Just in time for REMEMBRANCE DAY
Great War historian and award-winning author,
TIM COOK is in Toronto Monday, November 8th to talk to media about the Great War and his new book, The Madman and The Butcher
The Sensational Wars of Sam Hughes and General Arthur Currie
Great War expert Tim Cook, winner of the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction for his last book, Shock Troops, returns to Canada's literary arena with a new book that addresses Canada's role in the First World War. The book explores the need to place blame for the terrible loss of life, our nation's discomfort with war heroes and a war of reputations that has raged on since the guns fell silent more than 90 years ago.
Cook's The Madman and The Butcher (Allan Lane Canada, Penguin Group (Canada) is a powerful double biography that intertwines the relationship of Sam Hughes, Canada's war minister during the first 2 ½ years of the First World War and the internationally renowned Arthur Currie, the Canadian Corp commander recognized as a brilliant general, morally brave with a keen eye on solving the challenges of trench warfare.
As the Great War historian at the Canadian War Museum, and author of two previous books about the First World War (At the Sharp End, Shock Troops) Tim Cook makes a timely and fascinating interview as he explores Canadian war history. The Madman and The Butcher follows exposes one of the most shocking and highly publicized libel trials in Canada history; covering controversy, personalities and egos, and the mistakes and decisions that shaped Canada's valiant efforts, defeats and in the end its brave victories of the Great War.
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Penguin Press Release About The Book
Publication Date: September 25,2010
Praise for Tim Cook’s National Bestseller AT THE SHARP END
“The mark of a good historian is finding new ways to tell a tale that we thought we knew, and Cook has that quality in spades.”—The Globe and Mail
THE MADMAN AND THE BUTCHER
The Sensational Wars of Sam Hughes and General Arthur Currie
TIM COOK
From the winner of the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction
Set against the backdrop of Canadians fighting in the Great War, based on newly uncovered sources and written by the country’s Great War expert, The Madman and the Butcher is an engaging narrative that explores questions of Canada’s role in the war, the need to find victims for the terrible blood loss, the nation’s discomfort with heroes, and the war of reputations that has raged on since the guns fell silent more than 90 years ago.
Sir Arthur Currie is Canada’s greatest battlefield general, having achieved international fame as Canadian Corps commander during the Great War. He was recognized by Canada’s allies as a brilliant general, morally brave, and with a keen eye for solving the challenges of trench warfare. But there were no bloodless victories on the battlefields of the Western Front, and even elite fighting forces like Currie’s Corps suffered horrendous casualties. Who was to blame for Canada’s 60,000 dead?
Sir Sam Hughes, Canada’s war minister during the first two and a half years of the conflict, was erratic, outspoken, and regarded by many as insane. Yet this madman was an expert on the war. He attacked Currie’s reputation in the war’s aftermath, accusing him of being a butcher. The Canadian general, after leading his forces for four years and suffering from what would now be recognized as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, could not fight back. Many Canadians believed that Arthur Currie was a callous murderer of his own men. Currie was forced to claw back his reputation, battle against a nefarious rumour campaign by Sam Hughes and others, and eventually fight one of the most shocking and highly publicized court cases in Canadian history.
Based on newly uncovered sources, The Madman and the Butcher is a powerful double biography of Sam Hughes and Arthur Currie and the story of one of the most shocking and highly publicized libel trials in Canadian history.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tim Cook is the Great War historian at the Canadian War Museum, as well as an adjunct professor at Carleton University. His books have won numerous awards, including the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction for Shock Troops. He lives in Ottawa with his family.
PRAISE FOR TIM COOK:
“Serving solders and military historians should consider themselves lucky to have Tim Cook, himself a war studies graduate and an accomplished military historian.”
—Canadian Army Journal
THE MADMAN AND THE BUTCHER by Tim Cook
Non-Fiction/ISBN: 9780670064038/ $36 / Hardcover / 400 pages
To arrange an in-person interview on Monday, Nov. 8th and receive a copy of the book, please contact:
Stephen Weir & Associates
Linda Crane 905-257-6033 c. 416-727-0112 cranepr@cogeco.ca
Stephen Weir 416-489-5868 c. 416-801-3101 stephen@stephenweir.com
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