Stout Hearts – The British and Canadians in Normandy 1944 (Paperback)

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Stout Hearts is a book which offers an entirely new perspective on the British Army in Normandy. This fresh study explores the anatomy of war through the Army’s operations in the summer of 1944, informing and entertaining the general non-fiction reader as well as students of military history. There have been so many books written on Normandy that the publication of another one might appear superfluous. However most books have focused on narrating the conduct of the battle, describing the factors that influenced its outcome, or debating the relative merits of the armies and their generals. What was missing from the existing body of work on Normandy specifically and the Second World War generally is a book that explains how an army actually operates in war and what it was like for those involved, Stout Hearts fills this gap.

“… Ben Kite has crafted a remarkable study of the experiences of the men and women of British and Commonwealth armed forces in their bitter fight against a dug in and determined Wehrmacht … Ben Kite has provided a much needed corrective to the idea that the British-led armies fought poorly during the campaign …” Michigan War Studies

Review Shortlisted for the British Army Military Book of the Year 2015.

“ … Ben Kite provides the reader with an excellent insight into the details of how each separate part of the British and Canadian Armies in Normandy worked. I have read many books on this campaign, and this really does offer something new to the reader – an excellent combination of first hand accounts and operational details.” Recollections of WWII website

“ … one of the best recent books which explain how a fighting army actually functions and is recommended purely on that, and for much more therein.” Society of Friends of the National Army Museum Book Review Supplement

“Those with an interest in studying the Normandy campaign in 1944 will certainly devour this splendid heavy-weight book … It is a book packed with facts and details, and carries an impressive wealth of useful appendices and images. It is certainly a ‘must have’ book if one wishes to study the Normandy campaign in any depth.” Britain at War

“ … 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… This is excellent stuff, well worth a read for anyone interested in World War II, or in how an army functions.” NYMAS Review