Tim Cook will present a talk on his new book, At the Sharp End: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1914-1916. Cook, a historian at the Canadian War Museum, is the recipient of this year’s Dafoe Book Prize for his definitive history of Canada’s role in the first years of the the First World War. The prize honours the best non-fiction book about Canada and its place in the world.

Tim Cook is a historian at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. He was lead historian responsible For Crown and Empire: The South African War and First World War. Tim conceived, researched, and wrote the entire storyline for the permanent 10,000 square-foot gallery at the Canadian War Museum, which also involved creating internet products, educational material, and scripts for audio and audio-visual products. The Canadian War Museum opened in May 2005 and, to date, has received more than 1.2 million visitors.

Cook has been studying Canada and the Great War for over a decade. His first book, No Place to Run: The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the First World War (UBC Press, 1999), won the prestigious C.P. Stacey Award for most distinguished book in Canadian military history. His second book, Clio’s Warriors: Canadian Historians and the Writing of the World Wars (UBC Press, 2006), has received positive reviews and is used in many university courses across the country. Cook has also published extensively in academic and popular journals in Canada and around the world, including the United States, Great Britain, and Australia. His recent article, “The Politics of Surrender: Canadian Soldiers and the Killing of Prisoners in the Great War,” Journal of Military History 70.3 (July 2006), was recognized with the Moncado Award by the Society of Military Historians.

Cook has led battlefield tours of the Western Front, where he provides historical and expert commentary on all matters relating to the Great War. He has been interviewed over fifty times in radio, print, and television, and has appeared on CBC National, CTV, CPAC, and the History Channel. Cook is also an adjunct professor of research at Carleton University in Ottawa.