THE LONG ROAD HOME: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CANADIAN SOLDIER IN WORLD WAR II Fred Cederberg. Toronto, General Publishing, c1984. 257pp, cloth, $19.95. ISBN 0-77364-0122-8. Grades 11 and up. Reviewed by Alfred F. Greenwood. Volume 12 Number 6 1984 November At age eighteen, Fred Cederberg joined the Canadian Army. After training in Canada, he arrived in England in November 1941. Further training followed, notably in the form of massive mock battles with names like "Spartan," all as realistic as possible. While still in England, he reached the rank of sergeant. Between-times, he enjoyed the pleasures wartime Britain had to offer. His attachment to his pals and to the regiment is illustrated by his refusal to return to Canada for officer training. A posting to Italy and action was in the air, so a stretch of deliberate absence without leave to miss the boat home resulted in demotion to corporal and, rumour confirmed, a posting, with his unit to Italy. Their entry into the Mediterranean was greeted by an attack by torpedo aircraft with some sinkings, their first brush with the enemy. After landing in Italy, the long slugging match up the Adriatic coast began, and the months of training were put to the test. Boys became men, and their world narrowed down to objectives to be taken and points to be defended. There is no talk of grand strategy; the war is an immediate thing, a world of noise, pain, discomfort, death, and destruction, where a warm meal is a blessing. Commonplace heroism in the fierce struggle to advance, survive, and protect one's companies is accepted in the name of a job to be done, a war to be won. The postscript to The Long Road Home is an apt commentary: In all, 92,757 Canadians served in the Italian theatre and 26,254 were killed or wounded, figures that speak for themselves as to the ferocity of the struggle. The author is a post-war graduate of Queen's. He spent many years with the Toronto Telegram as a sportswriter and reporter. Highly recommended. Alfred F. Greenwood, Victoria, BC.