World War Two: Canadian Stories with Mark Zuehlke and Tim Cook
Hosted by CBC’s Laurence Wall
In Person Big Ideas History
Cook deftly balances a bird’s-eye view of the tactics, doctrine, strategy, and key players at work (think of the sort of discussion best held over a large map) with the riveting accounts of the people on the ground.
Two of this country’s finest military historians share meticulously researched and beautifully written stories of Canadians during World War Two.
Through Blood and Sweat takes readers on a memorable, thought-provoking 300-kilometre march in the footsteps taken by the soldiers of 1st Canadian Infantry Division in 1943. During Operation Husky, 562 Canadian soldiers fell. Mark Zuehlke, author of the award-winning Canadian Battle Series, participated in Operation Husky 2013, which saw a group of Canadians walk the route to honour the memory of the nation’s soldiers who fought in Sicily seventy years earlier and whose sacrifice has been largely forgotten. He uses this arduous and poignant task as a focal point for a contemplative look at the culture of remembrance and the experience of war.
Fight to the Finish: Canadians in the Second World War, 1944-1945, is the magisterial second volume of Tim Cook’s definitive account of Canadians fighting in the Second World War. He combines an extraordinary grasp of military strategy with a deep empathy for the soldiers on the ground, at sea and in the air. Whether it’s a minute-by-minute account of a gruelling artillery battle, vicious infighting among generals, the scene inside a medical unit, or the small details of a soldier’s daily life, Cook creates a memorable account of Canadians who fought abroad and of the home front that was changed forever.
