Book Launch: Military historian Mark Zuehlke launches new book in Vancouver

Join award-winning author Mark Zuehlke as he launches his latest book, The Cinderella Campaign: First Canadian Army and the Battles for the Channel Ports (Douglas & McIntyre, $37.95). The launch, sponsored by the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Museum & Archives, will be held at the Seaforth Armoury on Friday, December 1 (1650 Burrard St, Vancouver) at 7:00pm (doors at 6:30pm). It will include a presentation, book signing and cash bar, and book sales will be handled by 32 Books. Zuehlke, who is generally considered to be Canada’s foremost popular military historian, has made it his life’s work to study, examine and recount the battles and campaigns fought by Canadian soldiers during World War II in his bestselling Canadian Battle Series. The Cinderella Campaign, the twelfth installment in the series, tells the story of how First Canadian Army opened the way to Allied victory in World War II. They thought of themselves as the “Cinderella Army” and international correspondents agreed. This was because First Canadian Army had been relegated to the left flank of the Allied advance toward Germany from the Normany beaches and given the tough and thankless task of opening the Channel ports from Le Havre to Ostend in Belgium. Then suddenly in September 1944, securing these ports became an Allied priority that would allow Field Marshal Montgomery to drive to the Rhine with Operation Market Garden and win the war before Christmas. Over the month of September, the Canadians set about fighting for control of each port–a terrific undertaking fought against brutal German resistance–and scrambling for supplies while under constant military pressure to get those ports open now. For Canada this was the Cinderella Campaign, the battle for the Channel ports. For those who fought it, the sacrifice of comrades dead and wounded would never be forgotten. Mark Zuehlke is Canada’s leading writer of popular military history. His critically acclaimed Canadian Battle Series is the most detailed account of any army during World War II ever written by a single author. Holding Juno won the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize in 2006, and in 2014, Zuehlke won the prestigious Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media, also known as the Pierre Berton Award. Zuehlke lives in Victoria, British Columbia, where he is at work on his next book in the Canadian Battle Series. Admission to the event is by donation and parking will be free behind the armoury. The entrance is off 1st avenue, directly behind the venue. For more information about this event, please contact the Seaforth Armoury at seaforthhighlandersmuseum@gmail.com. This event is made possible with assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts.