Paul, congrats on the new role, sounds like a great place for you to hang your hat, unless you don't wear one. And what a great neighborhood to live in!
I would recommend the book, I had just finished it. I had also read Ibbitsons book this summer about Dief and Pearson. It was good to reflect on the leadership of King, Dief and Pearson, and how they contributed to the Canada of today.
Seth Klein has promoted a parallel with WW II, pointing to the incredible industrial output Canada produced (as Tim Cook notes) and arguing that a similar massive effort is needed to deal with the climate emergency. Ref.: A Good War (2020). The historical precedent helps in believing that a seemingly impossible task is doable.
Glad to hear you interviewing Tim Cook. In chasing down the story of my Grandfathers service time in WW1, I read all Tim's books. His wonderful down in the trenches explanations gave me a vivid understanding as to what my Grandfather was experiencing. In 2016 my brother and I visited France where we saw the jump off point where he led his platoon into battle, reached their objective , were consolidating their position then were shelled. We were on the exact spot one hundred years to the hour that his death was reported just on the outskirts of the village of Courcelette. It was a bit bizarre that we could overlay a modern map over the trench map we had and all the roads and village details were the same. The only difference was the trenches are no longer there, the fields were growing crops and everything was peaceful. So thank you Tim, and keep up the valuable work. Dave S.
....she didn't even know for 3 weeks, but later the story came out. The 2nd-youngest Major in the Empire, led 200 men over the top.
Four came back. As the poet put it, "Someone had blundered".
The last 10 minutes of the movie "Gallipolli", about how the colonials got even worse cannon-fodder duty than the Tommies, probably depict how Major Ross's day went.
Hi Roy. My Grandfather died the day before which was the start of the second battle of the Somme. A couple of facts you may not know about. The battle that started on the 15th was the first time two Canadian Divisions fought together under Canadian command of Sir Arthur Currie. Also it was the first time tanks were used in battle. Most of them got stuck or broke down but it put some fear into the enemy. We got lucky because there was a reunion of relatives of the tank crews who were involved. We were invited to attend. The Mayor of Courcelette made speeches and we all had nice wine and food.
I've been getting a hell (very) of a story about all that by reading the graphic novel series "Charlie's War", by Pat Mills. Fictionalized, but holding to established history. And, um, graphic, indeed. Hugely recommended.
Thank you Anne. To follow the story on a bit, after my Grandfather died, the shelling drove the troops back from their position. Later when they regained their position, my grandfathers body was no longer there. So, as he has no known grave , his name is on the Vimy memorial. I don’t know if you are familiar with it but it is the most beautiful memorial of all the ones we saw on our trip. Every Canadian should see it. Cheers
The lack of bodies weighed heavily on some families - wondering if they were just prisoner, etc. My grandmother's diary contains a frankly preposterous account of her brother finding the body two months later. He was surely trying to give her a little closure.
During a visit to the Churchill War Cabinet rooms I noticed that a large plaster map (flat, on a table) had the bottom half of Vancouver Island was displayed as part of the US. Thankfully the curators were as horrified as I was at this mistake that was rectified a few months later. I just wondered why the 1,000s of Canadians that passed by the same map didn’t notice or care.
Very interesting perspective, much rosier about Canada's position among allies than similarly-distinguished war historian Gwynne Dyer, and his "Canada in the Great Power Game, 1914-2014",
or more recent historian Daniel Immerwahr at Northwestern:
A discussion or debate between Cook (19 books) and Dyer (14, plus 7 TV series and 5 radio) would be fascinating.
After reading another war historian, Andrew Cockburn, I have offered a challenge to all who advocate for the 2%. That we agree to ramp our spending up to 2.2%, just to compensate, while REDUCING our spending on American military purchases. Diverting both that money , and the new money, to multiple research centres on drone development and manufacture. What if we had an awesome, world-feared drone fleet? Air drones, Sea Drones, Land drones. American new-weapons development is turgid and pork-barreled to the max, (see Col. JF Burton's "The Pentagon Wars", or try the movie) we could probably pull ahead of them.
I think rolling out that idea would have the Americans suddenly content with our spending, which is about their sales, more than real fear of an attack on North America.
Wonderful interview, and congratulations on your new role. I think you’re the perfect person to have in that position. Most Canadians indeed would like to see us step-up our military and become players again. The inertia of our government in that regard is discouraging.
I was glad you reminded us that Mackenzie King "was a weird dude." Can I send you a review copy of my King biography, The Spiritualist Prime Minister, just published by White Crow Books in the UK in association with the Survival Research Institute of Canada? The biography focuses on the influence of King's spiritualist beliefs on his politics as described at https://survivalresearch.ca/TSPM/
What an inaugural podcast! Tim Cook’s conversation with you answered questions I had about how Canada was able to marshall the essential elements to be such a capable country in terms of World War II. Leadership, Love of country, Cabinet (MP) capability gave Mackenzie King the tools to do his job.
Would have been good to have seen how he and his team would have handled Covid 19.
Paul, congrats on the new role, sounds like a great place for you to hang your hat, unless you don't wear one. And what a great neighborhood to live in!
I would recommend the book, I had just finished it. I had also read Ibbitsons book this summer about Dief and Pearson. It was good to reflect on the leadership of King, Dief and Pearson, and how they contributed to the Canada of today.
That was a great interview! Tim Cook is a national treasure. Thank you for this timely look at our history, particularly in light of current events.
Seth Klein has promoted a parallel with WW II, pointing to the incredible industrial output Canada produced (as Tim Cook notes) and arguing that a similar massive effort is needed to deal with the climate emergency. Ref.: A Good War (2020). The historical precedent helps in believing that a seemingly impossible task is doable.
I've missed you.....welcome back! Nice to hear from Tim Cook......wish I had his Memory!
Glad to hear you interviewing Tim Cook. In chasing down the story of my Grandfathers service time in WW1, I read all Tim's books. His wonderful down in the trenches explanations gave me a vivid understanding as to what my Grandfather was experiencing. In 2016 my brother and I visited France where we saw the jump off point where he led his platoon into battle, reached their objective , were consolidating their position then were shelled. We were on the exact spot one hundred years to the hour that his death was reported just on the outskirts of the village of Courcelette. It was a bit bizarre that we could overlay a modern map over the trench map we had and all the roads and village details were the same. The only difference was the trenches are no longer there, the fields were growing crops and everything was peaceful. So thank you Tim, and keep up the valuable work. Dave S.
Courcelette! Coincidence! My grandmother lost a boyfriend there on Sept 16, 1916:
https://brander.ca/EEC/V6/128.html and : https://brander.ca/EEC/JackRoss.html
....she didn't even know for 3 weeks, but later the story came out. The 2nd-youngest Major in the Empire, led 200 men over the top.
Four came back. As the poet put it, "Someone had blundered".
The last 10 minutes of the movie "Gallipolli", about how the colonials got even worse cannon-fodder duty than the Tommies, probably depict how Major Ross's day went.
Hi Roy. My Grandfather died the day before which was the start of the second battle of the Somme. A couple of facts you may not know about. The battle that started on the 15th was the first time two Canadian Divisions fought together under Canadian command of Sir Arthur Currie. Also it was the first time tanks were used in battle. Most of them got stuck or broke down but it put some fear into the enemy. We got lucky because there was a reunion of relatives of the tank crews who were involved. We were invited to attend. The Mayor of Courcelette made speeches and we all had nice wine and food.
I've been getting a hell (very) of a story about all that by reading the graphic novel series "Charlie's War", by Pat Mills. Fictionalized, but holding to established history. And, um, graphic, indeed. Hugely recommended.
Beautiful story, Dave.
Thank you Anne. To follow the story on a bit, after my Grandfather died, the shelling drove the troops back from their position. Later when they regained their position, my grandfathers body was no longer there. So, as he has no known grave , his name is on the Vimy memorial. I don’t know if you are familiar with it but it is the most beautiful memorial of all the ones we saw on our trip. Every Canadian should see it. Cheers
The lack of bodies weighed heavily on some families - wondering if they were just prisoner, etc. My grandmother's diary contains a frankly preposterous account of her brother finding the body two months later. He was surely trying to give her a little closure.
https://brander.ca/EEC/V6/159.html
I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never visited it although I’ve been to France several times. You’re right, and I will go.
Enjoying your work on all fronts. Thank you.
During a visit to the Churchill War Cabinet rooms I noticed that a large plaster map (flat, on a table) had the bottom half of Vancouver Island was displayed as part of the US. Thankfully the curators were as horrified as I was at this mistake that was rectified a few months later. I just wondered why the 1,000s of Canadians that passed by the same map didn’t notice or care.
Very interesting perspective, much rosier about Canada's position among allies than similarly-distinguished war historian Gwynne Dyer, and his "Canada in the Great Power Game, 1914-2014",
or more recent historian Daniel Immerwahr at Northwestern:
https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/how-to-hide-an-empire-a-history-of-the-greater-united-states/9781250251091.html
A discussion or debate between Cook (19 books) and Dyer (14, plus 7 TV series and 5 radio) would be fascinating.
After reading another war historian, Andrew Cockburn, I have offered a challenge to all who advocate for the 2%. That we agree to ramp our spending up to 2.2%, just to compensate, while REDUCING our spending on American military purchases. Diverting both that money , and the new money, to multiple research centres on drone development and manufacture. What if we had an awesome, world-feared drone fleet? Air drones, Sea Drones, Land drones. American new-weapons development is turgid and pork-barreled to the max, (see Col. JF Burton's "The Pentagon Wars", or try the movie) we could probably pull ahead of them.
I think rolling out that idea would have the Americans suddenly content with our spending, which is about their sales, more than real fear of an attack on North America.
Wonderful interview, and congratulations on your new role. I think you’re the perfect person to have in that position. Most Canadians indeed would like to see us step-up our military and become players again. The inertia of our government in that regard is discouraging.
I was glad you reminded us that Mackenzie King "was a weird dude." Can I send you a review copy of my King biography, The Spiritualist Prime Minister, just published by White Crow Books in the UK in association with the Survival Research Institute of Canada? The biography focuses on the influence of King's spiritualist beliefs on his politics as described at https://survivalresearch.ca/TSPM/
Excellent. Happy to have discovered this podcast.
What an inaugural podcast! Tim Cook’s conversation with you answered questions I had about how Canada was able to marshall the essential elements to be such a capable country in terms of World War II. Leadership, Love of country, Cabinet (MP) capability gave Mackenzie King the tools to do his job.
Would have been good to have seen how he and his team would have handled Covid 19.