The never-before-published memoir of Major-General Sir Edward Morrison, a true Canadian hero of the First World War.

The First World War marked a turning point in Canadian history and in Canada’s self-identification as a nation. Yet in memorializing the iconic events and battles of the War, certain key individuals who participated have been lost in our collective memory. One of those individuals is Major-General Sir Edward Morrison.

Morrison was instrumental in the Canadian Army’s efforts and achievements throughout the War, but especially from 1916 until 1918, when he commanded all Canadian artillery, including at the battles of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele. An accomplished journalist who was the editor of both the Hamilton Spectator and the Ottawa Citizen, Morrison recorded his experiences, strategies, darkly humourous observations, and insights into the nature of modern warfare in a memoir that he completed but never published before his death in 1925. Now, with the permission of his estate, Morrison’s words are made public for the first time, with a thought-provoking introduction by military historian Susan Raby-Dunne. Morrison: The Long-lost Memoir of Canada’s Artillery Commander in the Great War is a fascinating and highly readable historical document that brings a rawness and immediacy to a century-old conflict.

Susan Raby-Dunne is a military historian, composer, veterans’ advocate, First and Second World War battlefield guide, and the author and editor of numerous books including John McCrae: Beyond Flanders Fields; Morrison: The Long-lost Memoir of Canada’s Artillery Commander in the Great War; and Hell Burned Through: The Art and Story of a Lancaster Rear Gunner. Her musical version of the poem “In Flanders Fields” debuted on CBC radio and internationally in 2006. She is the Canadian representative of the US-based charity, Soldier’s Heart. After years of ranching and breeding horses, she now devotes herself to writing.

Susan Raby-Dunne's profile page

Born in London, Ontario, in 1867, Edward Morrison served overseas in the Boer War and World War I, and was promoted to major-general in 1918. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1919. He died in 1925.

Edward Morrison's profile page

Morrisonis a terrific read because it advances multiple understandings and appreciations of personhood and nationhood.

Ormsby Review