As a CBC war correspondent, Peter Stursberg covered the first full-scale action of the Canadian troops in the Second World War, the landing in Sicily on 10 July 1943. He was the only Canadian correspondent to enter both Axis capitals, Rome and Berlin, with the Western Allies. Stursberg also reported on the Italian campaign, the invasion of Southern France, the crossing of the Rhine, and the liberation of Holland and Norway.

The Sound of War is a highly personal account from a journalist who was on the front line, observing the men in battle. It is also an insider’s story of what war was like on a day-to-day basis, in London, Algiers, Sicily, Italy, and northwestern Europe.

Stursberg, whose voice from the war became well known in Canada, also participated in another historic event. The establishment and organization of the CBC’s overseas news reporting during the war formed the foundation for the creation of a national news service. Radio, with its immediacy and impact, became a significant medium for the carrying of war information to the home front; its more dramatic coverage challenged that of the print news. Stursberg explains how the CBC’s approach to broadcasting from the front outdid that of its rivals in radio, the BBC and the American networks.

Peter Stursberg landed his first job on the Victoria Daily Times, and this launched his distinguished career as an international journalist. He was the first with the troops in World War II, then a roving reporter for a British newspaper, a broadcaster for several years from the United Nations in New York and later, a member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa. His other books include Agreement in Principle and The Sound of War.

Peter Stursberg's profile page

‘Peter Stursberg had many adventures in his role as a pioneer battlefield broadcaster. It is also an adventure to read about his unusual kind of war.’

Strome Galloway, Esprit de corps

‘What makes his book such a good read, though, is its “Canadian-ness”; a rare book at the Second World War through the eyes of one of our own.’

Sidney Allinson, Victoria Times Colonist

‘It’s bravura but from what I know of Stursberg, it’s authentic, and an unusual reminder of both the Canadian army in training and at war and of the home front.’

Douglas Fisher, Legion

‘This was his finest hour, and he recounts those years lovingly in these nostalgic memoirs.’

Peter Desbarats, Quill and Quire

‘But the most significant aspect of his book is the light it sheds on how the CBC beat other news organizations in producing quality front line broadcasts in an area when equipment was still heavy and cumbersome.’

Clive Cocking, Books in Canada