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Tim Cook, the chief historian at the Canadian War Museum, died on Oct. 26.
Cook, based in Ottawa, is known for his books about Canada’s military history, for which he won awards including the C.P. Stacey Award, the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize and the Ottawa Book Award. He was also a member of the Order of Canada.
“There is little we can say to add to Tim’s legacy,” said Nick Garrison, the publishing director of Allen Lane Canada, which published many of his books, in a press statement.
“His many awards and the lasting impression his work has left on a generation of readers say more than any of us can.”
A new book of his, The Unquiet Western Front, will be published posthumously in 2026.
In Cook’s honour, and that of Remembrance Day on Nov. 11, here are some of his titles that shed light on formerly untold Canadian war stories.
No Place to Run by Tim Cook
No Place to Run is a book by Tim Cook. (UBC Press, John Williams)
No Place to Run was Cook’s first book. Using primary sources like diaries, letters and memoirs, Cook describes how poison gas played a larger role in the First World War than many people think. Even after the invention of gas masks, gas warfare was deeply harmful to trench soldiers, causing the Canadian Corps to develop an anti-gas doctrine, a process also described in the book.
No Place to Run won the C.P. Stacey Award for Canadian military history books.
The Necessary War by Tim Cook
The Necessary War is a book by Tim Cook. (Graphic by CBC Books)
The Necessary War also won the C.P. Stacey Award and details the stories of Canadians, both home and abroad, in the Second World War.
It examines the way Canadian soldiers fought overseas as well as how the war became an agent of change in Canada, inciting industrialization, redefining gender roles and opening up a new understanding of Canadian identity.
Vimy by Tim Cook
Vimy is a book by Tim Cook. (Graphic by CBC Books)
The April 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge has major cultural significance for Canadians. Over 10,600 soldiers were killed during the First World War battle, which also marked the first time the four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together. In Vimy, Cook explores the legacy of this pivotal event over the last century.
It won the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize, a prize recognizing a work of nonfiction about Canada.
The Good Allies by Tim Cook
The Good Allies is a book by Tim Cook. (Graphic by CBC Books)
The Good Allies looks at how, despite rivalry and mutual suspicion, Canada and the U.S. came together to fight against fascism in the Second World War.
“As I was writing the book, I kept thinking, there are lessons [for] today. We are continually still struggling to figure out, ‘How do we work with the United States? How do we pull our weight, and yet at the same time take control of our own sovereignty?'” Cook told CBC Radio’s All in a Day in November 2024. “The debate over two per cent spending for defence and other issues … are always with us. And yet, we’ve been good allies.”
