It was the “Good War.” Its cause was just; it ended the
depression; and Canada’s contribution was nothing less than stellar.
Canadians had every reason to applaud themselves, and the heroes that
made the nation proud. But the dark truth was that not all Canadians
were saints or soldiers. Indeed, many were sinners. In this
eye-opening and captivating reassessment of Canadian commitment to the
cause, some disturbing questions come to light. Were citizens working
as hard as possible to back the war effort? Was there illegal
profiting from the conflict? Did Canadian society suffer from a
general decline of “morality” during the war? Would women truly
“back the attack” in new factory jobs and the military, and then
quietly return home? Would unattended youth produce a crisis with
juvenile delinquency? How would Canada reintegrate a million veterans
who, policy-makers feared, would create a social crisis if treated
like their Great War counterparts? The first-ever synthesis of both
the patriotic and the problematic in wartime Canada, Saints, Sinners,
and Soldiers shows how moral and social changes, and the fears they
generated, precipitated numerous, and often contradictory, legacies in
law and society. From labour conflicts, to the black market, to
prostitution, and beyond, Keshen acknowledges the underbelly of
Canada’s Second World War, and demonstrates that the “Good War”
was a complex tapestry of social forces – not all of which were
above reproach.
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Canada's Second World War
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780774850995
Publisert
2020
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
University of British Columbia Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter