Books by two historians at the Canadian War Museum made the shortlist for the Ottawa Book Awards this year in the English non-fiction category.
Tim Cook, the recipient of last year’s award, was nominated for his book Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1917-1918. It’s the second book in a two volume series that looks at the First World War through the eyes of individual soldiers within the Canadian Forces.
“What comes through is how they survived, endured, coped with incredible stress,” Cook says.
Peter MacLeod’s book Northern Armageddon: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham was also nominated. MacLeod’s book also contains many firsthand accounts from the soldiers involved in the 1759 battle outside Quebec City.
“Using individuals is the difference between a dry technical analysis and a human story,” MacLeod says.
In one MacLeod's stories, a group of British sailors, likely intoxicated, hauled two cannons onshore and joined the battle.
“People think of the 18th century as a chess game between opposing generals,” MacLeod says, but he adds: “Decisions of individual foot soldiers determine how the battle comes out.”
Cook explores the supernatural element on the battlefield. He tells a story of a soldier who was awoken by his brother and led out of the dugout, before it is hit by a shell. The soldier later remembers his brother has been dead for years. Cook attributes these supernatural phenomena to their daily surroundings.
“They are living in a world of death and destruction,” Cook says. “They live with the dead.”
Cook noted four of the five nominees for the English non-fiction category were historians.
“It’s a really good sign Canadians do have an interest in the past, where we come from and where we’re going,” he says. “Canadian military history remains popular with Canadians.”
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham was a pivotal moment because it helped assure the British would take control of New France.
“You can’t understand Canada without understanding the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and its consequences,” MacLeod says. “It’s the beginning of anglophone and francophone tension that continues to haunt us.”
The Ottawa Book Awards and its French language counterpart, the Prix du livre d’Ottawa, are an opportunity for the community to honour its own outstanding writers as well as recognize their importance on a world stage, says city councilor Georges Bédard, who gave out the awards.
“Ultimately, our entire community is rewarded as reading encourages thinking, reflection and cultivation of truth,” Bédard says.
Authors who live in Ottawa and wrote a book published in the previous year are eligible for the $7,500 prize.
The awards were handed out Oct. 20. The prize for English non-fiction went to Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror by Kerry Pither.
Though MacLeod and Cook did not win, they continue to work on other projects. MacLeod is researching the Battle of Sainte-Foy in 1760. Cook’s new book The Madmen and the Butcher is to be published sometime next year.