Canadian War Museum’s Dr. Tim Cook awarded his second Charles P. Stacey Award for military history

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For immediate release

Ottawa, Ontario, October 11, 2016 – The Canadian War Museum is pleased to congratulate historian Dr. Tim Cook on being named co-winner of the 2014-2015 Charles P. Stacey Award for The Necessary War, the first volume of his epic two-part story of Canadian loss and longing, sacrifice and endurance during the Second World War. The Canadian Commission for Military History and the Canadian Committee for the History of the Second World War award this prize for distinguished contributions in the study of conflict and society in Canada. Dr. Cook previously received the 1999–2000 Charles P. Stacey Award for No Place to Run: The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the First World War.

“We are extremely proud of Dr. Tim Cook for winning his second Charles P. Stacey Award,” said Stephen Quick, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. “As a historian, Dr. Cook shows exceptional analytic ability and an impressive eye for factual detail. As an author, he has mastered a compelling narrative style that he uses to great effect to transform complex topics into interesting stories accessible to a wide audience.”

The Necessary War, Volume 1: Canadians Fighting the Second World War: 1939–1943, published in 2014, draws on oral history interviews, letters from soldiers and other archival sources to illustrate Canada’s many roles in the global conflict. Dr. Cook examines the evolving tactics, weapons, logistics and technology of war, while exploring the equally important morale, discipline and resilience exhibited both on the battlefield and the home front. The second volume, Fight to the Finish: Canadians in the Second World War, 1944–1945, was published last year.

The biennial Charles P. Stacey Award is named for the former Department of National Defence historian and University of Toronto professor whose work on Canadian military history continues to influence scholars to this day.

The prize jury, composed of respected Canadian military historians Dr. Norman Hillmer, Dr. Serge Bernier and Dr. Paul Dickson, commended Dr. Cook on “his deep scholarship and understanding of his subject in all its dimensions.” They added that “his capacity to communicate complexity and his dynamic presentation of word and illustration have remade the Canadian experience of war for a wide readership and brought military history to the fore of Canadian letters.” The other co-winner for 2014-2015 is Richard M. Reid, for his book, African Canadians in Union Blue: Volunteering for the Cause in the Civil War. This book is part of the Studies in Canadian Military History Series, published by UBC Press in association with the Canadian War Museum.

Born in Kingston, Ontario, Dr. Cook studied history at Trent University, the Royal Military College of Canada and the Australian Defence Force Academy. Since joining the War Museum in 2002, he has developed the historical content for the Canadian Experience Gallery The South African and First World Wars, and curated the special exhibitions Trench Life: A Survival Guide (2008) and War and Medicine (2011). He is currently working on a travelling exhibition about the Battle of Vimy Ridge and is collaborating with Dr. Jack Granatstein on a 2018 exhibition about Canada’s role in the Hundred Days campaign that ended the First World War.

His books on military history have been awarded the prestigious Charles Taylor Award for Literary Non-Fiction, the John W. Dafoe Foundation Award and the Ottawa Book Award, among other prizes. He is also the co-author, with Dr. Jeff Noakes and Dr. Nic Clarke, of the Canadian War Museum’s new illustrated history, Canada in the World Wars, which will be available next month.

Dr. Cook was honoured in 2013 with the Pierre Berton Award (Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media) and was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2014.

The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada’s military history in its personal, national and international dimensions. Work of the Canadian War Museum is made possible, in part, through financial support from the Government of Canada.

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Media contacts:
Yasmine Mingay
Director, Public Affairs
Canadian War Museum
Telephone: 819-776-8608
Email: yasmine.mingay@warmuseum.ca

Avra Gibbs Lamey
Senior Communications and Media Relations Officer, Canadian War Museum
Telephone: 819-776-8607
Email: avra.gibbs-lamey@warmuseum.ca

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