Table of Contents for Canadians and War Volume 2: Vimy Ridge

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 Now available Canadians and War Volume 2: Vimy Ridge

Lammi Publishing, Inc. is pleased to release the table of contents for our book of essays on the Battle of  Vimy Ridge  to be released shortly.

 

“A Dominion Comes of Age: The Battle of Vimy Ridge” by Karen Hann

Karen Hann
Karen Hann is a freelance writer and editor living in Lethbridge, Alberta. She received her Bachelor of Arts (English) degree at the University of Lethbridge and her Master of Arts (English; Creative Writing) degree at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton.

 

“How did the Canadian Corps Achieve the Magnificent Victory at Vimy Ridge when Other Allied Armies Failed?” by W.A. Leavey

Lieutenant Colonel W.A. (Bill) Leavey, MA, CD (Retired)
Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) W.A. (Bill) Leavey served in the Canadian Army Infantry from 1967 to 2008. The field units he served in include the Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment of Canada (RHC), the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), the Canadian Airborne Regiment (CAR), and the Princess of Wales Own Regiment (PWOR). From 1994 to 1998 he was seconded with Veterans Affairs Canada as military liaison officer for the Canada Remembers Program, a commemoration group celebrating battle and campaign anniversaries for all of Canada’s major wartime events. LCol Leavey holds a Master’s degree in English from the Royal Military College. He has written two books of anecdotes for the RHC and RCR, entitled War Stories, Anecdotes and Lies. LCol Leavey has also published numerous stories, articles, and essays on military humour and humour in general in local and national magazines and newspapers. He lives in Kingston, Ontario with his wife Maureen, a 35-year veteran herself, and their Labradoodle Finnegan

 

“Vimy Ridge: Sons and Brothers” by Keith Elliott

Keith Elliott
Keith Elliott is a stonecutter and artist living in Wallace, Nova Scotia. His blog can be found at www.ramblingriverside.com

 

 

 

Table of Contents for Canadians and War, Vol. 1

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The book is now available directly through the publisher or through all major ebook retailers.

Lammi Publishing, Inc. is pleased to release the table of contents for our first semi-annual essay collection on Canadian military history.

Lunenburg’s “Quiet Riot” and Maritime Resistance to the 1917 Military Service Act
by Maryanne Lewell

Maryanne Lewell is a PhD candidate at the University of New Brunswick, where she is studying the Acadians of the Maritime Provinces in the Great War. She is also a high school history teacher at Saint John High School, where she has taught since 2002.

Canada’s Eagles over HUSKY: Canadian Airmen in the Battle of Sicily
by Alexander Fitzgerald-Black

Alex has been published in a number of popular and academic periodicals. Most recently, he wrote an article for Airforce Magazine entitled “Two Canadian Aces of ‘The Greatest Air Battle of the Mediterranean War.’” In late 2013, “Canadian Airmen over Italy” appeared in Legion Magazine. Earlier that year, he co-authored “Husky’s Price: A Window on 21 Lives Lost in Sicily” in Canadian Military History, having previously published in that leading academic journal in 2012. He maintains a blog focusing mainly on his historical research at www.alexfitzblack.wordpress.com and is a contributor to balloonstodrones.wordpress.com. He also posts regularly on twitter as @alexfitzblack.  He has an MA in History from the University of New Brunswick and is presently working to turn his thesis into a manuscript.

Who Were Their Liberators?
by Matthew Douglass

Matthew Douglass is a Fredericton native. He obtained his Masters in History at the University of New Brunswick in 2013, where he examined the combat effectiveness of the New Brunswick Rangers, an Independent Heavy Machine Gun company during the Second World War. He was a participant of the 2012 Canadian Battlefields Foundation Tour to France and Belgium, and the following summer he took part in the Canadian-American Staff Ride Tour of Sicily that coincided with the 70th Anniversary commemoration tour. He is currently expanding his MA thesis into a manuscript for the New Brunswick Military Heritage Project series while also pursuing an MBA. Matt can be found on Twitter using the handle @matty_d_89

Canadian Army Humour: Second World War
By Lieutenant Colonel W.A. (Bill) Leavey, MA, CD (Retired)

Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) W.A. (Bill) Leavey served in the Canadian Army Infantry from 1967 to 2008. The field units he served in include the Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment of Canada (RHC), the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), the Canadian Airborne Regiment (CAR), and the Princess of Wales Own Regiment (PWOR). From 1994 to 1998 he was seconded with Veterans Affairs Canada as military liaison officer for the Canada Remembers Program, a commemoration group celebrating battle and campaign anniversaries for all of Canada’s major wartime events. LCol Leavey holds a Master’s degree in English from the Royal Military College. He has written two books of anecdotes for the RHC and RCR, entitled War Stories, Anecdotes and Lies. LCol Leavey has also published numerous stories, articles, and essays on military humour and humour in general in local and national magazines and newspapers. He lives in Kingston, Ontario with his wife Maureen, a 35-year veteran herself, and their granddaughter Maggee, 11, and her pet rabbit Humphrey.

 

 Purchase  Canadians and War, Vol. 1 now!

Link Roundup for May 4th 2015 

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Here are this weeks interesting links.

Centennial  commemorations of the  Battle of Gorlice.  The Eastern front of WWI is one of those areas that I’m weaker on. So it’s always good to come across stuff like this.

John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields was written on May 3RD 1915. Generations of Canadian schoolchildren can probably recite bits and pieces of it.  Technology was used to connect Canadian and Belgian schoolchildren. A statue was also unveiled. Notice the mistake in the article. Gas was first used in the East.

Link Roundup for April 27th 2015 

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This past week there were two major stories. The commemoration of the Gallipoli landing and the centennial of the start of the Armenian genocide.. Here’s what jumped out.

Unfortunately most of the coverage of the genocide has been preoccupied with the current debate. Fortunately there have been a few articles that delve deeper into the history of the events. For example this piece from the BBC.

Over on the Gallipoli peninsula,  Thousands gather at dawn ceremony to mark Gallipoli centenary  This article about Australia’s role in the Pacific during WWI was something that I hadn’t Heard about. One of the hopes with our publishing program is to bring to light these lesser-known campaigns.

The iron harvest we often hear about in relation to northwest Europe. However it’s amazing to think just where unexploded ordinance can be found like  on a New Jersey college campus.

First World War Centennial Links April 20th 2015

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So many events, commemorations and  stories are coming out since it’s the centennial of the First World War. It can be hard to keep track of everything. Here are  a few links that caught our attention in the last week or so. 

Queen honors Calgary Highlanders, Royal Hamilton Light Infantry and the Canadian Scottish Regiments. This is part of ceremonies for the Second Battle of Ypres. 

New Zealand exhibition opens. Looks fascinating particularly Peter Jackson’s involvement how technology is integrated with the artifacts.  

Every year around this time  poll results are released by the Vimy Foundation  discussin Canadians engagement with our military history. Here are this years numbers. Renaming the $20? 

And finally in more museum news, Lethbridge Military Museum opens  When doing research for trips it’s often smaller museums like this that have some of the most unusual artifacts. Hopefully they’ll have an online presence shortly.

From WWi

The Christmas Truce and Historical Coverage

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First of all a Merry Christmas and happy new year to all. The centenary of the Christmas Truce of 1914 is naturally in the news right now. While Canadian units were not involved it has brought up an interesting question. Why is their cultural memory about certain events and not about others?

Christmas Truce

For the Christmas Truce, it probably has something to do with the traditional view of WWI as an annihilation of a generation to little purpose. There is an often quoted line about lions led by donkeys; laying aside whether or not this is accurate and has sparked debate amongst historians in the last couple of decades. The events also make for a good story. Humanity even between combatants.

As for the wider question as a publisher, one of the things we consider as we look at areas to publish is the balance between what is popular and what is militarily relevant. Sometimes these are the same. It’s hard to underestimate the impact of say Waterloo on 19 century European and therefore world history. What about an example that’s less clear cut?

Gettysburg

Compare the Battle of Gettysburg and fall of Vicksburg from the American Civil War. Many more books have been written about Gettysburg. Some of this naturally has to do with the wealth of primary material to go on. Which one was more militarily significance? If the second invasion of the north hadn’t been launched at all would the North still would’ve triumphed after seizing the Mississippi? In all likelihood yes it would have simply made Grant’s movement South even bloodier. The only way Gettysburg becomes more significant is in an alternate history scenario. The Army of the Potomac is defeated, leading to the capture of Washington or enough of a disruption to the northern government and economy to demand piece negotiations.

So where does this leave us as a publisher? Simply put, we’re happy to consider both possibilities. However, if a work is going to go over well tilled soil, we are looking for something different. This can be on a level of analysis or use of unexploited sources.