- Written by: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
In one furious week of fighting in December 1943, the First Canadian Infantry Division took Ortona, Italy, from elite German paratroopers ordered to hold the medieval port at all costs. When the battle was over, the Canadians emerged victorious despite heavy losses.
-
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I had no idea...
- By Ryan F on 2019-03-09
Written by: Mark Zuehlke
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Holding Juno
- Canada's Heroic Defence of the D-Day Beaches: June 7-12, 1944
- Written by: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: Kyle Munley
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
At D-Day's end, the Canadians, who had landed on Juno Beach, were six miles inland - the deepest penetration achieved by Allied forces on this infamous day. But every soldier on this front line knew worse was yet to come. For in the darkness the Germans were massing, intent on throwing them back to sea. With dramatic intensity, Holding Juno re-creates the ensuing battle and ultimate Canadian triumph and includes fascinating first-person soldier accounts as well as photos and maps.
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Excellent review of the Canadian experience on D-Day
- By Chris Winwood on 2022-12-12
Written by: Mark Zuehlke
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Terrible Victory
- First Canadian Army and the Scheldt Estuary Campaign, September 13–November 6, 1944
- Written by: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: James Conlan
- Length: 17 hrs and 7 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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On September 4, 1944, Antwerp, Europe’s largest port, fell to the Second British Army and it seemed the war would soon be won. But Antwerp was of little value unless the West Scheldt Estuary linking it to the North Sea was also in Allied hands. In his greatest blunder of the war, Field Marshal Montgomery turned his back on the port, leaving the First Canadian Army to fight its way up the long coastal flank. By the time the Canadians and others serving with them reached the area, it had been transformed into a fortress manned by troops ordered to fight to the death.
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Well written and compelling history
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Stretching like an armor-toothed belt across Italy's upper thigh, the Gothic Line was the most fortified position the German army had yet thrown into the Allied forces' path. On August 25, 1944, it fell to Canadian troops to spearhead a major offensive: to rip through that fiercely defended line. This gripping chronicle tells, through the eyes of the soldiers who fought there, of the 28-day clash that ultimately ended in glory for the Canadians.
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Reader Ruins Story
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At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War on July 17, 1936, 42 thousand Internationals, comprised of Canadians, Americans, and Spaniards, fought together on the side of the Republicans who were trying to throw back fascist dictator General Franco’s troops, which included countless German and Italian soldiers. By October 29, 1938 though, only two thousand Internationals were able to gather for a speech requesting them to withdraw. Despite all their efforts, Spain wanted to continue on its own, hoping the war would become a Spanish affair once again.
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Operation Husky
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On July 10, 1943, two great Allied armadas of over 2,000 ships readied to invade Sicily. This was Operation Husky, the first step toward winning a toehold in fascist-occupied Europe. Among the invaders were 20,000 Canadian troops serving in the First Canadian Infantry Division and First Canadian Tank Brigade - in their first combat experience. Over the next 28 days, the Allied troops carved a path through the rugged land, despite fierce German opposition.
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Great history of a lesser known battle.
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How Canada Won the Great War
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For nearly 100 years Canada's role in ending WWI sooner than anyone thought possible has gone largely unrecognized. The Canadian Corp led by citizen soldier, Arthur Currie, became the premiere fighting force on the Western Front. The fact that Canada was not yet a formalized nation but a Dominion at the close of the war may be the reason for the absence of recognition yet the record of the Canadian WWI military accomplishments is irrefutable.
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IT ADDS PRIDE FOR THE CANADIAN ARMY
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The Hudson’s Bay Company started out small in 1670, trading practical manufactured goods for furs with the indigenous inhabitants of inland subarctic Canada. Controlled by a handful of English aristocrats, it expanded into a powerful political force that ruled the lives of many thousands of people - from the lowlands south and west of Hudson Bay, to the tundra, the great plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Northwest.
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Disappointing
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Breakout from Juno
- First Canadian Army and the Normandy Campaign, July 4 - August 21, 1944
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The ninth book in the Canadian Battle Series, Breakout from Juno, is the first dramatic chronicling of Canada's pivotal role throughout the entire Normandy Campaign following the D-Day landings.
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Fantastic Book. Narration needs work.
- By JT Walsh on 2018-11-15
Written by: Mark Zuehlke
Publisher's Summary
This is the story of the average Canadian who volunteered for the Canadian Expeditionary Force told through the lens of one battalion - the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division. This Highland Regiment fought in the Ypres Salient and in the Somme, at Vimy, Passchendaele, and Amiens. It suffered the first gas attack; its ranks were decimated as it fought at virtually every major battle in the European theatre.
From the declaration of war to the cessation of hostilities, Zuehlke follows the battalion from marshalling and training in Canada, across the Atlantic to England, and then landing in Europe. In graphic detail he takes the reader into the trenches and onto the shell-pocked battlefields, through assaults on ridges and wooded valleys. Brave Battalion is not a sweeping history of the conflict. It is rather the story of war on the ground as told through the accomplishments of a band of brothers - the Canadian Scottish - who came to represent the best of what Canada sent into battle.
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What listeners say about Brave Battalion
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- And
- 2022-05-13
Terrible Narration
Book is what I expected. Well worth the read…and in this case I’d stick with reading it.
Narrator is terrible. Horrible fake Scottish accent, mispronunciation (and in inconsistent pronunciation) of place names and Canadian ranks. If he can be a voice actor, anyone can.
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- Ned Shillington
- 2022-05-06
Superbly written, but poorly performed.
A fascinating account of the life in the trenches. It triumphs over a pathetic narration. Someone who can’t pronounce Kelowna or Regina needs to look for other employment.
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- Sean Harris
- 2021-03-26
Excellent history, but Canadians may find the mispronunciations grating
I have enjoyed both reading and listening to Mark Zuehke’s books and so far as providing history that ranges from a clear overall picture to intimate details of soldiers’ daily experience, this book is excellent.
My only complaint is that the narrator, while giving a decent performance, has little familiarity with names of people and places that are well known in Canadian history and geography.
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- Sean
- 2015-12-16
Probably a good book but the presentation is baddd
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
While perusing the history section I came across this title which was in the very small Canadian enclave. As a military history buff I was interested enough to put my audible credit down and give it a try. I wish that I could actually give this book a good and fair review but I'm sorry to say that the performance was so distractingly bad that I'm probably not qualified to tell how good the book actually is. Honestly, probably 4 hours into it ( what can I say I'm a completionist ) and there are huge reams of this recording I could tell you nothing about because I had been so distracted by the presenters absolute lack of knowledge about how to pronounce the names of famous Canadians along with Canadian cities, provinces and prime ministers. Ok, now I know someone is going to say that, being Canadian, I'm overly touchy here but honestly, who is this book about Canadian Military history likely to be read by? Canadians right? So don't you think you should do a little research? If you don't know how to pronounce Aurelia thats one thing, but you can't pronounce Vancouver? You're killing me. And its Byng, as in "Bing", rhymes with ring, not any of the dozen ways it was pronounced here. Sooooooo many of these.
Ok ok, I'll cool down for a moment. Wait. What? He's doing what? No. You can't be serious. Yep. He's doing impressions, he is faking French, Scotch, English and German accents. I really didn't even know what to say at this point. I'm realitively new to audio books but outside of a children's book I've never heard anything like this.
I hate sounding like a total jerk, and if this had been something from Libravox or any free/volunteer based recording I would have just skipped it and moved on but when someone is charging for this I had to say something.
Sorry Thomas Fawley, this was just not your finest hour.
How could the performance have been better?
See above.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
I could only assume it would be a comedy and I'm more of the drama type.
Any additional comments?
Please audible, have someone else record this book! You are charging money for this !
5 people found this helpful
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- Jeff Wise
- 2016-06-12
Good book, horrible narration.
I should have just read this one. I'm intensely disappointed in the quality of narration. He seemed to do no prep work before narrating, miss pronouncing so many place and peoples names, then insisted on using unbearable accents for quotes. I've read other works by Mark Zuehlke, I'll go back to the print.
4 people found this helpful
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- Jean
- 2013-04-02
Oh, those brave men!
On the eve of the 99th anniversary of the start of "The Great War" it is appropriate to read about WW1. I have spend the past three years reading every thing I can about WW1 as well as take on- line courses. Many of the books I have been reading review the big picture of the war or are scholarly history book. I have now start looking to regimental histories or individual stories, nonfiction or fiction. I came across this book as a semi-regimental history of one of the Canada battalions.
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Zuehlke is a skilled writer but he is a journalist not a military historian. It shows. In some ways he does not understand the military but he does write a good general interest story.
On August 4, 1914 Great Britain declared war and Canada found itself at war. With a small permanent force, Canada had to rush to recruit, and train enough troops. Five of these militia units--the 72nd Scottish Highlanders of Canada from Vancouver, the 50th Gordon Highlanders of Canada from Victoria, the Seaforth Highlanders from Victoria, Winnipeg's 79th Cameron Highlanders of Canada and the 91st Canadian Highlanders from Hamilton, Ont. were the first to be amalgamated into the 16th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, know as the Canadian Scottish Battalion. They were the first to be ship to France and fought throughout the war and served in the occupation force. This book recounts the story of this Battalion as one of Canada's premier infantry units with twenty-one battle honors to its credit. Many metals won by its men including the Victoria Cross. Fighting in battles such as Ypres, St. Julien, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Hill 70 and Passchendaele--Zuehlke constructs in vivid detail the horror and uncertainty of trench warfare. This book only covers the battalion and it's men and what they did in the war, it does not cover the big pictures or grand strategy of the war. Thomas Fawley did a great job narrating the book, loved his Scottish accent. Every one should take the time as the 100th anniversary nears to read a book about WWI "lest we forget" what to me was the greatest generation because after all they suffered in WW1 , they faced the great depression and then WWII.
3 people found this helpful
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- Robert
- 2016-04-12
Great story, sub-standard narration.
The story is great, and well worth the buy. However, the narrator makes so many pronunciation errors, one suspects that the narrator has never lived in Canada. Not knowing how to pronounce Canadian cities is off-putting, but overall, the story is great. Do order it!
2 people found this helpful
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- Adam
- 2015-03-20
Narrator should be provided with notes
The narrator was obviously American, as he pronounced words improperly, or not as they are in Canadian English. Specifically the rank of lieutenant. In the British system, it is pronounced 'lef-te-nant', not 'loo-te-nant.' This was upsetting as the officers that he spoke of were not given the respect properly afforded to them, by erroneously pronouncing the rank to which they obtained and served as.
1 person found this helpful
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- michael d thornley
- 2019-08-04
Atrocious narrating, great story.
I have to echo others and start with criticising the narration. It was the worst I have encountered. There was no effort in pronouncing Canadian and German place names and words properly to the point of distraction. I had to mentally rethink some passages to figure out what exactly he was talking about. His varied pronunciations of the German word "zwischen" is criminal. This book deserves to be rerecorded with a new narrator.
The book itself is a well thought out narrative on the 16 Battalion, but I wish I had read it instead of listened to it. I would pass on this audiobook and pick up a paper copy instead.
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- HSB
- 2017-04-21
Worth it though a bit uneven
I'm a history buff and with the recent 100th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge, I was looking for a book about the Canadian experience in WWI. This was a great book, and I learned much about our wonderful Canadian military.
The performance left me wanting more, however. The pronunciation of French place names and words was generally very poor (I'm a native French speaker and often could not tell what town or village the reader was talking about). In addition, two very Canadian names stood out as being incorrectly pronounced repeatedly: PM Wilfred Laurier was called "Looriay" instead of "Lawriay" (in an approximation of phonetics); and the city is called VanCOUver, not VANcouver... this gets very annoying to a Canadian, after a while.
The story is fascinating- some sections can be a bit dry, but overall I do recommend this to those who want to learn more about Canada's valiant men who fought in WWI.
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- Elaintahra
- 2016-01-25
Interesting and well written history
Well written and well narrated book. Only thing I was missing were maps of battles but with audio book they are nor so easy to show :)
Recommended.
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- Tyler J. Smith
- 2013-05-07
Casual Listener
Would you consider the audio edition of Brave Battalion to be better than the print version?
Having read many of Mark Zuehlke's books, I am a little biased. I would say it is more convenient.
What aspect of Thomas Fawley’s performance would you have changed?
Thomas does not speak as fluidly as he might have otherwise done. As well, one little thing that was a huge annoyance was his pronounciation of Regina (Canadian commanders labelled objectives with familiar names, and commonly used city names like Sudbury, Vancouver, etc). I cringed everytime he said "Reg-eeee-na" instead "Reg-eye-nah".
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I would have definitely listened to it in several LONG sittings.