Canadian Great War books

[swizz]

Can anyone recommend any books about Canada and the First world war? I'm interested in it from the point of view of commemoration - have already read Pierre Berton's 'Vimy' and Jonathan Vance's 'Death So Noble' - both of which I thought were excellent. I've tried various internet search engines but haven't come up with much so I was wondering whether anyone here could help. All suggestions gratefully received!

Thanks, Cat

[marc leroux]

Wow, what an open ended question

There are so many, excellent histories, personal accounts, etc.

I have started a database that sorts by topic/area which you can access here

When your numbers up by Desmond Morton is excellent (as are most of his books).

Anything by Norm Christie is worth reading.

The Journal of Private Fraser is well worth the time, as is Ghost have Warm Hands. Both of these are personal accounts

CEF Books has a good selection as do other Canadian book sites.

Hope this helps

marc

[swizz]

Hi Marc

Thanks for the link to your database - what a good resource! I'm interested in Canada as part of my PhD thesis and you've given me a really good place to start. Thanks again!

Cat

[Borden Battery]

Recommended Reading List on the Canadian Expeditionary Force

Marching to Armageddon - Canada and the Great War 1914-1919

Desmond Morton and J. L. Granatstein, Lester & Orpen Dennys, (1989)

- provides a good initial overview of the conflict from a CEF perspective

When Your Numbers Up - The Canadian Soldier in the First World War

Desmond Morton, Random House of Canada (1993)

- details training and life of a typical Canadian soldier

The Journal of Private Fraser - Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1918

CEF Books, Edited by Reginald Roy, (1998)

- excellent, observant, personal journal on one man's direct experiences

Barker VC - William Barker, Canada's Most Decorated War Hero

Wayne Ralph, Doubleday Canada (1997)

- Canada tends not to honour any war hero - Barker included

Vimy

Pierre Berton, McClelland and Steward, (1986)

- a classic, easy-read of one of the pivotal battles of the Canadian Corps

No Place to Run - The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the First World War

Tim Cook, UBC Press (1999)

- documents poison gas by and on the CEF - will become a classic reference text

Shock Army of the British Empire - The Canadian Corps in the Last 100 Days

Shane B. Schreiber, Praeger Series in War Studies (1997)

- a well written account by an active Canadian military officer [PPCLI], the reasons for its success

Canada's Army, Waging War and Keeping the Peace

J. L. Granatstein, Univ. of Toronto Press (2002)

- sound overview of many conflicts including the Great War

Paris 1919

Margaret MacMillan, Random House, (2003)

- very well written with a great deal of information packed into it

Passchendaele - The Sacrificial Ground

Nigel Steel and Peter Hart, Cassel Military Paperbacks (2000)

- an extended series of personal accounts of the true horror of this battle

Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War - Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919, Colonel G. W. L. Nicholson, C.D. , Army Historical Section

[Note: Can be downloaded as a .pdf file and used for key-word searches. However, the pagination in the online document is different than the original document - therefore citations with page number references cannot be used.]

http://www.forces.gc.ca/hr/dhh/publication...ine_e.asp?cat=6

The Canadian "Emma Gees - A History of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps

Lt.-Col. C. S. Grafton ,The Canadian Machine Gun Corps Association, London, Ontario, 1938

- of specific interest to students of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~b...c_contents.html

Library and Archives Canada

Online source of both personal attestation papers and growing database of CEF war diaries. One can do on-line research of both a specific soldier and access a growing digital database of scanned war diaries and appendices.

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/war-military/index-e.html

CEF Study Group website

This website is a spin-off of the informal "Canadian Pals" group that formed on the Great War Forum in England but dedicated to the research and study of the British Expeditionary Force.

While the material on the site is still very limited, this also presents the opportunity to contribute information and influence its development.

The website URL is as follows: http://www.cefresearch.com/phpBB2/index.php

[Bill Alexander]

Hello, Just curious as to the thesis of your Phd?

Further titles to reccomend are the oop trilogy by Dan Dancocks, Welcome to Flanders Fields, Legacy of Valour, and Spearhead to Victory. (Try Abe books?).

[Terry]

Bill beat me to it. I have two of the Dancocks books (still looking for Spearhead to Victory) and have thoroughly enjoyed them. Excellent coverage of 2nd Ypres and Passchendaele.

[paul guthrie]

All of the CEF books are good certainly including Best O' Luck by Alexander McClintock, see below. I did the afterward in the reprint and supplied most of the information for the foreward.

[CROONAERT]

If you can get your hands on it, From the St.Lawrence to the Yser - with the 1st Canadian Brigade by Frederic.C.Curry (1916) is an excellent and informative read covering August 1914 to Christmas Day 1915.

I don't know if it's ever been reprinted.(But it should be!!!)

Dave.

[swizz]

Thanks to everyone for their help - it's so difficult to start off when you don't know which authors are good so I really appreciate this feedback!

In answer to Bill, my PhD is about how the Great War was commemorated in what became Northern Ireland between 1914 and 1939. Most academic stuff looks at NI in an Irish context so I thought it would be interesting to see if there were any similarities between the way the war was commemorated in NI and what was going on in other parts of the Empire - hence the interest in Canada.

Thanks again! Cat

[marc leroux]

If you can get your hands on it, From the St.Lawrence to the Yser - with the 1st Canadian Brigade by Frederic.C.Curry (1916) is an excellent and informative read covering August 1914 to Christmas Day 1915.

Thanks for pointing this one out, Dave. I had heard about this before and your post was a timely reminder. There were 3 copies at abeBooks.com (now there are 2)

marc