Maple Leaf Empire makes Macleans Top 10 Bestseller List

Maple Leaf Empire makes the Canadian International Council's 2011 International Book List

The ineffable character of "Britishness" has been used, often enigmatically, to describe Canada's distinct cultural flavour within North America. This mysterious quality, writes award-winning writer Jonathan F. Vance, goes back to the early days of Canadian history, and consists of far more than the sum of early migration patterns. It emerges from a long-standing respect for British liberal ideals and an identification with the British Empire. Canada's own unique brand of Britishness evolved over a history of shared military endeavour, as Canadians fought alongside others to defend the ideals that the British Empire was deemed to represent.

To understand Canada's history of Britishness, Vance looks into the military past of both countries. The fabric of Canadian life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries owes a great deal to the presence of British military. And this, observes Vance, is a two-way relationship: he reminds us that during the two world wars, close to a million Canadians travelled to the United Kingdom. In this form of reverse colonialism, Canadians established modest outposts in Britain, and parts of the country were Canadianized.

This new, outside-the-box narrative is Jonathan F. Vance at his best. Beautifully written, based on original research in the true sense of the word, and illustrated with previously unseen materials, this book reveals a side of Canada often forgotten by historians.

Jonathan F. Vance is a native of Waterdown, Ontario, and the author of many books, including award-winners Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War (1997), Unlikely Soldiers: How Two Canadians Fought the Secret War Against Nazi Occupation (2008), and A History of Canadian Culture (2009).

Jonathan F. Vance's profile page

"A masterpiece...Maple Leaf Empire is exceedingly well written...this book is very strong." --Literary Review of Canada

"This study of the imperial experience that is imbedded in the Canadian character is social history at its best."

--OHS Bulletin (newsletter of the Ontario Historical Society)

"Vance mines newspaper stories, letters, and official reports from both world wars to trace the development of Canadian experiences in wartime Britain. . . . The book is a fascinating portrait of soldiers who, at the same time as they were fighting a war, discovered both the land of their ancestors and the definition of themselves as Canadians." --Quill and Quire

"Those wishing to deepen their understanding of [Canadian] heritage, Vance's account is a good place to start." --Winnipeg Free Press

"Compelling." --Maclean's

"Maple Leaf Empire is very readable...this book will touch your heart." --Globe and Mail