In a German prisoner of war camp, you could use cigarettes to buy many things. Each time the Red Cross packages arrived at Stalag IX-C, Flying Officer Alf Binnie saved his cigarette rations for something special. He bought a guitar.

Canada’s wartime prime ministers may well have been forgotten by history if not for the titanic struggles that shaped and defined their years in office, says historian Tim Cook, award-winning author of the new book Warlords: Borden, Mackenzie King, and Canada’s World Wars.

A broken clock retrieved by a 13-year old girl from the post-blast rubble of her home in Hiroshima. A blue beret worn by a member of the first United Nations Peacekeeping mission. A Victoria Cross won by a First World War stretcher-bearer. What do these artifacts have in common?