TEN DECISIONS: Canada’s Best, Worst and Most Far
Reaching Decisions of the Second World War was written by Larry D. Rose.
Rose has worked as producer of CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson and as
news director at CTV Kitchener. He has also worked for The Canadian Press and
Global News and served as a second lieutenant and later as a captain in the
Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (Reserves). He is the author of MOBILIZE! Why
Canada Was Unprepared for the Second World War.
The book was
published by Dundurn Press in
October of this year and is described as “a
fascinating examination of some of the key turning points of the war for
Canada. It includes military, diplomatic and political decisions that changed
the course of Canadian history. Some of them are surprising when examined
today, some were little known or understood at the time and all came with
sweeping, sometimes unexpected, consequences.”
“The book “according
to the publisher “is carefully researched
and authoritative but also thoughtful, entertaining and approachable.”
The topics covered include the British Commonwealth
Air Training Plan, industrial policy that resulted in the revolutionary development
and production of synthetic rubber and the decision to launch the Dieppe
‘raid’.
The book also focuses on some of the most powerful
leaders of the war including General Guy Simonds, “Minister of Everything”,
C.D. Howe and Prime Minister Mackenzie King role as an unlikely but
surprisingly affective wartime leader.
One of the most interesting decisions covered here
is the Ogdensburg Agreement. Never signed, existing only as a press release and
often forgotten today it turned Canada from its British past to its North
American future and had enormous consequences.
Equally consequential were the decisions made during
and just after the war designed to prevent the return of the Great Depression
and to adequately care for veterans. The effect of these various measures was
to bring about a post war boom and change Canadian society forever.
J.L.
Granatstein, who wrote the forward to Rose’s previous book “MOBILIZE!Why Canada Was Unprepared for the Second World War” has described the books as “ Well chosen, well argued, and well-written,
Ten Decisions takes a fresh look at the key Canadian events of the Second World
War. The crucial military and political struggles are laid out clearly and
concisely, and both novices and experts will find much to consider.”
While it is
currently fashionable to judge people and events based on contemporary standards and
customs it does little to help us understand these episodes. One of
the most enjoyable aspects of this book, as with his previous work, is the author’s
ability to help the reader to appreciate the times, politics and motives which
drove these decisions and the people who made them.
It is normal for a new book to be surrounded by hype
and superlatives by its author and publisher. What is less common is for it to
be true. In this case Ten Decisions actually is “researched and authoritative but also thoughtful, entertaining and
approachable” and this reader really does believe that “both novices and experts will find much to consider.”
TEN DECISIONS: Canada’s
Best, Worst, and Most Far-Reaching Decisions of the Second World War
MOBILIZE! Why Canada Was
Unprepared for the Second World War
