BACK THE ATTACK!: CANADIAN WOMEN DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR-AT HOME AND ABROAD. Bruce, Jean. Toronto, Macmillan, c1985. 182pp, cloth, $29.95, ISBN 0-7715-9682-0. CIP Grades 7 and up Reviewed by Louise Dick Volume XX Number X 19XX Month In this history, official photographs, posters, and snapshots are contrasted with the recollections of individual Canadian women of "what it really felt like... to be part of the war effort." Bruce provides a succinct and objective introduction to her montage, and to each of its chapters, giving historical context rather than interpretation. The impact of her oral history comes from this juxtaposition of personal narrative with recruiting posters, posed photographs, and informal snapshots. Selections from letters, diaries, interviews, media sources, political debates, and government statements give a fascinating glimpse of women's (and men's) attitudes toward women's wartime roles: women at home, in auxiliary groups, the Army Corps, war production, the Auxiliary Air Force, the Navy, in civilian jobs in transportation, in the media, on farms, in nursing services, and serving overseas. In conclusion, there is a look at "when the war was over." "None of these women could return unchanged either to domestic life or/and to a job. For women the war was so different a way of life. . .they had much farther to go (than men) in terms of leaving home and fireside." Bruce's work raises questions, and with the technique and skill evident in her The Last Best West* and After the War (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1982), inspires her readers to seek answers. Back the Attack! can serve Canadian history or women's studies units from intermediate through to the secondary level. It might inspire investigation of the many issues raised, such as equal pay, day care, stereotyping, and propaganda. Student research will be facilitated by the book's documentation of photographic sources, lists of (printed) sources, and of archives, libraries, and museums, and the index of proper names. Highly recommended. Louise Dick, Branksome Hall School, Toronto, Ont. *Reviewed vol. V/2 Spring 1977 p.74.