Who likes history!

“All I ever wanted to do is write a history book that people want to read,” said Jim Blanchard, author of Winnipeg’s Great War – a book that follows how the people of Winnipeg reacted and dealt with the First World War.

I can’t speak on behalf of everyone, but I wanted to read the book. I remember seeing it on display earlier this fall at McNally Robinson. I intended to go to the reading. But a pocket filled with nothing but lint and a hectic school schedule kept me from attending or purchasing the book sooner. So when I found out we’d be reading the book in our last semester of school, I was thrilled.

I’ve always been interested in history and I’m realizing the importance of knowing Canadian and local history. But I’m not a great at it.

My first question reading the book: why did the First World War start anyway? Rather than providing readers with a brief summary of what happened to trigger the war, Blanchard goes straight to the beginning of it, assuming his readers already know. While it’s not a critical thing to know, since the book primarily uses the war to discuss the happenings in Winnipeg, it was definitely a pertinent question as I continued to read on – possibly only because I felt silly for not knowing.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is said to have been the trigger that set off the war. An ultimatum between the Yugoslav nationalist that killed Ferdinand and the Kingdom of Serbia led to war. Eventually alliances formed and the major powers were at war too – major powers who had colonial ties to other countries as well.

Blanchard neglects to explain certain details to his audience at other times as well – such as why battles like the Somme, Ypres and Vimy Ridge began/entailed in the first place. Short explanations, I feel, would’ve gone a long way.

However, there is SO much information in this book. Blanchard does an incredible job sorting through what I can only imagine to be 1,000 of hours spent digging through archives to write this book. Not only does he use humorous and emotional stories from various newspapers at the time to highlight how it felt to live in Winnipeg from 1914-1918 (like how women used to pin white feathers on the men who hadn’t volunteered to go to war in 1915), but he also incorporates so many detailed facts that readers are automatically left needing to read the book again. These are his two biggest strengths. The stories maintain interest for those, otherwise, not always interested in historical facts. The facts ensure there’s always more to be learnt about the Winnipeg during the First World War.

This non-fiction book chronicles everything – from the role women played throughout to the way Winnipeggers treated immigrants to the educational system at the time to the role the media played to so much more, the release of Winnipeg’s Great War was anything but rushed.

So, did Blanchard achieve his goal? Will people want to read this history book? I think they should. I did.

But will people continue to want to read the book once they’ve started? I did, but I’ll admit it was a challenge. The amount of minute details including was at times difficult to follow – making the read sometimes overwhelming.

My advice: take it slow. Don’t rush the read. Relax if you find yourself overwhelmed and keep reading. You won’t take everything in on the first read, unlike other history texts like John Hersey’s Hiroshima which vividly tells the stories of several Hiroshima survivors. (Also keep in mind, Hersey was writing the story in that time period, Blanchard is writing about a period he never existed in.) But in the end everything will make sense – plus there’s a nice little summary recapping how exactly Winnipeg was impacted by the war. Then plan to revisit the book another time.

After all, Blanchard is writing about a story all Winnipeggers should know – our story.