W.A.B. (Alec) Douglas was the official historian of the Canadian Armed Forces from 1973 to 1994. He is the author of the second volume of the official history of the RCAF, The Creation of a National Air Forcepublished in 1996, and has published many articles on naval and aviation history in Canadian, American and British journals.Brereton (Ben) Greenhous was born in England and served in the British army, with the Malayan police, and in the Canadian army. He is the principal author of the third volume of the RCAF history, The Crucible of War 1939 - 1945 published in 1993. He is also the author of Dragoon: The Centennial History of the Royal Canadian Dragoons (1983), Guarding the Goldfields: The Story of the Yukon Field Force (1987), Historic Sites of Canada (1990), Canada and It's People (1988) Dieppe, Dieppe (1993) and The Battle of Vimy Ridge (1992)

"... a skillful combination of military, economic and social history, at once rigorous and readable, and copiously illustrated. It's still the first volume I would offer to a newcomer to the general subject."