Canada and the Second World War

Terry Copp's tireless teaching, research, and writing has challenged generations of Canadian veterans, teachers, and students to discover an informed memory of their country's role in the Second World War. This collection, drawn from the work of Terry's colleagues and former students, considers Canada and the Second World War from a wealth of perspectives.

Social, cultural, and military historians address topics under five headings: The Home Front, The War of the Scientists, The Mediterranean Theatre, Normandy/Northwest Europe, and The Aftermath. The questions considered are varied and provocative: How did Canadian youth and First Nations peoples understand their wartime role? What position did a Canadian scientist play in the Allied victory and in the peace? Were veterans of the Mediterranean justified in thinking theirs was the neglected theatre? How did the Canadians in Normandy overcome their opponents but not their historians? Why was a Cambridge scholar attached to First Canadian Army to protect monuments? And why did Canadians come to commemorate the Second World War in much the same way they commemorated the First?

The study of Canada in the Second World War continues to challenge, confound, and surprise. In the questions it poses, the evidence it considers, and the conclusions it draws, this important collection says much about the lasting influence of the work of Terry Copp.

Foreword by John Cleghorn.

“"The ... authors featured in this publication ... are well qualified academically to contribute to this collection of scholarly essays .... all of which are well written and highly readable.... The topics in such a collection are varied and eclectic, something which is often a weakness of such publications. In this case, however, the essays succeed, for the most part, in complementing each other. What ties them together, beyond the very general theme of Canadian participation in World War II, is that, taken together, they show how the study of Canadian military history--specifically World War II history--fits into the broader subject of the study and interpretation of Canadian history and the evolution of the field.:”

In one sense, the book...is a simple but elegant testimony by colleagues and former students to [Terry Copp's] eminence as a scholar and teacher; on another, it speaks loudly about the vibrancy and depth of Canadian military history that has developed over the past quarter century.'' -- Brian JC McKercher, Royal Military College, Kingston, ON -- Cercles, 2014<br />This ... collection of essays ... asks familiar questions but provides new answers.... While many of the essays take a traditional military history approach and come to new insights through a careful reinterpretation of the sources, other sections also deal with the social and political history of the home front and the cultural impact of the war and its aftermath.... This volume provides much that is new and interesting about Canada's war effort, embracing different historical approaches but emphasizing the importance of evidence-based historical interpretation. Terry Copp has taught his students well, and this book is a fitting Festschrift honoring his distinguished career.'' -- Angelike Sauer, Texan Lutheran University -- Yearbook of German American Studies, Spring 2015

Geoffrey Hayes is an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Waterloo and is the associate director of the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. His research focuses on the First and Second World Wars and Canada's role in current international conflicts.

Mike Bechthold is a historian of the First and Second World Wars and an air power specialist. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of New South Wales, Canberra, and an M.A. & Honours B.A. from Wilfrid Laurier University. His most recent book is Flying to Victory: Raymond Collishaw and the Western Desert Campaign, 1940-1941 (2017).

Matt Symes has worked and taught extensively on the history of war and memory and is co-author of five battlefield guidebooks, including Canadian Battlefields 1915-1918: A Visitor's Guide. Symes was co-editor (with Geoffrey Hayes and Mike Bechthold) of Canada and the Second World War: Essays in Honour of Terry Copp.

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