War Perspectives

Titles from our Fall 2017 catalogue have started arriving. This catalogue is no different from its predecessors, with areas of study ranging from Architecture to Indigenous Studies to World History. However the following four are a collection of newly released titles uniquely connected by their subject matter: war. With differing perspectives, each confronts and analyzes political, social, and sometimes emotional implications of war through a range of locations and themes.

Collapse of a Country

A Diplomat’s Memoir of South Sudan

By Nicholas Coghlan
Foreword by Roméo Dallaire and Shelly Whitman

Fast-paced and poignant, Collapse of a Country gives an insider’s glimpse into the chaos, violence, and ethnic conflicts that emerged out of a civil war that has been largely ignored by the West. Read more>

“A highly personal and timely memoir that will be useful and compelling to students, scholars, and general readers, especially those who have worked and lived in South Sudan within the last two decades.” Marv Koop, former director of the AECOM Sudan / South Sudan program

Tug of War

Surveillance Capitalism, Military Contracting, and the Rise of the Security State

By Jocelyn Wills

Tug of War confronts the mythic lure of technological progress and the ways in which those who profess little interest in war rationalize their leap into military contracting by avoiding the moral and political implications of their work. Read more>

“Tug of War deftly probes and integrates these vexed themes. Through deep research, masterfully contextualized, Wills tracks Canada’s MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (now MDA), a global giant in satellite communications, to show how patriotism and technological enthusiasm gave way to financial ambitions, lured by markets for military and surveillance technologies. A powerful book.”Pamela Walker Laird, University of Colorado Denver

Slow War

By Benjamin Hertwig

Benjamin Hertwig’s debut collection of poetry, Slow War, is at once an account of contemporary warfare and a personal journey of loss and the search for healing. It stands in the tradition of Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” and Kevin Powers’s “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting.” Read more>

“I know of few books that deal with the experience of combat in such a humane and almost tender way. Benjamin Hertwig’s Slow War is a powerful and moving work of art.” John Skoyles, poetry editor of Ploughshares

War Is Here

The Vietnam War and Canadian Literature

By Robert McGill

War Is Here vividly revisits a galvanizing time in world history and Canadian life, offering vital insights into the Vietnam War’s influence on how people think about Canada, its place in the world, and the power of the written word to make a difference. Read more>

“A crucial primer, not only on the political and aesthetic nuances that distinguish Canadian and American literatures and societies, but also on how Canadians have historically reacted to crises linked to American militarism and racism. War Is Here connects a thousand dots in the existing criticism and will serve as the bedrock for future studies in the field.” Ian Rae, King’s University College, Western University