About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
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Description
This book examines Canada’s collective memory of the First World War through the 1920s and 1930s. It is a cultural history, considering art, music, and literature. Thematically organized into such subjects as the symbolism of the soldier, the implications of war memory for Canadian nationalism, and the idea of a just war, the book draws on military records, memoirs, war memorials, newspaper reports, fiction, popular songs, and films. It takes an unorthodox view of the Canadian war experience as a cultural and philosophical force rather than as a political and military event.
Contributor Notes
Jonathan Vance teaches in the Department of History at the University of Western Ontario. He is the author of Objects of Concern: Canadian Prisoners of War through the Twentieth Century (UBC Press, 1994).
Awards
- Commended, Francois-Xavier Garneau Prize, Canadian Historical Association
- Winner, Charles P. Stacey Award
- Winner, Sir John A. Macdonald Prize, Canadian Historical Association
- Short-listed, Lionel Gelber Prize, Munk Centre for International Studies (Trinity College)
- Winner, Dafoe Book Prize, J.W. Dafoe Foundation
Editorial Reviews
Jonathan Vance … is to be congratulated on his fine achievement in spelling out how Canadians met this collective need to commemorate their war-time participation, suffering and death … His success in pulling together the previous Canadian writings and sources, including his splendid use of illustrations … is altogether admirable, excellently researched, finely published.
— The Vancouver Sun
One attractive feature of this book is the illustrations, more than 80 of them, accompanied by excellent captions.
— The Globe and Mail
