I'll be honest, I expected more. Even though this book is extremely short, I was hoping for stories of incredible feats of bravery and valor accomplished by Canadian soldiers on bicycles. I was hoping to finish the book thinking that possibly these men on 2 wheels turned the tide. Instead, this felt like a generic date and battle name driven story that happened to remind readers that some soldiers on bicycles. Frankly, most of that information was pretty irrelevant to the reasons I wanted to read this book. I wanted the story behind the dates and battle names. I wanted to learn about the men themselves and their unique position during the War. I left the book with more questions about the cyclists serving in the War than I had when I started.

The Great War, the War to End All Wars, World War I... whatever you like to call it (especially since it was 'great, definitely did not prevent any future wars at all, and was followed by another world war not a full quarter century later) often seems ignored compared to World War II. You can watch Hitler and the Nazis for days on pretty much any television channel that deals a bit with history. It seems to take a special event to get attention for the First World War to get it's due.

I do realize this may have something to do with far less film footage being available but... still.

In any case, I developed an addiction to World War I fiction a few years ago (Birdsong, A Farewell to Arms, The Cartographer of No Man's Land - all recommended absolutely) but I've never been brave enough to try a history of battle, despite all the histories I've read of World War II. So seeing Ted Glenn's Riding into Battle: Canadian Cyclists in the Great War available for request, I jumped at the chance. After all, I had no idea that cyclists were used in battle in war so it seemed as good a place as any to start.

And I was lucky enough to be granted a copy. And I only have one regret.*

I learned so much from this history of a very specific part of the First World War. It was quick, it was engrossing, and made me very much want to move on to more non-fiction accounts of that war.

Anybody got any suggestions?

*and that is that I have an e-ARC and maps would be soooooo much easier to see and follow in a physical copy so, should the kind people at Dundurn or Mr. Glenn want to allow me to read it again, but better, I'd happily accept a physical copy. I am not to proud to humbly beg!

I received a copy of Riding into Battle: Canadian Cyclists in the Great War through NetGalley via Dundurn in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

A short and interesting glimpse of a little known aspect of Canadian warfare contributions in the first World War, "Riding Into Battle" explores the contributions of the Canadian Cyclist Corps. Carefully researched and well documented, with more photographs than I expected, "Battle" was interesting, although not as in-depth as I had hoped. I always enjoy learning about the lesser-known aspects of history, and "Battle" gave a decent, if dry, overview of the topic. I would have enjoyed it more if it had gone into more detail about the people and personalities involved, more descriptions of the work the men did or the conditions they lived and fought in. However, a good book for an introduction to the subject, and certainly more than I've heard of before this.

Riding into Battle: Canadian Cyclists in the Great War by Ted Glenn history of the Canadian bicycle troops. Glenn is a professor at Humber College and writes about Canadian government and military history at home and abroad. He lives and cycles in Toronto.

World War I was a significant event in Canadian history. It put Canada as a nation on the world stage. Canada was no longer just seen as a Commonwealth nation of Britain. Their soldiers proved themselves on the battlefield, and Canadian forces were not filler troops but a national army. Vimy Ridge was Canada's Belleau Woods or Iwo Jima.

WWI was the first industrial war, and mechanization began replacing older methods of warfare. Machine guns and airplanes took to the field. The horse cavalry was no longer useful and motorized vehicles were very prone to failure. Moving troops quickly was the job of the rail system, but tracks did not always run where they were needed. Canada responded with bicycle troops. When the cavalry dismounted, it lost 25% of its firepower as some troops were required to secure the horses. Bicycles could be dropped, and all the soldiers could move on foot. Bicycle troops were weighed down with equipment; up to 90 lbs of were packed onto the bicycles. Even so, the cyclists were are to move farther and faster than other troops.

The trenches did create a problem for the cyclist troops. There was no moving to engage the enemy, but they could be moved from trench to trench and be assigned infantry and police duties that did not take away personnel from the trenches. Bicycles would seem to have a limited role in modern warfare, but the Soviets used bicycles through WWII. The Viet Cong loaded bicycles with supplies and transported them down the Ho Chi Mihn Trail. The Swiss Army maintained a Bicycle regiment until 2001. Bikes are cheap, low maintenance, and extremely efficient.

Glenn captures a little-known aspect of WWI and Canadian forces in Europe. The text is well documented and contains many more pictures than one would expect. The Canadian Cyclists formed a bond during the war as many small elite forces did. A well-done history of a little known, but very proud, WWI force.