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| Tim Cook at the Vimy Ridge Section of the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa |
The study of First World War History suffered a major loss this past Sunday when the death at age 54 of Tim Cook, Chief Historian and Research Director of the Canadian War Museum, was announced. He had been suffering from Hodgkin's disease for some time. He was a subscriber and contributor to Roads to the Great War since its inception. The articles drawn from his work can be found HERE.
A number of sources have presented tributes to Tim and his enormous body of work. From the CDC:
Tim Cook, the chief historian at the Canadian War Museum and the country’s “pre-eminent military historian,” has died, the museum announced Sunday. Cook was "a passionate ambassador" for both the museum and Canadian military history, and his contributions to the Ottawa museum over the past two-plus decades have been "enormous," said the museum's president and CEO Caroline Dromaguet in a statement.
Cook published more than 19 books plus many articles and won numerous awards, including the Ottawa Book Award for literary non-fiction on four separate occasions. His notable works include:
- Vimy: The Battle and the Legend
- No Place to Run: The Canadian Corps and Gas Warfare in the First World War
- At the Sharp End, Volume One: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1914-1916
- Victory 1918: The Last 100 Days
- The Necessary War, Volume 1: Canadians Fighting the Second World War: 1939-1943
- The Good Allies: How Canada and the United States Fought Together to Defeat Fascism
The National Post had this to say about Tim Cook's career:
He was the historian the media turned to when Canadians needed someone to talk of Canada’s military legacy. And for good reason. Cook embraced his role as a public historian. He was both prolific and expert — the author of nineteen books and many more articles; he could tell a story that was accurate, meaningful, and compelling. He respected both the past and the people whose stories he told. He didn’t shy away from the horrors of war nor its moral warts but he also gave credence to the contingencies and pressure of the era. It’s a sad day for Canada. But also an opportunity to pay respect to a great historian and the works he created.
Tim Cook came by his profession honestly — he was the son of two professional historians. But he also caught his passion for military historian at Trent University in the classes of Stuart Robson who would make the wars come alive — singing trench songs live in lecture. (I recall these lectures myself as I was a couple of years behind Tim at Trent.) Cook went on to do academic work at the Royal Military College and then followed it up with a PhD in Australia. He worked at our national archives and then took up a position at the Canadian War Museum in the early days as it found its new prominent home in Ottawa.
At the War Museum Cook helped shape how Canadians saw their past in person. He insisted that museums could be true to scholarship, respect the experience of veterans, and engage the public. . .
A strong, stoic Canadian, Tim Cook gave to his family, his community and his country. He deserves a place of honour as one of our greatest storytellers.