Vimy
Vimy - Pierre Berton
People who know of my love for Pierre Berton’s writing may be shocked that it took me this long to get to Vimy, which is widely regarded as one of Pierre Berton’s best books. This book gives a detailed account of the planning and execution of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which occurred in April 1917.
For historians across the world, the battle doesn’t really exist in a standalone fashion, it is seen as part of the Battle of Arras, and only mentioned in passing in history books. In Canada, it is seen as the moment a fledgling nation, a mere British vassal state, stood up on its own two feet and became a nation. It’s taught with pride in our schools as Canada’s shining moment of WWI. There were very few shining moments in that war, one that is seen as completely unnecessary, and we cling to this victory and the ‘nationhood’ that we gained from it as a way of justifying the terrible losses that Canada and the rest of the world suffered.
Berton’s book goes into detail about the planning stages of this battle, about the new artillery techniques the Canadians used to pummel the German guns into submission, but the pieces of the book that I found the most fascinating were the insights into the soldiers. He gave short biographies of a lot of soldier’s whose memoirs were used at primary sources, and it made the human impact of the battle that much more tragic.
This book is really well written, and I think it’s one of my favourites by Pierre Berton. If you are interested in history, particularly Canadian history, I would suggest you pick up some Pierre Berton. He engages with primary sources in a way that makes the story come alive. I would highly recommend his books on the Klondike gold rush, the Dionne Quintuplets, the War of 1812, and the building of the railways. I would not recommend The Arctic Grail.
I would recommend you thank a veteran the next time you meet one. They did some unimaginable things.
The Canadian Vimy Ridge Memorial in France
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