On Monday, author and TV commentator Tim Cook will be speaking at Laurentian University, as part of the Department of History’s annual Angus Gilbert Memorial Lecture series.
Cook will be speaking about his latest book, The Secret History of Soldiers: How Canadians Survived the Great War (2018).
In his 11th book, Cook explores how Canadian troops during the First World War coped and endured with the horrors they witnessed on the battlefield. In soldiers’ letters, diaries, and memoirs, “Cook uncovered a culture of song, poetry, trench newspapers, superstitions, theatre shows, and other leisure activities that bound the soldiers together and helped them to survive the inhumane conditions of the Western Front,” said a news release announcing the event.
Cook is a historian at the Canadian War Museum and was curator of the museum’s First World War permanent gallery. He has also curated numerous temporary, travelling and digital exhibitions.
He is the author of 11 books, several of which have won the C.P. Stacey Prize for Military History (twice), the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize (twice), the Ottawa Book Award (twice), and the RBC Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. His latest book, The Secret History of Soldiers, is a national best-seller.
In 2012, Cook received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to Canadian history, and in 2013 he received the Governor General’s History Award (The Pierre Berton Award). He is a frequent commentator in the media, a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Member of the Order of Canada.
Cook will be speaking from 4:30-5:30 p.m., in the Brenda Wallace Reading Room of the J.N. Desmarais Library. A book signing will follow, with copies of some of his most recent works available for purchase (cash only, please).
The annual lecture series honours Dr. Angus Gilbert, who taught history at Laurentian for more than 20 years, and served as chair of the department, and Dean of Social Sciences. It was established following his untimely passing in 1993 and alternates between being offered in English and French, and considering aspects of Canadian or European history.
The first lecture was given in April 1994, by Prof. Terry Copp of Wilfrid Laurier University.
