Café Philosophique: Jack Granatstein interviewed by Matthew Hayday

Café Philosophique and The Bookshelf  present 

Jack Granatstein - THE BEST LITTLE ARMY IN THE WORLD

interviewed by Dr. Matthew Hayday, History Department 

Monday, November 9, 2015 at 7:00pm
Italian Canadian Club, 135 Ferguson Street, Guelph

General admission $5.  Available in advance at The Bookshelf or at the door.

THE BEST LITTLE ARMY IN THE WORLD by esteemed historian Jack Granatstein is the astonishing story of how Canada mobilized its men, women and industrial resources during WWII to raise a military of 1.1 million from a population of only 11 million to fight its way from Juno Beach at D-Day in June, 1944, through Normandy, into the Netherlands to liberate that country, to the terrible battles in the Scheldt area, and finally into Germany in 1945. The army trained and learned on the job, and though the losses in killed and wounded were high, they were less than in the Great War.

This is also the story of how Canada, which had no army to speak of in 1939, raised a citizen army and turned it into one of the very best fighting armies in World War II, one which helped defeat the most implacable, desperate and battle-hardened 

German army over the course of 11 months in ’44 and ’45. Canada has always produced astonishingly effective soldiers, and this book is about one of their finest moments.

JACK GRANATSTEIN served in the Canadian Army then taught Canadian history for thirty years. He is an Officer in the Order of Canada, is a Fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, was Director and CEO of the Canadian War Museum, and writes on Canadian military history, foreign and defence policy, and public policy. Among his many publications are Broken Promises: A History of Conscription in Canada, Canada 1957–67, Canada’s War, The Generals, Canada’s Army, Who Killed Canadian History?, The Oxford Companion to Canadian Military History and The Greatest Victory: Canada’s Hundred Days, 1918.