Marching as to War: Canada's Turbulent Years, 1899-1953

J.L. Granatstein, Distinguished Research Professor of History Emeritus,
York University, served as Director of the Canadian War Museum from 1998
to 2000. He is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and co-author
of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Infl

Pierre Berton is Canada’s pre-eminent popular historian, a writer with
an unfailing eye for good subjects and a storyteller’s gift for
exposition. In a very real sense, Berton kept Canadian history alive
when the professional academic historians were doing their best to kill
it.

This should be a great story. Berton writes about the years between the
South African and Korean wars, and for much of the period he is writing
about events he either covered in other books, reported on as a
journalist, or lived through. His eye for the telling detail is as fresh
as ever, his ability to marshal events to tell a story that can make
Canadians feel proud or feel shame is unparalleled. But unfortunately,
matters go awry here and Berton’s research falters repeatedly. Simple
facts and important events are mixed up completely. The dates and events
at the battle at Paardeberg in South Africa, for example, are completely
wrong. Generals get the wrong ranks, are promoted when they weren’t,
and even the date of the invasion of Sicily in 1943 is mixed up. Where
were the fact-checkers at Doubleday? Why were no historians consulted?

In truth, this scarcely matters—except to historians. Marching as to
War has sold well and, though Berton flatly denies the errors, no one
much seems to care if he messed up. Berton is an icon and Canadians are
not prepared to see their icons quashed.