On the morning of July 1, 1916, at Beaumont-Hamel, the men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment climbed out of their trenches and advanced into no man’s land. Eric Mackenzie Robertson went over the top on that fateful day—and survived. Almost unbelievably, just four years later, Robertson would become the first born and bred Newfoundlander to compete in the Olympics. With her engaging journalistic style, Joan Sullivan—author of the award-winning In the Field—returns to tell the story of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, a lost Olympiad, and one man’s extraordinary journey through the battlefield and into history.

J. M. Sullivan is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Telegram, This Magazine, and on CBC Radio. She also works in theatre as a director, actor and playwright and is a co-founder of the St. John’s theatre company The Open Actor’s Studio. She lives in St. John’s with her husband, the actor/writer Bryan Hennessey, and daughter, Marianne.

Joan Sullivan's profile page

• Winner, IPPY Awards, Gold Medal, Best Regional Non-Fiction, Canada-East