On cenotaphs and memorials along the shores of beautiful Kootenay Lake in the BC Interior are the names of 280 men who died on the blood-soaked battlefields of World War Iamid the first deadly gas attack at Ypres, in the costly battle for Vimy Ridge and through the horrors of Passchendaele. Many of the men were fruit ranchers, mostly British immigrants who settled on the shores of the lake, along the Kootenay River, and in the Slocan Valley. They were miners, labourers, businessmen and some were students about to embark on promising careers. They come alive again in this account of who they were and what they endured in that futile and cataclysmic "war to end all wars." After six years of research, the author tells their stories, and vividly makes them more than simply "names on a cenotaph."

Sylvia Crooks' profile page

Sylvia Crooks was born and grew up in Nelson, BC. She is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, with a BA in English and History, and a Master's degree in Library Science. She worked in public libraries in Vancouver and Burnaby before joining the faculty of the UBC School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, where she taught reference and outreach services for 15 years before retiring in 2002. Her book Homefront & Battlefront: Nelson, BC in World War II, was given an honourable mention in 2005 by the BC Historical Federation. She currently residesin Vancouver.