The Allied forces on the Western Front had taken a beating under the weight and new tactics of the German army masterminded by General Ludendorff in 1918. However in August the Allies were ready to fight back, and they did so with a vengeance; spearheaded by the Canadian and Australian corps and 500 tanks the allied forces hammered through the German lines. Ludendorff dubbed it as "the Black Day of the German Army". This was the start of the Battle of Amiens and would be the prelude to advances undreamed of by the Allies in earlier years of the war. The Canadian Corps had long established a reputation as a crack formation within the Allied armies and set to their task of rolling up the German lines with a passion. For the next hundred days the allied forces would surge forward and finally force the German forces to final capitulation. As a noted Canadian Author John Livesay set out to record the achievements of his countrymen during the culminating campaign of the First World War. He recounts with ?lan and excellent detail; the dash and perseverance of the Canadians in forcing the Germans from one position to the next.