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Since the mid-1950s, successive Canadian governments have responded to US ballistic missile defence initiatives with fear and uncertainty. Officials have endlessly debated the implications -- at home and abroad -- of participation. Drawing on previously classified government documents and interviews with senior officials, James Fergusson offers the first full account of Canada's unsure response to US initiatives. He reveals that factors such as weak leadership and a tendency to place uncertain and ill-defined notions of international peace and security before national defence resulted in indecision. In the end, policy-makers failed to transform the ballistic missile defence issue into an opportunity to define Canada's strategic interests at home and on the world stage. ... Read more

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The citizen soldier is a foundational figure in the Canadian social memory of the First World War. This cultural history of the amateur military tradition, however, traces the origins of the citizen soldier ideal to long before Canadians donned khaki and boarded troopships for the Western Front. Before the Great War, Canada's military culture was in transition as the country navigated an uncertain relationship with the United States and fought an imperial War in South Africa. Militia Myths explores the ideological transformation that took place between 1896 and 1921, arguing that by the end of the War, the untrained citizen volunteer had replaced the long-serving militiaman as the archetypical Canadian soldier. ... Read more

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This ground-breaking book brings to a life a forgotten chapter in the history of Canada and Russia -- the journey of 4,200 Canadian soldiers from Victoria to Vladivostok in 1918 to help defeat Bolshevism. Combining military and labour history with the social history of BC, Quebec, and Russia, Benjamin Isitt examines how the Siberian Expedition exacerbated tensions within Canadian society at a time when a radicalized working class, many French-Canadians, and even the soldiers themselves objected to a military adventure designed to counter the Russian Revolution. The result is a highly readable and provocative work that challenges public memory of the First World War while illuminating tensions -- both in Canada and worldwide – that shaped the course of twentieth-century history. ... Read more

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Between 1936 and 1939, almost 1,700 Canadians defied their government and volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War. They chose to leave behind punishing lives in Canadian relief camps, mines, and urban flophouses to confront fascism in a country few knew much about. Four hundred died there.

Michael Petrou has drawn on recently declassified archival material, interviewed surviving Canadian veterans, and visited the battlefields of Spain to write the definitive account of Canadians in the Spanish Civil War. It reveals who these men and women were, why they volunteered, how they lived and died in Spain, and how the Canadian government and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police reacted to their decision to illegally join another country's war.

Renegades is an intimate and unflinching story of idealism and courage, duplicity and defeat. It will appeal to anyone interested in the history of Canada, the Spanish Civil War, and the struggle between democracy and totalitarianism in the 1930s. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good History
I approached this work with some hesitation: too many publications of this kind are either romanticised, or thinly disguised Communist propaganda. I was pleasantly surprised. Petrou's monograph (based on his PhD thesis) is an even-handed, solid, and well-written overview of the Canadians who volunteered to serve in Spain on the Republican side. In addition to the usual sources, including interviews with surviving veterans, the author also taps sources hitherto unavailable -- the Comintern archives in Moscow and the RCMP archives in Canada.

The results should surprise those who see little difference between Canadians and Americans. Canadians were older than their counterparts south of the border, they were overwhelmingly working class (lumberjacks, miners, and so on), and they were tougher and less inclinded to accept authority. A great many were recent immigrants, and certain ethnic groups -- Ukrainians, Finns, Hungarians -- were strongly over-represented relative to the general population.

Petrou gives a clear-headed and realistic account of the varied experiences of these men, and he provides enough background to make it accessible even to those who know little of the Spanish Civil War and Comintern politics; however, you'll get more out of the book if you first acquire some understanding of these topics.

Two eyes can see more than one
The book arrived in perfect shape and quite fast. I already knew it because there's an electronic version partly accessible in the web, so the contents weren't a surprise to me.
It's a really interesting point of view of a part of the SCW. If you are interested in details of fightings and living of these International brigadists. Data are quite accurate when compared with many other sources. Despite it doesn't cover the whole war, since canadian batallion only participated after Belchite battle, the author describes very precisely the small facts afterwards.
Almost the half of the book is about the individual lives of the participants, which could be interesting for those looking for biographical details and not so much for those searching for SCW facts.
As a whole, it's an awesome book. ... Read more

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Canada has a rich and interesting military intelligence history, one that continues to grow at a rapidly expanding rate. Virtually everyone who has served in Canadian Military Intelligence has an incredible a story to tell, many of which you will find here. Out of Darkness—Light, Volume 3, has been compiled from a collection of Intelligence Reports, Intelligence Summaries and many other writings on the subject of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch. The history is told in the words of currently serving members of the Branch, and is primarily written for those who have been ‘in the trade’, so to speak. The story would be impossible to tell by just one person, since there are so many different viewpoints. The author is indebted to his colleagues in the trade for their contribution to this history, although it cannot be complete until the official secrets act permits a clearer picture to be told. Out of Darkness—Light, Volume 3, is intended to present the interested reader with at least a partial view of some of the military service that has been carried out by the Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch for the years 1998 to 2005. E Tenebris Lux. ... Read more

Product Description
Canada has a rich and interesting military intelligence history, one that continues to grow at a rapidly expanding rate. Virtually everyone who has served in Canadian Military Intelligence has an incredible a story to tell, many of which you will find here. Out of Darkness—Light, Volume 3, has been compiled from a collection of Intelligence Reports, Intelligence Summaries and many other writings on the subject of the Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch. The history is told in the words of currently serving members of the Branch, and is primarily written for those who have been ‘in the trade’, so to speak. The story would be impossible to tell by just one person, since there are so many different viewpoints. The author is indebted to his colleagues in the trade for their contribution to this history, although it cannot be complete until the official secrets act permits a clearer picture to be told. Out of Darkness—Light, Volume 3, is intended to present the interested reader with at least a partial view of some of the military service that has been carried out by the Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch for the years 1998 to 2005. E Tenebris Lux. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Army Doctrine and Training Bulletin, published by Canadian Army Journal on August 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1019 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Who killed Canadian military history?(The stand-up table: commentary, opinion and rebuttal)
Author: John R. Grodzinski
Publication: The Army Doctrine and Training Bulletin (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 1999
Publisher: Canadian Army Journal
Volume: 2Issue: 3Page: 65

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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Chapters: Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard, I Canadian Corps, No. 434 Squadron Rcaf, Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard, No. 416 Squadron Rcaf, 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 5th Canadian Division, First Battle of Bloody Creek, Canada Command, Op Canopy, the Essex Scottish Regiment, Battle of Eccles Hill, Rcaf Station Gimli, Battle of Pelee Island, 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade, 12th Manitoba Dragoons, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, Canadian Northwest Atlantic, Battle of le Mesnil-Patry, Cape Breton Highlanders, Battle of La Prairie, Coastal Forces of the Royal Canadian Navy, Otter Light Reconnaissance Car, Atlantic Command, No. 432 Squadron Rcaf, the Governor General's Body Guard, Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps, 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade, the Pictou Highlanders, 16th Canadian Battalion, Cef, Battle of the Belly River, National Defence Act, Battle of Leliefontein, Cfb Clinton, the South Saskatchewan Regiment, Rcaf Station Hamilton, Fox Armoured Car, Newfoundland Escort Force, Victoria Rifles of Canada, No. 405 Squadron Rcaf, Cfb Griesbach, Moss Park Armoury, 69th French-Canadian Battalion, Cef, 3rd Battalion, Cef, 7th Battalion, Cef, Operation Deliverance, Rcaf Station Saglek, Operation Megaphone, Rcaf Station Mount Pleasant, Sable Chief, Royal Canadian Air Force Police, 228th Battalion, Cef, Rcaf Station Lachine, Cfs Lowther, Canadian Para Smock, No. 164 Squadron Rcaf, 1st Canadian Battalion, Cef, Rcaf Station St Hubert, Dalton Armoury, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps, Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps, 219th Highland Battalion, Cef, Canadian Efficiency Decoration, 143 Wing, Rcaf, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, 199th Battalion Duchess of Connaught's Own Irish Rangers, Cef, 161st Battalion, Cef, Chiefs of Staff, Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, 4th Canadian Armoured Brigade, 109th Battalion, Cef, Hmcs Somers Isles, 202nd Battalion, Cef, Rcaf Station Mont Apica, 240th Battalion, Cef, Western Escort Force W-6, ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=5870662 ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Army Doctrine and Training Bulletin, published by Canadian Army Journal on December 22, 1999. The length of the article is 581 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Rebuttal to "Who Killed Canadian Military History"?(The stand-up table: commentary, opinion and rebuttal)
Author: J.D. MacIntyre
Publication: The Army Doctrine and Training Bulletin (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 1999
Publisher: Canadian Army Journal
Volume: 2Issue: 4Page: 139

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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Published by the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies

This volume presents the original text of a groundbreaking study on professional education for the Canadian officer corps. The Report of the Officer Development Board, from 1969, is commonly called the Rowley Report after its primary author, Maj. Gen. Roger Rowley, and its analysis and recommendations have been used extensively over the last forty years to help define learning needs and education strategies for officers of the Canadian Forces. Also included are three new essays that provide context for the report.

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An illuminating study of the Canadian military's use of public relations to manage news during the Second World War. ... Read more

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Canada has a rich and interesting military intelligence history, one that continues to grow at a rapidly expanding rate. Intelligence is a key element of operations, enabling commanders to successfully plan and conduct operations. It enables them to win decisive battles and it helps them to identify and attack high value targets. In order to ensure the Commanders have the required support they need to plan and conduct operations, members of Canada’s Military Intelligence Branch are serving in an increasingly dangerous number of hotspots around the world. In recent years they have served in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Haiti, Somalia, Rwanda, East Timor, and Afghanistan just to name a few. While Intelligence personnel have played a major role to play in ensuring the successful completion of these interdiction missions, many of their stories remain classified. This “history” cannot truly be complete until the official secrets act permits a clearer picture to be told. Out of Darkness—Light, Volume 2, should, however, give the interested reader at least a partial view of some of the service that has been carried out on Canada’s behalf by the CF Intelligence Branch for the years 1983 to 1997. ... Read more

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Intelligence is a key element of operations, enabling commanders to successfully plan and conduct operations. It enables them to win decisive battles and it helps them to identify and attack high value targets. Intelligence is an important part of every military decision. Military intelligence is the knowledge of a possible or actual enemy or area of operation. It encompasses combat intelligence, strategic intelligence, and counterintelligence, and is essential to the preparation and execution of military policies, plans, and operations.

The objective of military intelligence is to minimize the uncertainties of the affects of enemy, weather and terrain on operations. The decisive factor in warfare has often been the utilization of good intelligence. A glimpse of how this has been done in the Canadian Forces is contained in this reference book on the Intelligence Branch history.

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Excerpted from the PrefaceNot long into the 1900s, the motorcycle and its rider became an integral part of Canada's military establishment. This fact has largely been overlooked by both motorcycle buffs and historians. Dedicated bike enthusiasts tend to focus solely on the machine, forgetting that the motorcycle more than any other vehicle is inseparable from its operator. In motion, the two are interdependent, like Siamese twins.Historians tend to treat both rider and machine as quaint sideshows, like the clown at a rodeo or the cartoon before the feature. Yet, as readers can judge for themselves, in the theatre of conventional warfare the motorcycle and rider formed as much a part of the feature as the tanks and infantry, the bombs and bullets, and the dead and survivors.This book is not a review of Canada's military role in the twentieth century. Instead, it is an attempt to fill in some of the motorcycle and rider "missing links" apparent in the documentation of that history. Military motorcyclists were not usually part of prominent combat units. They were often attached to non-divisional troops such as the signals and service units, which in turn were assigned to larger formations as needed. While a regiment's history can be traced with relative ease, Despatch Riders (DRs) and other military motorcyclists became lost in the paper work they delivered with such dedication.In 1985, spurred into action out of a mutual interest in vintage motorcycling, the authors began collecting snippets of information scattered throughout countless books, dusty war diaries and memories of military riders. Originally the authors had hoped to gather enough data to put together a cursory look at the Canadian military bike. But during the six years they ended up investing into the work, it developed into much more. The authors observed an overwhelming feeling among the veterans who answered pleas for information that the DR's contribution to the nation had been for the most part ignored. The authors could not help but agree."It is not our intention to glorify these soldiers or the wars they participated in," the authors state in the preface. "The futility of humanity's conflicts is readily apparent. What is perhaps not so obvious is that when the veterans in this book went to war, they did so firmly believing that what they were doing was right, that the sacrifices they made were for the benefit of future generations, generations to which we the authors and our children belong. The close comradeship that evolves from facing death with a friend, the strength of a nation united in cause, the sheer right of it all may never be duplicated in a nuclear age. Those who survived the wars brought back memories framed in time and injuries to a world that would not, and could not, understand."So the authors aimed for two goals with this book: to document the history of the military motorcycle and rider in a manner more accurate and detailed than any effort to cover the subject to date, regardless of the nation addressed, and to say thanks. No glory, just thanks. And in 1994, The Winged Wheel Patch won the Canadian International Motorcycle Show Motorcycle Awards for Excellence in Journalism.Printed on quality paper, this 8 1/2" X 11" hardcover book contains 112 photos and drawings (including sketches from famed Canadian war artist Alex Colville), many which have never before been published. The authors' text is complimented with plentiful quotes from official war dairies, regimental histories, and the riders themselves, all fully indexed and footnoted. Also included are specifications for all motorcycles in official use by the Canadian Military during the 20th century. ... Read more