Stout Hearts: The British and Canadians in Normandy 1944 Paperback – August 5, 2016

The author has created an excellent reference on the 21st Army Group's battle in Normandy from the D-Day invasion to the breakout. What Mr. Kite has done is distill a great amount of detailed information into a fascinating look at what it was like to serve in that army as a British or Canadian soldier. He looks closely at the various arms of the military institution of 1944: artillery, infantry, armor, medical, air support, naval support, etc. He succeeds in giving us a soldier's-eye view of their wartime experience in a sufficient amount of detail.My favorite parts of the book are his use of the extensive veteran quotes he's culled from a wide variety of references. He makes liberal use of the many veteran memoirs, unit histories, and campaign narratives published in the last 30 years or so. Books like "The Battalion," "By Tank into Normandy," "Tank Tracks," "Troop Leader," "Forrard," "The Guns of Normandy," "Mailed Fist," "Fear is the Foe," "Marching to the Sound of Gunfire," "So Few Got Through," "Armoured Guardsman," "The Only Way Out," "Sixty-Four Days of a Normandy Summer," "Lion Rampant," "Breaking the Panzers," and "The Pendulum of Battle" to name only a few. Though I already have these and many of the other references he used in my personal library, I found his research and the way he tied them all together in this masterful work to be very useful to my own understanding. In addition, if his quotes from any of those sources sparked my curiosity I could then delve into those books further. This makes it a very handy reference for deeper research.He also drew from interviews, correspondence, and private, unpublished papers from a variety of eyewitnesses and military authorities. And some of the early unit histories were used, those published just after the war, that are now usually only found in specialty libraries and museum collections, unavailable to the average reader.In short, I found this huge undertaking (467 pgs.) to be a great resource for students of the Normandy Campaign and the British Army during World War II. This one will be considered a classic work, and once out of print, highly sought after by serious students and scholars of that time period. I recommend it. Get a copy while you still can!

Anyone interested in soldiering or becoming a soldier-this is a must read-courage,leadership,doing the job,suffering,heroism all are shown & defined in human terms-the book to read if one is thinking of being a soldier or one needs to find his bearings if he already is one- an important read before someone goes into combat-should be required reading at military academies

I have enjoyed Stout Hearts as I was at the site of the battle in 2008. My son had just returned from Iraqi and this was my gift to him for his service. We had blast in exploring Normandy and the entire battlefield. I have always wondered why it took so long for the Brits go finish the task from Dec ,1944. Clearly Casualties and the terrain were against this force. Stout Hearts gave me a better understanding of this period. I would highly recommend this book for students of the Normandy campaign.

TBA

A wonderfully balanced book where the depth of technical detail is beautifully balanced with the very human stories of those who were there.

The books two main aims were to illustrate how an army works and operates in the complexities of land operations and to highlight the human aspect of warfare. It is impossible to detail the operational complexities of Army strategic warfare by concentrating only on platoon and lower operations. What works on a squad level or platoon level may have no bearing on the overall army strategy of operations. The author did well in illustrating the human aspect of combat with its terrifying effects and horrendous consequences on the individual soldier.

A summary of the review on StrategyPage.Com'Former career British Army officer Kite takes an intimate look at British and Canadian forces in the Normandy Campaign, a subject generally neglected on this side of the pond. He does so in an interesting fashion, not only telling us what took place, but also how it took place. So we not only get troop movements and desperate fights, but also the ways and means by which those took place. After a short introduction which gives a concise overview of the Normandy Campaign, for much of which British and Canadian forces comprised the bulk of the troops engaged, he follows with chapters on the operations and inner workings of the various branches of the services, infantry, naval, artillery, air, armor, intelligence, medical, and so on. So while we learn about the fighting that went on, we also get an education in the procedures and tactics of the several arms, learn how the air forces built forward bases, see the gunners operate their 25-pounders, learn how the medical services took care of the flow of casualties, get a look at how information flowed through the army, and more, often illustrated by personal accounts. This is excellent stuff, well worth a read for anyone interested in World War II, or in how an army functions.'For the full review, see StrategyPage.Com

Terrific book, read it to understand what the Battle of Normandy was like and what they achieved. Absolutely first class.

This incredible, this totally consuming and uniquely comprehensive analysis òf Normandy and beyond, is, I would suggest, a mind altering study for an audience from 15 to 80. It provides all elements of war, from general to grunt, with comparisons of similar weapons used by both sides, tactics, and the human cost told in the cool mind numbing of first person observers in anecdotal form. You read this, you will never forget this. ..And I would like to see it on the reading list of studies of ww2 k at senior high level. A great read,

Acquistato per la tesi di laurea di mio figlio sulla partecipazione del Canada alla seconda guerra mondiale, sta servendo allo scopo.

This book is an outstanding works on the organization of an Army Group. The first of its kind which you really want to read and if you are interested in military history a definite must have. If you are buying the book, you should however consider what you want to buy: A book about the operating mode of an army group or a book about the Battle of Normandy. If you are buying for the latter reason, you need to be well familiar with the topic, since the structure of the book does not match with stages of the Battle of Normandy, so if you are interested in this battle, this is not an entry level book! Nevertheless this book is fairly easy to read, since it is most interesting and it includes a lot of eyewitness accounts, which make it very lively.Based on the content and the superb style in writing the book should deserve five stars; however there is one thing that I found fairly disturbing. Each chapter is divided into subchapters but these are not marked. The chapter goes on and on and all of a sudden you realize that the topic has changed. This is more or less a personal issue, but a feedback is based on a subjective value, which has nothing to do with the content. Would there be subchapters, I would have given five stars, may be six indeed.If you are interested in the operating mode of an Army Group – Buy the book!If you are interested in the Battle of Normandy and you are familiar with the topic – Buy the book!

An excellent view of how the British army worked in we two. Analysis is vividly highlighted by personal recollections. Limited military knowledge is needed to enjoy this time book. My only criticism is the absence of anti tank artillery in the book.