A Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle

by Andrew Clark

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067697354X
• ISBN13: 9780676973549
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Knopf Canada
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

THIS IS A SERIOUSLY GOOD BOOK

this is a really good book and I think everyone shold read it, because it's so accurate and well researched etc. and it's really good and amaing and the best book ever, really it's such a good book!

Canadian History Done Well

This is a fabulous and engaging book about the last Canadian soldier to be executed, by Canadians. Andrew Clark weaves a compelling story of tragedy, suffering and humanity and in doing so vividly illuminates the social and military history of Canada in World War Two, warts and all. I hope the CBC or NFB makes dramatizes this story.

About this book:

Nominated for the 2003 Governor General's Literary Award for Non-fiction.Book DescriptionWhen award-winning journalist Andrew Clark found the file on Harold Joseph Pringle, he uncovered a Canadian tragedy that had lain buried for fifty years. This extraordinary story of the last soldier to be executed by the Canadian military -- likely wrongfully -- gives life to the forgotten casualties of war and brings their honour home at last.Harold Pringle was underage when the Second World War broke out, eager to leave quiet Flinton, Ontario, to serve by his father’s side. But few who volunteered to fight "the good fight" realized what horror lay ahead; soon Pringle found himself in Italy, fighting on the bloody "Hitler Line," where two-thirds of his company were killed. Shell-shocked, he embarked on a tragic, final course that culminated in a suspect murder conviction.His appeal was reviewed by the highest levels of government, right up to prime minister King. But Private Pringle was put to death -- the only soldier the Canadians executed in the whole of the Second World War. His own countrymen carried out the orders, forbidden to go home before completing this last grotesque assignment, even though the war had ended. The Pringle file was closed and stayed that way for fifty years -- until Andrew Clark uncovered it and began a two-year investigation on Pringle’s life in the army.A Keen Soldier is a true-life military detective story that shows another side of what many consider our proudest military campaign. Andrew Clark examines the fallout of a crisis that disfigured our national conscience and continues to raise questions about the ethics of war. And he does so with eloquence and a deep compassion, not only for his subject but for all wartime soldiers -- even the men who executed Pringle and the officer who gave the order to fire. From the Back Cover"...meticulously researched... Instead of a straightforward black-and-white story, Clark offers a personal look at the kid from a small town in Ontario and the relatives and war veterans who were affected by [Pringle’s] troubled life and untimely death." -- The National Post, 11 November 2002"[A] powerful debut, written in a vivid but admirably controlled style, which only serves to intensify the passion for the truth, and compassion for the soldiers, that burns through its pages." -- The Toronto Star, 10 November 2002"Using personal correspondence, court documents and interviews with many of the principal characters, Clark masterfully tells the story of Pringle’s final days. …He does a wonderful job of putting the tragic story of this young soldier into a more complete historical context." -- Globe and Mail"In what may be one of the best biographies of the year, reporter Andrew Clark strips away the darkness around one of the sorriest episodes in Canada’s military history: the execution of a deserter accused of murder under dubious circumstances in the months following the Second World War. It’s a fine de

Even handed and well researched

I've only read through this book once, and it does seem to be a comprehensive look at a little known event in Canadian history. Andrew Clark is a competent writer, but his ignorance of military terminology sometimes shows through. There are also more than a handful of grammatical and typographical errors that are a little jarring - always disappointing to see that sort of thing in this day and age.Clark also goes off on long tangents, which are arguably necessary to understand some of the main points the book is trying to present. The use of Colin MacDougall's book EXECUTION to substitute for Pringle's mind set or combat record is pretty unconvincing, however, and falls under the heading "wild speculation."Clark has done a great job in researching this book, and has hit on some great sources, and in a timely manner. I recommend this book for its clear writing, its attempt to approach the subject in a neutral manner (neither condemning nor condoning either Pringle's conduct nor the Army's conduct), and Clark's overall well done attempt to discuss the broader issues - military justice, battlefield psychology, and the criminal underworld of occupied Italy. Clark is obviously no soldier, he is a journalist, but he shows an understanding of some of the soldier issues inherent in the case, and makes good use of secondary sources available to him - and a wide range of them, at that - as well as the aforementioned primary sources.Clark obviously worked hard on this book, and it shows. My only reservation is that it may be seen as part of the same revisionism that is fuelling efforts to exonerate those soldiers executed for crimes in the Great War - try as we might, how can we really put ourselves into the minds - or hearts - of those who were alive at the time? In the end, Pringle was a criminal and a shirker, and I share the dismay of some combat veterans of the Hasty P's that this book may be seen as an indictment of the Canadian military - who had a very difficult job to do in WW II and were certainly not helped much by characters like Harold Joseph Pringle.