Canada's Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace (review)

This is a large, sweeping book covering the history of the Canadian army from pre-Confederation days to the present. Not since George F. Stanley's Canada's Soldiers: The Military History of an Unmilitary People has such a wide-ranging work been attempted. Granatstein has done more than simply update Stanley's classic, however. He has taken an analytical, thematic approach to the army's history. He concentrates less on the pre-Confederation period than did Stanley and, in the last chapter, draws conclusions from his broad examination of the army in the political historical context of Canada, including the tumultuous last thirty years, following unification of the armed forces

He clearly shows the difficulties of establishing and maintaining a professional army in Canada in the face of political disinterest, the lack of a coherent national foreign policy, government fiscal restraint, the English-French divide, and the changing social mores of a modern nation.

While not deviating from the broad sweeping flow of history, Granatstein highlights major successes and disasters of the army over the last two centuries. In these accounts, there are some detailed points that are incorrect or debatable. While these will be evident, and annoying, to military experts they are not of major consequence to his wider thesis. All readers may not share Granatstein's assessments of such events as the Dieppe Raid, the performance of First Canadian Army in northwest Europe in 1944-45, or the capability of the officer corps in the late part of the last century. Few would argue, however, with his criticism of the lack of support for the army from all political parties throughout Canada's history. He is forthright in his caricatures of major Canadian historical figures such as Otter, Hughes, Currie, Borden, King, Crerar, and Simonds.

Granatstein writes in an easy, flowing style. He shifts smoothly from the realm of high policy to individual anecdotes, up and down the historical canvas. The book is well illustrated, mostly with different photos than those found repeatedly in other volumes. As is the case with most histories, however, there are never enough maps. Maps (except for one) are single-page full-color plates from various Canadian official histories. The bibliography of secondary sources provides a comprehensive reading list for any survey course in Canadian military history. Extensive endnotes provide clues for further study from a broad range of popular sources.

Dr. Granatstein has written what will become a standard reference on the history of the Canadian army. Canada's Army is a good companion volume to Dr. Marc Milner's 1999 work, Canada's Navy: The First Century. Both are products of the University of Toronto Press. One hopes there is a third volume on the horizon that will do the same for the Canadian air force.