"Canada's Army" by J.L. Granatstein

[Paish]

Hi there,

I am just starting to take an active interest in military literature, I wanted a book in which i could read and start to get a grasp on the history of the Canadian Army. I found just the book, "Canada's Army, waging war and keeping the peace" by J.L. Granatstein was perfect, it gave me a very good overview of the history of the army in 428 pages, it also includes roughly 20 black and white photos from different deployments, and also has very nice maps of different battles showing the objectives and what took place, i find this very handy to have as when i am reading the descriptions of the battles i can always refer to the maps and get the visual in my head to process. A very good read and i defintly recommend checking this book out!

Paish

 

[tmapplepeel]

You may also want to read his comphrehensive books on WWI and WWII like Hell's Corner, A Nation Forged in Fire, Marching to Armageddon, The Last Good War, which comes out in May, and maybe Who killed the Canadian Military? I haven't seen Canada's Army, where did you get it?

 

[Paish]

I haven't seen Canada's Army, where did you get it?

I picked it up from southside indigos in Edmonton. And i found who killed the canadian army to be a good read.

 

[BKells]

Stick to Pierre Berton. Granatstein's books are dripping with bias. In his book "Who killed Canadian history?" he pretty much blamed it on immigrants.

 

[Baloo]

To the above, I didn't see him blaming immigrants at all. Years of Liberal (as well as Conservative...) policies, and the Canadian general public as a whole, yes.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Stick to Pierre Berton. Granatstein's books are dripping with bias. In his book "Who killed Canadian history?" he pretty much blamed it on immigrants.

Can you provide a couple of quotes to back that up?  I think maybe you're thinking about the wrong book.

 

[ReadyAyeReady]

"Stick to Pierre Berton. Granatstein's books are dripping with bias. In his book "Who killed Canadian history?" he pretty much blamed it on immigrants."

What a load of Bollocks!

Granatstein may be biased but who isn't mate.  Everything is slanted one way or another.  Social Science 101.

I've read both his "Who Killed" books and I find his arguments refreshing, its about time someone came out and said what alot of people are afraid to.  He doesn't blame immigrants at all...sure he levels some criticisms against multiculturalism, but he never targets immigrants.  Most of the blame is aimed at ignorant politicians, useless public servants who have massacred educational curricula and university academics who have (a) become too specialized and (b) pushed traditional political historians out of university history depts because they are too "old-fashioned" and "conservative."

That's what I got from it.

 

[oyaguy]

Granastein is one of Canada's better military historians.

As for Canada's Army, for people in Calgary, I believe they're quite a few at the University of Calgary bookstore. They're also available from Chapters et al, though it would be easier to order on-line rather than go to an actual store.

An excellent overview of the Canadian Army, especially with the various trends ex. Militia Myth, Peacekeeping etc...

For specific conflicts, fairly slight treatment, though to be fair it's about the Army, not WWI, WWII, Korea etc...

As for bias, nothing that he doesn't justify. Stuff like Montgomery is a flawed but courageous general, which is typical of British and Commonwealth historians. Americans really don't like Montgomery.

Probably not a book for the uninitiated, as it is large and somewhat intimidating though not written in unaccessible language.

As for"Who Killed Canadian History?", I personally didn't appreciate one part . Specifically the part on Japanese-Canadians' fight for an apology for being relocated. Though he does try to distinguish between the relocation from the coast, and the firesale of Japanese-Canadian property and subsequent deportations, I find the argument rings very hollow when he's talking about your own relatives.

 

[Fideo]

Stick to Pierre Berton. Granatstein's books are dripping with bias. In his book "Who killed Canadian history?" he pretty much blamed it on immigrants.

Well I just came back from my local library and I picked up one of J.L Granatsteins recent work called (Who Killed the Canadian Military ?) and he already has a list of probable political figures to blame. Regardless, anyone read this book yet....what did you think  ?.cheers

 

[FredDaHead]

Granatstein does have an axe to grind in some of his books, and yes, he is biased (he supports the military, if you call that bias). But overall, he does an excellent job in getting his point across in a reasonable and debateable way. Two thumbs up.  

Considering 99.999% of writers who write about the Canadian military are anti-everything, I'd say his being pro-military is actually a good thing.

I've bought the book (although it's quite expensive, I was lucky to get a great discount) but haven't had the chance to read it yet. It does seem interesting.

 

[oyaguy]

'Who Killed the Canadian Military' was an absolutally excellent book, and I enjoyed reading it. Only issue with the book I'd say is that it makes you feel awefully depressed after your done reading.

I agree, though on one point about "Who Killed the Canadian Military" is Granasteins tendency to preach. It gets annoying and is probably the biggest weakness the book.