This is the companion volume in the author's deep dive into the major operations fought by the II Canadian Corps in the Normandy campaign. II Canadian Corps was at the epicenter of the action on the eastern flank where the vaunted I SS Panzer Corps struggled mightily to hold the critical Caen anchor. The Canadians faced the very best of the Waffen SS including the Hitler Youth 12th SS Panzer Division. The book covers the last two major British and Canadian joint operations including TOTALIZE and TRACTABLE and the battle for the Falaise Pocket. The book explores both the corps commander's actions (Simonds) and that of Army commander (Montgomery) and places them in relation to American operations. AUTHOR: Major John Rickard has a PhD in Military History from the University of New Brunswick and currently lectures at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. He is an adjunct associate professor at the Royal Military College of Canada and has taught at American Military University. He is the author of five books including Monty's Normandy Hammer, The Politics of Command: Lieutenant-General A.G.L. McNaughton and the Canadian Army, 1939-1943 and Advance and Destroy: Patton as Commander in the Bulge which won the 2011 US Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing award for operational/battle history. 31 b/w illustrations
