A bold new telling of the defining battle of the Great War, and how it came to signify and solidify Canada's national identity.Why does Vimy loom so large in Canada's identity—and should it? Tim Cook, Canada's foremost military historian and a RBC Taylor Prize winner, examines the battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917 and the way the memory of it has evolved over a hundred years. Vimy is unlike any other battle in Canadian history: it has been described as the "birth ...

The first comprehensive history of Canadians in WWI in forty years, and already hailed as the definitive work on Canadians in the Great War, At the Sharp End covers the harrowing early battles of 1914—16. Tens of thousands, and then hundreds of thousands, died before the generals and soldiers found a way to break the terrible stalemate of the front. Based on eyewitness accounts detailed in the letters of ordinary soldiers, Cook describes the horrible struggle, first to survive in ...

‘From Fromelles to the final advance — war as it was lived, in the words of the men who faced it.’One battalion. Three years of war. Ordinary men under relentless pressure.‘I was eighteen when I was first sent into battle at Fromelles… War is both the silliest and cruellest activity that a man can get mixed up in. It breaks my heart even now to think of it.’— Walter Herbert ‘Bert’ Bishop, 55th BattalionIn 1915, news from Gall...

In 1915, news of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landing and the slaughter at Gallipoli stirred tens of thousands of young men to go to war.They answered the call and formed battalions of the Australian Imperial Force. By the time the new recruits were combat ready, the campaign at Gallipoli had ended. Their battlefields became the muddy paddocks of France and Belgium.Based on eyewitness account, Eyewitnesses at the Somme traces the story of one of these battalions, the 55th, fro...

From our country's most important war historian, a gripping account of the turbulent relationship between Canada and the US during the Second World War. The two nations entered the war amidst rivalry and mutual suspicion, but learned to fight together before emerging triumphant and bound by an alliance that has lasted to this day.When the Second World War broke out in 1939, it set in motion a deadly struggle between the Axis powers and the Allies, but also fraught ...

Based on newly uncovered sources, The Madman and the Butcher is a powerful double biography of Sam Hughes and Arthur Currie and the story of one of the most shocking and highly publicized libel trials in Canadian history.Sir Arthur Currie achieved international fame as Canadian Corps commander during the Great War. He was recognized as a brilliant general, morally brave, and with a keen eye for solving the challenges of trench warfare. But wars were not won without lives l...

Korea was the first hot war of the Cold War. It was also Canada’s most significant military engagement of the twentieth century following the two world wars. Canada and the Korean War gathers leading scholars to explore the key themes and battles of a seminal yet understudied conflict.Canada had little stake and less interest in Korea before 1950, but the risk the conflict posed to the fragile postwar order was deemed too great for the country to stand on the sidelines. Al...

***WINNER OF THE 2023 OTTAWA BOOK AWARD**SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 TEMPLER MEDAL FOR BEST BOOK*From Canada’s top war historian, a definitive medical history of the Great War, illuminating how the carnage of modern battle gave birth to revolutionary life-saving innovations. It brings to light shocking revelations of the ways the brutality of combat and the necessity of agonizing battlefield decisions led to unimaginable strain for men and women of medicine wh...

There have been thousands of books on the Great War, but most have focused on commanders, battles, strategy, and tactics. Less attention has been paid to the daily lives of the combatants, how they endured the unimaginable conditions of industrial warfare: the rain of shells, bullets, and chemical agents. In The Secret History of Soldiers, Tim Cook, Canada's foremost military historian, examines how those who survived trench warfare on the Western Front found entertainment, solace, relief,...

NATIONAL BESTSELLERFINALIST FOR THE OTTAWA BOOK AWARDSA masterful telling of the way World War Two has been remembered, forgotten, and remade by Canada over seventy-five years.The Second World War shaped modern Canada. It led to the country's emergence as a middle power on the world stage; the rise of the welfare state; industrialization, urbanization, and population growth. After the war, Canada increasingly turned ...

Two portraits flank the doors leading into Canada's House of Commons: Sir Robert Borden to the left and W.L.M. King to the right. While each man appears flatteringly stern, wise, and charismatic, it is the portrait plaques that are of particular interest. Borden's caption reads: "World War I War Leader, 1914–1918," while King's caption is similar: "World War II War Leader, 1939–1945." No other dates are given. Perhaps that definition makes sense for Borden, who did little of note before th...

Chasing Your Heart is the emotional final installment in The One… gay romance series, bringing Vigil and Theo's story to a powerful, heartfelt conclusion.After years of separation, misunderstandings, and unfinished love, Vigil and Theo are forced back into each other's lives during a wedding weekend that changes everything. Old wounds reopen, buried feelings resurface, and the fragile possibility of a second chance begins to grow between them. But love is ...