With compelling insight, Canada 1919 exposes the ways in which the First World War shaped and changed Canada – and the ways it did not.

During the Second World War, Canadian factories produced mountains of munitions and supplies, including some 800 ships, 16,000 aircraft, 800,000 vehicles, and over 4.6 billion rounds of ammunition and artillery shells. Although they were crucial to winning the war, these assets turned into peacetime liabilities when hostilities ended in 1945.Drawing on comprehensive archival research, Alex Souchen provides a definitive account of the disposal crisis triggered by Allied victory and shows how policymakers implemented a disposal strategy that facilitated postwar reconstruction. Canadians responded to the unprecedented divestment of public property by reusing and recycling military surpluses to improve their postwar lives.War Junk recounts the complex political, economic, social, and environmental legacies of munitions disposal in Canada by revealing how the tools of war became integral to the making of postwar Canada.

War Junk recounts the surprising history of leftover military munitions and supplies, revealing their complex political, economic, social, and environmental legacies in postwar Canada.

Making the Best of It examines the ways in which gender and other identities intersected to shape the experiences of female Canadians and Newfoundlanders during the Second World War.

Canada’s Mechanized Infantry examines the challenges facing the Canadian Army as it transformed its infantry from First World War foot soldiers to a twenty-first–century combat force integrating soldiers, vehicles, weapons, and electronics.

This book is a call to action to address the sometimes difficult transition many soldiers face when returning to civilian life. It explores the development, performance, and reception of Contact!Unload, a play that brings to life the personal stories of veterans returning from deployment overseas.The play presents an arts-based therapeutic approach to dealing with trauma. Researchers in theatre and group counselling collaborated with military veterans through a series of workshops to create and perform the work. Based on the lives of military veterans, it depicts ways of overcoming stress injuries encountered during service. The book, which includes the full script of the play, offers academic, artistic, personal, and theoretical perspectives from people directly involved in the performances of Contact!Unload as well as those who witnessed the work as audience members. The play and book serve as a model for using arts-based approaches to mental health care and as a powerful look into the experiences of military veterans.

This important book explores an arts-based therapeutic approach to mental health care, bringing to light the journeys of contemporary military veterans as they adjust to civilian life post-deployment.