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Biography & Autobiography Historical

The Madman and the Butcher

The Sensational Wars Of Sam Hughes And General Arthur Currie

by (author) Tim Cook

Publisher
Penguin Group Canada
Initial publish date
Oct 2011
Category
Historical, World War I, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780143173571
    Publish Date
    Oct 2011
    List Price
    $28.00
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780670064038
    Publish Date
    Sep 2010
    List Price
    $36

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Description

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.

 

Sir Arthur Currie achieved international fame as Canadian Corps commander during the Great War. He was recognized as a brilliant general, morally brave, and with a keen eye for solving the challenges of trench warfare. But wars were not won without lives lost. 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 he was an expert on the war. He attacked Currie's reputation in the war's aftermath, accusing him of being a butcher, a callous murderer of his own men.

Set against the backdrop of Canadians fighting in the Great War, this engaging narrative explores questions of Canada's role in the war, the need to place blame for the terrible blood loss, the nation's discomfort with heroes, and the very public war of reputations that raged on after the guns fell silent.

About the author

TIM COOK is the Great War historian at the Canadian War Museum, as well as an adjunct professor at Carleton University. He is the author of five other books, including Shock Troops, which won the prestigious Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction in 2009. He was also awarded the Ottawa Book Award and the J.W. Dafoe Prize for At the Sharp End. Cook lives in Ottawa with his family.

Tim Cook's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"[A] masterful book." —Maclean's
"In The Madman and the Butcher, [Cook] tells at least two stories that deserve that overused word 'epic' ... [Cook] has a playwright's ear for knowing when to let his subjects speak for themselves." —The Globe and Mail

"[The Madman and the Butcher] is engagingly written, and for those inclined to the arcana of Canadian history, it will shed light on the making of reputations following the war." —Quill & Quire

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