Century of Service: The History of the South Alberta Light Horse

J.L. Granatstein, Distinguished Research Professor of History Emeritus,
York University, served as Director of the Canadian War Museum from 1998
to 2000. His latest works are Who Killed Canadian History?, Who Killed
the Canadian Military, and Hell’s Cor

The South Alberta Light Horse today is one of Canada’s premier militia
regiments, and this book, the second one on it written by Donald Graves,
is testimony to its place in the Alberta community. Graves’s first
volume, South Albertas: A Canadian Regiment at War, looked at the wars
when the unit was called the South Alberta Regiment. This volume, which
includes the SAR’s battles, extends the story over a century to
include the SALH’s predecessors and postwar service.

The book, while of interest primarily to South Albertas, should be of
use to all military historians. It is uncommonly well-illustrated with
photographs, maps, and diagrams, and is in every respect a most handsome
volume. Its account of the militia’s long travails and forced
regimental amalgamations will be common to every reserve unit, and
Graves has also tried to get Alberta and Canadian history into his tale,
thus providing the necessary context. There are the requisite lists of
the killed, the decorated, and the commanding officers. This is in every
respect a model regimental history.