The military historian and acclaimed author Tim Cook discusses his new book The Secret History of Soldiers: How Canadians Survived the Great War (Allen Lane, 2018), with Joseph Planta.
 |
The Secret History of Soldiers: How Canadians Survived the Great War by Tim Cook (Allen Lane Canada, 2018).
Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Secret History of Soldiers [1] |
Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:
I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.
The Secret History of Soldiers: How Canadians Survived the Great War is the new book from the distinguished military historian Tim Cook. He joins me now, and I’ll get him to tell us about this book, and how in spite of the horrible conditions of war, Canadian soldiers managed to make it through their daily lives. These soldiers found solace, distraction and entertainment through song, trench art, postcards, even through raunchy sketches. What’s fascinating about this book is how Cook goes about finding out this stuff. He mines letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral accounts. I’ll also ask Mr. Cook to reflect about how this shaped the Canadian psyche, especially the sense Canadians had of themselves after World War I. Tim Cook is the Great War historian at the Canadian War Museum. He has written ten previous books including At the Sharp End and Vimy, each of which have won the J.W. Dafoe Prize. His book Shock Troops won the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. Other awards that Mr. Cook has received include two C.P. Stacey prizes, and in 2013 he was the recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for popularising Canadian history. He is a Member of the Order of Canada. This new book is published by Allen Lane Canada. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Tim Cook; Mr. Cook, good morning.
Podcast: Play in new window [2] | Download [2] (17.4MB)
Subscribe: RSS [3]