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Studies in Canadian Military History
Canada and the Korean War

Canada and the Korean War

Histories and Legacies of a Cold War Conflict

Edited by Andrew Burtch and Tim Cook

Published by: University of British Columbia Press

Series: Studies in Canadian Military History

Imprint: UBC Press

360 Pages, 152.00 × 229.00 mm, 12 colour photos, 17 b&w photos, 6 maps

Hardcover
9780774868631
Published: May 2024

£36.00

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

Korea was the first hot war of the Cold War. It was also Canada's most significant military engagement of the twentieth century following the two world wars. Canada and the Korean War gathers leading scholars to explore the key themes and battles of a seminal yet understudied conflict.

Canada had little stake and less interest in Korea before 1950, but the risk the conflict posed to the fragile postwar order was deemed too great for the country to stand on the sidelines. Alongside their allies, more than 30,000 Canadian service personnel fought a determined and skilled enemy. The armistice that ended the war left Korea devastated and divided, and it remains a dangerous hotspot today.

This timely collection synthesizes Canadian and international perspectives on a conflict that shaped not only the Canadian armed forces but also the evolving Canada-Korea relationship. In the process, Canada and the Korean War sheds light on how the war has been framed and reframed in public memory.

Introduction / Andrew Burtch and Tim Cook

Part 1: Canada, Korea, and Politics

1 Alignment without Illusions: Canada's World, 1945–50 / Hector Mackenzie and Norman Hillmer

2 Canadian Political Leadership and the Korean War / Ryan M. Touhey

Part 2: Canada, Korea, and the War

3 The US Army and the Battle for Korea, 1950: Lessons Learned / Brian McAllister Linn

4 The Canadian Naval Experience Off Korea / Michael Whitby

5 Cut and Thrust: The Canadian Army in Korea, June 1950–October 1951 / William Johnston

6 Canada's Defensive Battle, 1951–53 / William Johnston

7 The Commonwealth Division / S.P. MacKenzie

8 The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Korean War / Richard Mayne

9 China's Battles for Korea / Xiaobing Li

10 Flesh and Blood: The Commonwealth Division and Medical Care in the Korean War / Meghan Fitzpatrick

11 Canada's Korean War Dead / Andrew Burtch

Part 3: Korean War Memories and Legacies

12 The Korean War's Prisoners / Jonathan Vance

13 Returning Home: The Canadian Veterans' Experience / Ted Barris

14 The Korean War's Impact on the Republic of Korea Army and the Korean People's Army / Youngjun Kim

15 Canadian-Korean Relations since the Korean War / Tina J. Park

16 Canada's Korean War in Commemoration, Memorials, and Memory / Tim Cook and Andrew Burtch

Selected Bibliography; Index

Andrew Burtch is the Canadian War Museum's historian for the post-1945 period and an adjunct research professor in the Department of History at Carleton University. He is the author of Give Me Shelter: The Failure of Canada's Cold War Civil Defence, which received the C.P. Stacey Award for Military History.

Tim Cook, CM, FRSC, is the chief historian and director of research at the Canadian War Museum. He is a frequent media commentator and the author of over a dozen best-selling books. He is a four-time winner of the Ottawa Book Award for Literary Non-Fiction, two-time winner of the J.W. Dafoe Award, two-time winner of the C.P. Stacey Award for Military History, and recipient of the Charles Taylor Award for Literary Non-Fiction. For his contributions to Canadian history, he has been recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation, and the Governor General's History Award. He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada and the Order of Canada.

Contributors: Ted Barris, Meghan Fitzpatrick, Norman Hillmer, William Johnston, Youngjun Kim, Xiaobing Li, Brian McAllister Linn, Hector Mackenzie, S.P. MacKenzie, Richard Mayne, Tina J. Park, Ryan Touhey, Jonathan Vance, Michael Whitby

"[… Canada and the Korean War] is a testament to the thoroughness and sophistication of modern Canadian military history."
- David Mackenzie, Toronto Metropolitan University (The Canadian Historical Review) "This is a first rate collection" - J. L. Granatstein (The Dorchester Review)