The Good Fight: Canadians and World War II

David A. Lenarcic teaches history at Wilfrid Laurier University in
Waterloo.

The 50th anniversary of the end of World War II has produced a spate of
commemorative volumes recounting the Canadian experience during that
struggle. Given the emotional subject matter, it is difficult indeed in
such an exercise to strike the proper balance between unabashed acclaim
and reasoned appraisal, but this particular volume succeeds admirably in
capturing both the highs and the lows of those years from a Canadian
perspective. A succinct introduction provides the necessary context and
background. The body of the book is divided into sections that focus on
the main elements of the Canadian story: “Going to War,” “Men and
Women in Uniform,” “The Home Front,” and “The Return.” All the
dimensions of Canada’s wartime experience—social and economic as
well as military and political—are examined.

The major strength of this collection is the eclectic nature of the
sources utilized, which include excerpts from memoirs and official
documents; passages from novels, short stories, and poems; and articles
written by academic experts in their fields. When these are added to the
accompanying selection of art and photographs, the result gives a
well-rounded sense of what life was like for Canadian soldiers and
civilians during the war. This “grassroots” perspective is usefully
supplemented by those parts of the book that view key developments
“from the top down.”

“Both at home and abroad, Canadians fought the good fight between
1939 and 1945,” the editors state in their introduction. “Their
country was a willing and able participant in what has been called the
last just war.” Nothing that appears in the pages that follow leads
the reader to believe otherwise. This well-organized and often moving
compilation chronicles Canada’s significant contribution to World War
II without sentimentalizing or glorifying it and with an eye to both
failures and successes. As a result, its tribute to that impressive
effort rings all the more true.