@DesareeRosskopf  is a military historian and a recipient of the 2017 Government of Canada History Award. She completed her Master of Arts in History from Western University under Dr. Jonathan Vance and is the 2017/2018 Juno Beach Centre Fellow researching the collective memory of Canada’s role in the D-Day invasions. She has presented twice at the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies and was a guest on the Juno Beach and Beyond podcast. Her article on the motivations of French Canadian volunteers in the First World War will appear in The Canadian Military Journal in Spring 2019.

Seven Essentials

Eric Crouse – The Cross and Reaganomics: Conservative Christians Defending Ronald Reagan

Crouse re-examines the decade of economic transformation, military build-up, and government restructuring under President Ronald Reagan. He discusses why Conservative Christians supported Reagan and how the American values of individual opportunity, personal responsibility, and human freedom were at the heart of Reaganomics.

Jody Mitic – Unflinching: The Making of a Canadian Sniper

A memoir of Sniper Jody Mitic’s experience in the Canadian Armed Forces from his days as a reservist to becoming a professional soldier serving in Afghanistan. Unflinching recalls Canada’s mission to Afghanistan and the sacrifices its soldiers made to protect its values.

Jonathan Vance – Death so Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War

Vance’s 1997 book created the field of social memory in history. It examines the progression of Canada’s collective war memory post-1918 using literature, media sources, military records, memoirs, etc. putting forward the First World War as a cultural and philosophical force rather than a military event.

Margaret MacMillan – Uses and Abuses of History

MacMillan shows that history is far from benign in her 2009 investigation of the importance the past plays in cultivating individual and national identity while cautioning those seeking to erase or manipulate history for their own preferences.

Pierre Bourdieu – Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste

For those interested in the power dynamics of society, Bourdieu proposes that every society operates on cultural (gained through education, age, as well as life experience) and economic capital. Based on this model he provides a framework for understanding society.

Tim Cook – Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1917

Shock Troops follows the Canadian Expeditionary Force from Vimy to the Hundred Days Campaign using interviews and archival materials to tell the Great War’s story from the soldier’s perspective. It is an excellent book for those wanting scholarly research combined with engaging writing.

Thomas Sowell – A Personal Odyssey and Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One

While I recommend all of Sowell’s work, his biography and introduction to applied economics are perfect starting books for those interested in exploring the North American economy. Sowell discusses the economics of organ transplants, the mortgage crisis, and the influences behind immigration/discrimination.