History Happy Hour

Our guest this week is David O’Keefe, author, One Day in August: The Untold Story Behind Canada’s Tragedy at Dieppe.  

The Dieppe Raid: The Combined Operation’s Assault on Hitlers European Fortress, August 1942, War Department – This is a reprint of the official War Department account of the raid. Written during the war and revised again in 1945 once prisoners taken during the raid were released, this is a detailed account of what happened. As an “official history” this is a “just the facts mam” sort of account. There is no analysis or backstory, but it is a priceless starting point for those with a serious interest in what happened.

Tragedy at Dieppe: Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942, Mark Zuehlke – Zuehlke is one of the most well-known Canadian writers of popular military history. He has written a number of books on Canada’s role in World Wars 1 & 2. All of his books are known for their solid research and heavy reliance on eyewitness testimony/ first-hand accounts. This is a solid one-volume history of the raid that is easy to read and informative.

Dieppe 1942: The Jubilee Disaster, Ronald Atkin – Another solid account of the raid. This one has a bit of an interesting perspective in that the writer is an English journalist and, as such, does not fall into the trap of looking for someone to blame like so much Canadian popular history does.

Ian Fleming’s War: The Inspiration for 007, Mark Simmons – The book does a terrific job of tracing the many direct links between Ian Fleming’s wartime exploits and the adventures of his fictional hero James Bond. While many of the connections are obvious, Simmons delves a bit deeper. I also like the fact that Simmons looks at the very real contributions that Fleming made to the Allies intelligence effort during World War II.