Dr. Tim Cook - 6-week lecture series Feb-March 2022

[Borden Battery]

Canada’s Great War and its Legacy

In this 6-week lecture series, renowned Canadian military historian Dr. Tim Cook will share his award-winning research on Canada and the Great War, on the home front and overseas, including hundreds of rare photographs, works of art, and archival material. A new sense of identity was forged through the service and sacrifice of Canadians, even as the country was torn apart along existing and new fault lines. Canada was never the same. Together with Dr. Cook, you will explore the soldiers’ experience and the contested memory of the war, including the impact of Canada’s 66,000 dead, the veterans’ experience, and memorial making.

Dr. Tim Cook, CM, FRSC is the Director of Research at the Canadian War Museum, where he has curated permanent, temporary, travelling, and digital exhibitions. His 13 books of Canadian military history have been recognized with multiple awards. For his contributions to history, he has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada and he is a member of the Order of Canada.

 

Thursdays, March 10 – April 14 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Canada)

This supported online series will be held via Zoom   $160.00 (HST included)  Cdn. Dollars

Adults of all ages welcome. Classes offered through the Lifelong Learning Program (LLeaP).

 

Details available via the Carlton University Website.

carleton.ca/lifelong                  613-520-3699

Carleton University    

 

Registration opens Tuesday, February 15, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time

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Published Books by Dr. Cook

No Place To Run: The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the First World War.  University of British Columbia Press, 1999.

Clio’s Warriors: Canadian Historians and the Writing of the World Wars.  University of British Columbia Press, 2006.

At the Sharp End: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1914-1916, vol. 1. Toronto: Viking, 2007.

Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1917-1918, vol. 2. Toronto: Viking, 2008.

The Madman and the Butcher: The Sensational Wars of Sam Hughes and General Arthur Currie.  Toronto: Allan Lane, 2010.

 

Warlords: Borden, Mackenzie King and Canada’s Two World Wars.  Toronto: Allan Lane, 2012.

The Necessary War: Canadians Fighting the Second World War.  Toronto: Allan Lane, 2014.

Fight to the Finish: Canadians Fighting the Second World War.  Toronto: Allan Lane, 2015.

[with Jeff Noakes and Nic Clarke] Canada in the World Wars.  London: André Deutsch, 2016.

Vimy: The Battle and the Legend.  Toronto: Allen, Lane, 2017.

The Secret History of Soldiers: How Soldiers Survive the Great War. Toronto: Allen Lane, 2018.

 

[with J.L. Granatstein] 1919: Canada Remade.  Vancouver: UBC Press, 2020.

The Fight for History: 75 Years of Forgetting, Remembering, and Remaking Canada’s Second World War. Penguin, 2020. 

 

[Borden Battery]

Approximately 5 spots remaining, 95 users are registered.  Time is limited for last minute users.  Dr. Tim Cook is a rather good speaker.  Borden Battery

 

Canada’s Great War and its Legacy Lecturer: Dr. Tim Cook
Schedule of topics (each week’s lecture will contain two sections, with time for questions and answers):

Week 1
Lecture 1a: Why War: in Europe and in Canada
The lecture will explore the causes of the Great War, why Canada was involved, and the shocking effects of this new industrial warfare in 1914.

Lecture 1b: Trial by Fire and Shock at Home
The trial-by-fire battle of the Canadians at Ypres in April 1915 is the focus of this lecture. The Canadians fought hard at Ypres, encountered lethal chlorine gas for the first time in the history of warfare, and paid a terrible price. The shock of the 6,000 casualties caused despair in Canada but also transformed the war into a crusade.


Week 2
Lecture 2a: Trench Warfare
The trenches of the Western Front became the strange home to the Canadian soldiers. This lecture will examine how soldiers fought, coped, and endured.

Lecture 2b: The War at Home
The war seeped into the lives of almost all Canadians. Despite enormous exertions, there was always the state demanding more.


Week 3
Lecture 3a: The Year of Battle, 1916
With new armies and artillery, 1916 was characterized by massive battles and costly campaigns. This lecture will look at the nature of the fighting, on land and in the air.

Lecture 3b: The Battle of Vimy Ridge, 1917
This lecture will examine the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917: the preparation and planning, how the Canadians captured the nearly impregnable position, and its enduring legacy.


Week 4
Lecture 4a: War Weariness
These lectures will examine the weariness of the soldiers at the front in deadly 1917 battles at Hill 70 and Passchendaele, and the growing strain on those at home.

Lecture 4b: Fighting to the Death, 1918
The Germans and then the Allies broke the stalemate on the Western Front in 1918. This was also a period of terrible carnage, especially within the Canadian Corps that spearheaded several crucial battles that contributed significantly to Allied victory.


Week 5
Lecture 5a: A Country Remade
After years of battle, and, late in the war, the lethal flu virus that killed millions worldwide, Canadian soldiers yearned to go home. But what kind of country did they return to in 1919?

Lecture 5b: Marking the Fallen
Over 66,000 Canadians died during the war and in its immediate aftermath. This lecture will look at the burial of the dead, the memorialization of the fallen, and Canadians’ search for meaning.


Week 6
Lecture 6a: Veterans
The veterans' experience will be the focus of this lecture, with an exploration of state care for the wounded, the importance of veterans’ organizations, and how veterans articulated their war experiences.

Lecture 6b: The Great War’s Long Shadow
This final lecture will examine the contours of memory creation around the Great War and how subsequent generations have rediscovered it, often through popular media and family history. It will finish with an exploration of the Centennial period of 2014 to 2018, and why the war continues to resonate with Canadians.