J.L. Granatstein

Friends and Enemies presents a collection of essays on Canadian foreign policy written by J.L. Granatstein, one of the leading political and military historians in the country. The essays cover a period primarily from the Second World War through to the early 2000s and examine policy under prime ministers Mackenzie King, Louis St. Laurent, John Diefenbaker, Lester Pearson, and Pierre Trudeau. Based on interviews and extensive archival research, the essays reveal how Granatstein’s views shifted as he reacted to altered conditions in Canada, Canadian alliances, and the world situation.

Friends and Enemies presents a collection of essays on Canadian foreign policy written by J.L. Granatstein, one of the leading political and military historians in the country. The essays cover a period primarily from the Second World War through to the early 2000s and examine policy under prime ministers Mackenzie King, Louis St. Laurent, John Diefenbaker, Lester Pearson, and Pierre Trudeau. Based on interviews and extensive archival research, the essays reveal how Granatstein’s views shifted as he reacted to altered conditions in Canada, Canadian alliances, and the world situation.

Written by J.L. Granatstein, one of the country's leading political and military historians, Canada's Army traces the full three-hundred-year history of the Canadian military. This thoroughly revised third edition brings Granatstein’s work up to date with fresh material and new scholarship on the evolving role of the military in Canadian society. It includes new coverage of the War in Afghanistan; NATO deployments to Poland, Latvia, and Iraq; aid to the civil power deployments; and the role of the army reserve. Masterfully written and passionately argued, Canada's Army offers a rich analysis of the political context for the battles and events that shape our understanding of the Canadian military.

Written by J.L. Granatstein, one of the country's leading political and military historians, Canada's Army traces the full three-hundred-year history of the Canadian military. This thoroughly revised third edition brings Granatstein’s work up to date with fresh material and new scholarship on the evolving role of the military in Canadian society. It includes new coverage of the War in Afghanistan; NATO deployments to Poland, Latvia, and Iraq; aid to the civil power deployments; and the role of the army reserve. Masterfully written and passionately argued, Canada's Army offers a rich analysis of the political context for the battles and events that shape our understanding of the Canadian military.

Canada at War explores the impact of the two world wars on Canada and Canadians by examining conscription, foreign policy, and politics, with William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s longest-serving prime minister, acting as the book’s central figure. In this collection of essays, J.L. Granatstein brings together research from archives in Canada and abroad, illuminating Canada's political transition from the British to American sphere of influence in the first half of the twentieth century. Granatstein reflects on the most significant issues affecting Canadians during the wars, showing how this period ushered change into the Canadian landscape and transformed Canada into the country that it is today.

Pierre Trudeau and most of his contemporaries at home and abroad are now dead. This book offers reflections on Canadian foreign, trade, and defence policies from interviews conducted more than three decades ago with key policy makers, diplomats, and military officers in the Trudeau government and of that era.The interviews are informative and revealingly frank. There is much on the enormous difficulties in dealing with the United States, Europe, NATO, the Soviet Union, and Communist China in an era dominated by the Cold War. There are also personal insights into Trudeau himself – a man of great "esprit," who initially seemed destined to change Canadian policy in a dramatic fashion. Over time, however, this was not to be, and his government policies reverted towards the norm. A unique resource, Trudeau's World adds immeasurably to our understanding of the Trudeau era. It also has much to tell us about Canada and the world from 1968 to 1984.

Three-quarters of a century after the Second World War, almost all the participants are gone. This book contains interviews with and about the Canadian who led the troops during that war. Edited and introduced by one of the foremost military historians of our time, this carefully curated collection brings to life the generals and their wartime experiences.The interviews are based on lengthy conversations that J.L. Granatstein had with the surviving generals, their key staff officers, fighters under their command, and their families. Generals McNaughton, Crerar, Simonds, Foulkes, and Burns are among those discussed. The content is revealing and conversations frank. Peers and subordinates alike scrutinize key commanders of the war, sometimes offering praise but often passing harsh judgment. We learn of their failings and successes – and of the heavy weight of command borne by all.

A lively and comprehensive study of the creation of the Canadian civil service by one of Canada's finest historians ...Granatstein's classic book remains the only comprehensive account of the formative years of the federal civil service. Drawing on extensive archival research and in-depth interviews with the surviving "Ottawa men" and their colleagues, Granatstein shows how a small group of individuals, including men such as Lester Pearson, who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize and become Prime Minister of Canada, worked to create what many observers acknowledged as the most effective public service in the Western world, leading Canada through the Great Depression and World War Two to full nationhood and a major role after the war as the world's leading "middle power." This re-issue includes a new introduction by the author that surveys research since the book was originally published, as well as a new portfolio of photographs.Extensive notes, a bibliographical essay dealing with primary sources, and a full index make the book a useful reference. Where necessary, corrections have been made to the text of the original edition.

Why was Canada not preparing for the Second World War when the rest of the world was ready to meet Hitler’s threats? Despite Canada’s active participation in the First World War, which many claimed made Canada a nation, the country was almost defenceless in September 1939 when war was declared again. Larry D. Rose, a long-time journalist and a military specialist, examines the military’s own failures, the hidden agenda of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, and the divisions within Canada leading up to Canada’s entry into the war. He suggests that the lack of preparedness was directly responsible for two of Canada’s costliest military defeats: the battle of Hong Kong and Dieppe.

The Land Newly Found is comprehensive, fascinating collection of first-hand accounts from the frontiers of Canadian immigration history. Drawn from letters, newspapers, and reportage, these vivid accounts range from the 18th century to the present day, and provide an insightful look into the lives and minds of newly arrived immigrants to Canada as well as the politicians, policy-makers, and public who witnessed their arrival. Chosen for their immediacy and engaging acuity into the Canadian immigration experience, these eyewitness accounts are broad in scope, revealing the hardships and heartbreak, hard work and happiness of people beginning their lives anew in a foreign land. From war brides and home children to refugees and boat people, The Land Newly Found not only explores the personal stories of those who choose to make Canada their new home, but provides keen insight into the policies and political struggles of a budding multicultural nation.

Originally published in 1993, The Generals : The Canadian Army's Senior Commanders in the Second World War is a collective biography of the Canadian army's leaders in World War II, and is the winner of the Dafoe Book Prize for International Relations and the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography. The only book of its kind on this subject, The Generals remains an invaluable resource for academics, policy makers, and anyone interested Canada's military history. This new edition features an introduction by Dr. David J. Bercuson, Director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.

W L Mackenzie King is published by Fitzhenry and Whiteside.

In these lively, timely, and contentious essays J.L. Granatstein takes on one of the ‘hoary central myths’ of Canadian history and historiography: that the Liberals sold out Canada to the United States. It is a myth, he claims, perpetuated by Conservative historians such as David Creighton and George Grant, and by socialists like James Laxer. The original villain of this long-running melodrama is not the Liberals, the author maintains, but Britain. Focusing on events surrounding the first and second world wars and the old War, Granatstein argues that Canadian governments, both Liberal and Conservative, turned to the south of economic ties only when their efforts to form such ties with Britain failed, and for defence only when Britain was too weak to guarantee Canadian security. As Canadians continue to argue with each other about the benefits of a cosier relationship with out American cousins, Granatstein provides a salutary reminder that the historical roots of the debate stretch not only across the forty-ninth parallel but back across the Atlantic too.

Professor Granatstrin's book is a fascinating account of the Conservative party's struggle for survival during the Second World War. In some respects a new departure in Canadian history and with some startling parallels to present-day events and personalities in Canadian politics, it is the first full-length look at a major party during a critical period of our history. Lively writing and a wealth of documentation that has only recently become available help to make it one of the most interesting studies to be published in this field.