Two War Museum historians short-listed for the 2009 Ottawa Book Awards

Two War Museum historians short-listed for the 2009 Ottawa Book Awards

Ottawa, Ontario, September 11, 2009 — The City of Ottawa yesterday announced the short list for the 2009 Ottawa Book Awards, and two War Museum historians have been listed in the English non-fiction category. On the heels of the announcement, the Canadian War Museum wishes to congratulate Dr. Tim Cook and Dr. Peter MacLeod for their respective books Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1917–1918, Volume Two, and Northern Armageddon: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham. A third nominee, Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War, by Michael Petrou, is part of the series Studies in Canadian Military History, published by the UBC Press in association with the Canadian War Museum.

The two books were also nominated earlier this year for the John W. Dafoe Book Prize, which honours the best book about Canada, its people and its place in the world. Shock Troops was also awarded the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction earlier in the year.

The Ottawa Book Awards were established by the City of Ottawa 24 years ago to recognize and honour the top books published in English by local authors in the previous year. An equivalent award, the Prix du livre d’Ottawa, recognizes the top French books. Both awards have separate categories for fiction and non-fiction. Dr. Cook was the winner in the English non-fiction category in last year’s Ottawa Book Awards for At the Sharp End: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1914-1916.

The winners of the 2009 Ottawa Book Awards will be announced on October 20, 8 p.m., at Library and Archives Canada.

Media Information
Chief, Media Relations
Canadian War Museum
Telephone: 819 776-7167