Remaining Material

LETTERS IN CANADA: 1946 299 VI. REMAINING MATERIAL J. c. GARRETT AND 0TEIERS Section I deals with books on the war and its aftermath; and Section II, with non-technical writings on . public questions, including education. Section III is Professor A. Brady's annual review of scholarly work in the social sciences. Section IV gathers together notes on literature, the arts, , religion, etc. Section v considers nel:rrative and descriptive wr-iting whose subject is Canada or her various regions, while Section VI is devoted to biography. Except for Professor Brady's section, the bulk of the reviewing has been done by Mr. Garrett, whose name,· therefore, properly stands at the head of the essay. Certain reviews were, as indicated in the text or notes, supplied by others, including two or three by the Editor, who ts also responsible for the arrangement of the material. I With the writing of The War: Sixth Year Edgar Mcinnis has brought to a conclusion his history of the Second World War. This volume traces the development of military events from October, 1944, to the surrender of Germany and Japan in the spring and summer of 1945. In Europe, the events of midsummer 1944 seemed to presage quick victory and it appeared logical to turn to the problem of Japan (especially in view of American public sentiment). Stubborn resistance by the Germans in Italy, however , and their regrouping on the Western Front, in the time-lag when our·communications were being built up, prolonged the struggle. The von Rundstedt offensive of the winter was an example of what strength still lay in German hands. But Germany was doomed, ~nd the inexorable could not be averted. As the pulverizing bomber attacks continued, the Allies closed in from both sides, though the Germans, anxious to provoke, even to the end, ideological discord between Russia and the Western Allies, kept the larger part of their :fighting force on the Eastern Front. With great objectivity and clarity Professor Mcinnis chronicles the closing incidents in the life of the Nazi regime. Part of the book the author devotes to the campaigns .in Burma and the Pacific. The successful prosecution of the Pacific campaign depended on the·massing of Allied sea power because the Japanese, aided by the natural defences of island strongholds (like Iwo Jima), and inspired by fanaticism (especially exemplified in the Kamikaze fliers), fought tenaciously. Even with sea power, and an immense available troop power after the defeat of Germany, the war might have dragged on for another eighteen months w'ithout the atomic bomb. In his concluding paragraphs Professor Mcinnis very briefly sketches the incomplete harmony of peace aims among the victors, and the possible results of future clashes now that atomic power has' been harnessed for destructive purposes. Two booklets on "The Canadian Army at War" were issued in 1945 by the Historical Section of the Department of National Defence, as interim: 300 THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY reports pending the appearance of the official history. To these a t{lird was added in 1946, outlining the contribution made by the Canadian army in the decisive battles in Normandy from D-Day to the Canadian entry into Dieppe. Written in a remarkably objective style (considering the extraordinary character of' the events narrated), the account does not suppress the human element; the intense excitement before D-Day is vividly conveyed. The narrative is detailed in places, but never confusing; particularly clear are the accounts of the invasion landing and the capture of Caen. The_ description of the German disaster in the Falaise Gap, which turned the area into "a tremendous charnel-house" is remarkably ~ graphic. A sense of proportion is always kept, and the reader is apprised at all times of the exact strategic importance of the Canadian contribution to the vast invasion: The booklet is copiously illustrated, not only with photographs, but also with a few colour reproductions of work by official war artists. Another official publication during the year was The RC./.JF Overseas: The Fifth Year, the second Air Force volume to appear. It covers the period from midsummer 1943 to August, 1944, and describes operations carried out by the RCAF overseas, bombing...