Bastard Sons: An Examination of Canada's Airborne Experience, 1942-1995

J.L. Granatstein, Distinguished Research Professor of History Emeritus,
York University, served as Director of the Canadian War Museum from 1998
to 2000. He is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and co-author
of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Infl

The troubles in Somalia that led to the demise of the Canadian Airborne
Regiment—and a scandal that devastated the Canadian Forces—have been
the subject of several books and much analysis. Colonel Horn’s book,
based on his Ph.D. thesis completed at the Royal Military College, has
the advantage of complete research, an understanding of the context, and
of being written by a soldier. Horn takes the story back to the
formation of Canada’s airborne forces during the Second World War and
traces the postwar history. He is calm and dispassionate as he treats
the problems that befell the CAR both before and in Somalia, and he is
saddened—but not wholly surprised—at the Regiment’s fate. Above
all, Col. Horn understands the jumper’s ethos, the mix of courage and
bravado that seems to be a requirement for paratroops around the world.
At once a regimental history, a political history, and a story of many
brave men, this is a very well done book.