Vimy
Vimy

Author: Tim Cook

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-03-07

Total Pages: 472

ISBN-13: 0735233179

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#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER Winner of the 2018 JW Dafoe Book Prize Longlisted for British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction 2018 Runner-up for the 2018 Templer Medal Book Prize Finalist for the 2018 Ottawa Book Awards 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 matter? How did a four-day battle at the midpoint of the Great War, a clash that had little strategic impact on the larger Allied war effort, become elevated to a national symbol of Canadian identity? Tim Cook, Canada’s foremost military historian and a Charles Taylor Prize winner, examines the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the way the memory of it has evolved over 100 years. The operation that began April 9, 1917, was the first time the four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together. More than 10,000 Canadian soldiers were killed or injured over four days—twice the casualty rate of the Dieppe Raid in August 1942. The Corps’ victory solidified its reputation among allies and opponents as an elite fighting force. In the wars’ aftermath, Vimy was chosen as the site for the country’s strikingly beautiful monument to mark Canadian sacrifice and service. Over time, the legend of Vimy took on new meaning, with some calling it the “birth of the nation.” The remarkable story of Vimy is a layered skein of facts, myths, wishful thinking, and conflicting narratives. Award-winning writer Tim Cook explores why the battle continues to resonate with Canadians a century later. He has uncovered fresh material and photographs from official archives and private collections across Canada and from around the world. On the 100th anniversary of the event, and as Canada celebrates 150 years as a country, Vimy is a fitting tribute to those who fought the country’s defining battle. It is also a stirring account of Canadian identity and memory, told by a masterful storyteller.

The Vimy Trap
The Vimy Trap

Author: Ian McKay

Publisher: Between the Lines

Published: 2017-03-16

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1771132760

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The story of the bloody 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge is, according to many of today’s tellings, a heroic founding moment for Canada. This noble, birth-of-a-nation narrative is regularly applied to the Great War in general. Yet this mythical tale is rather new. “Vimyism”— today’s official story of glorious, martial patriotism—contrasts sharply with the complex ways in which veterans, artists, clerics, and even politicians who had supported the war interpreted its meaning over the decades. Was the Great War a futile imperial debacle? A proud, nation-building milestone? Contending Great War memories have helped to shape how later wars were imagined. The Vimy Trap provides a powerful probe of commemoration cultures. This subtle, fast-paced work of public history—combining scholarly insight with sharp-eyed journalism, and based on primary sources and school textbooks, battlefield visits and war art—explains both how and why peace and war remain contested terrain in ever-changing landscapes of Canadian memory.

Vimy
Vimy

Author: Pierre Berton

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2012-11-19

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1783037237

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The bestselling, award-winning author of The American Invasion of Canada “has given great drama and immediacy to that turning point in Canadian history” (Maclean’s). On Easter Monday 1917 with a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France seized and held the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front—the muddy scarp of Vimy Ridge. The British had failed to take the Ridge, and so had the French who had lost 150,000 men in the attempt. Yet these magnificent colonial troops did so in a morning at the cost of only 10,000 casualties. The author recounts this remarkable feat of arms with both pace and style. He has gathered many personal accounts from soldiers who fought at Vimy. He describes the commanders and the men, the organization and the training, and above all notes the thorough preparation for the attack from which the British General Staff could have learned much. The action is placed within the context both of the Battle of Arras, of which this attack was part, and as a milestone in the development of Canada as a nation. “This wonderful book brings to life the amazing men who came across the Atlantic nearly a century ago and won a famous victory which helped change a nation forever . . . the wonderful prose of Pierre Berton is all from the heart and you should share in it.” —War History Online “The cinematic writing plunks the reader in the midst of the actual battle, and a judicious use of quotes from soldiers’ diaries and letters helps provide a ground-level perspective.” —Quill & Quire

The Vimy Oaks
The Vimy Oaks

Author: Linda Granfield

Publisher: Scholastic Canada

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13: 1443148504

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An act of hope and renewal amidst the destruction of war provides a living memorial, in time for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge Imagine, a young soldier standing in the midst of a landscape ravaged by war, pocketing a handful of acorns from the blasted trees, and posting them home. In April 1917, after the Battle at Vimy Ridge, Leslie H. Miller - a teacher, a farmer, and a soldier with the Canadian Expeditionary Force--did just that. Over the following one hundred years, those acorns became majestic oaks, standing at the site of Miller's family farm in Ontario. Vimy Ridge is considered Canada's greatest First World War victory, although its toll was devastating. This moving book, filled with beautiful artwork, and archival photos contextualizes a Canadian soldier's experience in the Great War while highlighting this extraordinary gesture of hope and renewal. Now, a century later, the results of this simple act have created a living memorial to those who served.

Reflections on the Commemoration of the First World War
Reflections on the Commemoration of the First World War

Author: David Monger

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-11-30

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 100028140X

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The First World War’s centenary generated a mass of commemorative activity worldwide. Officially and unofficially; individually, collectively and commercially; locally, nationally and internationally, efforts were made to respond to the legacies of this vast conflict. This book explores some of these responses from areas previously tied to the British Empire, including Australia, Britain, Canada, India and New Zealand. Showcasing insights from historians of commemoration and heritage professionals it provides revealing insider and outsider perspectives of the centenary. How far did commemoration become celebration, and how merited were such responses? To what extent did the centenary serve wider social and political functions? Was it a time for new knowledge and understanding of the events of a century ago, for recovery of lost or marginalised voices, or for confirming existing clichés? And what can be learned from the experience of this centenary that might inform the approach to future commemorative activities? The contributors to this book grapple with these questions, coming to different answers and demonstrating the connections and disconnections between those involved in building public knowledge of the ‘war to end all wars’.

Valour at Vimy Ridge
Valour at Vimy Ridge

Author: Douglas, Tom

Publisher: James Lorimer & Company

Published: 2017-09-01

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 1459504860

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A defining moment in Canadian military history. A much-needed Allied victory. A show of valour and heroism. The battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917 saw Canadian troops storm a strategic 14-kilometre long escarpment that was believed to be impregnable. This was the first time in the nation's history that a corps-sized formation fought together as a unit under its own meticulous planning. Canadian troops persevered under heavy fire to take the ridge, demonstrating incredible discipline and bravery. The battle became a symbol of sacrifice for the young nation and a turning point in its role in the global theatre of war.

Vimy 2017
Vimy 2017

Author: Mélanie Morin-Pelletier

Publisher: Souvenir Catalogue

Published: 2017-03-31

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 9781988282060

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Explore the lasting impact of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, 100 years later. A widely celebrated victory and an iconic event in Canadian military history, the Battle of Vimy Ridge was also one of the country's bloodiest engagements. There were more than 10,000 casualties in the battle, which took place from April 9 to 12, 1917. This souvenir catalogue explores how perceptions of Vimy have evolved over the past century from a tactical battlefield victory in France to a nation-defining event. Understand the larger context of the Franco-British offensive ? the preparation, the defenders, the capture of the ridge and its consequences. Then take a step back to examine the evolving memory of the battle in Canada over the last 100 years. It is a potent reminder that we construct our past and shape our present through acts of commemoration.

The Canadian Kingdom
The Canadian Kingdom

Author: D. Michael Jackson

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2018-04-14

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 145974120X

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An integral part of Canada’s political culture, the constitutional monarchy has evolved over the 150 years since Confederation to become a uniquely Canadian institution. Canada inherited the constitutional monarchy from Britain even before Confederation in 1867. In the 150 years since then, the Crown has shaped, and been shaped by, Canada’s achievement of independence, its robust federalism, the unique identity of Quebec, and its relationship with Indigenous peoples. What has this “Canadian Crown” contributed to the Canada of the twenty-first century? How is this historic yet resilient institution perceived today? The essays in this book respond to these questions from a variety of perspectives, encompassing the arts, the role of the vice-regal representatives, the Indigenous peoples, and the contemporary position of the monarch. In discussing whether there is a distinctly Canadian monarchy, the authors look beyond Canada’s borders, too, and explore how Canada’s development has influenced other Commonwealth realms.

Canadian Corps Soldier vs Royal Bavarian Soldier
Canadian Corps Soldier vs Royal Bavarian Soldier

Author: Stephen Bull

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-06-29

Total Pages: 81

ISBN-13: 1472819780

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In 1917 the soldiers of the Canadian Corps would prove themselves the equal of any fighting on the Western Front, while on the other side of the wire, the men of the Royal Bavarian Army won a distinguished reputation in combat. Employing the latest weapons and pioneering tactics, these two forces would clash in three notable encounters: the Canadian storming of Vimy Ridge, the back-and-forth engagement at Fresnoy and at the sodden, bloody battle of Passchendaele. Featuring carefully chosen archive photographs and specially commissioned artwork, this study assesses these three hard-fought battles in 1917 on the Western Front, and offers a new take on the evolving nature of infantry combat in World War I.

Canada and the First World War, Second Edition
Canada and the First World War, Second Edition

Author: David MacKenzie

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2018-12-03

Total Pages: 664

ISBN-13: 1487519699

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The First World War is often credited as being the event that gave Canada its own identity, distinct from that of Britain, France, and the United States. Less often noted, however, is that it was also the cause of a great deal of friction within Canadian society. The fifteen essays contained in Canada and the First World War examine how Canadians experienced the war and how their experiences were shaped by region, politics, gender, class, and nationalism. Editor David MacKenzie has brought together some of the leading voices in Canadian history to take an in-depth look into the tensions and fractures the war caused, and to address the way some attitudes about the country were changed, while others remained the same. The essays vary in scope, but are strongly unified so as to create a collection that treats its subject in a complete and comprehensive manner. Canada and the First World War is a tribute to esteemed University of Toronto historian Robert Craig Brown, one of Canada's greatest authorities on the Great War World War One. The collection is a significant contribution to the on-going re-examination of Canada's experiences in war, and a must-read for students of Canadian history.