September marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The County of Prince Edward Public Library & Archives is pleased to announce historian Tim Cook will join us online, via Zoom, on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. to discuss his new book, The Fight for History.
The Fight for History discusses the way the WWII has been remembered, forgotten, and remade by Canadians since its end 75 years ago. The way we interpret and understand history changes over time. Cook notes just as the importance of the battle of Vimy Ridge to Canadians rose, fell, and rose again over a 100-year period, the meaning of Canada’s Second World War followed a similar pattern.
Tim Cook has written a number of books including several about the World Wars. Shock Troops and The Sharp End: Canadians Fighting the Great War is a two volume series looking at the experience of Canadians in the First World War. The Madman and the Butcher is a double biography of Canadian Corps commander Sam Hughes and Canada’s war minister Arthur Currie and the story of one of the most shocking and highly publicized libel trials in Canadian history.
Cook also wrote The Necessary War, and Fight to the Finish discussing Canadian participation in the Second World War. In addition to his writing career, Cook is a historian at the Canadian War Museum. His 11 books have won many awards, including the J.W. Dafoe Prize for At the Sharp End (2008) and for Vimy: The Battle and the Legend (2018). Shock Troops won the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. In 2013, he received the Pierre Berton Award for popularizing Canadian history. For his contributions to Canadian history, he has been named a member of the Royal Society of Canada and the Order of Canada.
If you would like to join, register at peclibrary.org. You can also listen by phone if you prefer – to register to use a phone please call David at the Picton Branch Library (613) 476-5962. As with all of our online programs, it will be recorded and available later online – so if you miss it you can watch it at any time. You will be welcome to watch it on one of the library’s computers after the fact as well.
This presentation will be the first evening program we have held since our programs moved online. We are interested in your thoughts on whether you find an evening program convenient. If you would like to share your thoughts on the library’s programs, please consider filling out the survey at https://www.peclibrary.org/fall-2020-events-survey/. It is also available in print at any branch of the library. You can also email any thoughts or suggestions you may have about library programs to liz@peclibrary.org, or talk to the librarian at any branch.
TECH WORKSHOPS: The September schedule of technology workshops is now available. Learn about Google Apps, web browsers, the library’s catalogue and online resources and more. View the complete schedule at peclibrary.org or call (613) 476-5962 to register.
-Liz Zylstra