Wars of Conviction
A History of Canadian Transnational Fighters
Will be published approx. on 7. July 2026
Book
Hardback
306 pages
978-0-2280-2782-9 (ISBN)
Description
In 1867 Alfred LaRocque, a young Quebecker, left home to defend the papacy in Rome. In 1937 journalist and communist Jean Watts travelled to Spain to cover the civil war. In 2023 former corporal Kyle Porter took up arms in Ukraine. Separated by time and cause, the three share a bond with tens of thousands of Canadians who fought, assisted, or died defending other nations or oppressed peoples.
The stories of transnational fighters complicate Canada's familiar war narrative, illuminating the motivations and passions that drove people to fight abroad and the legal and political legacies that followed them home. Spanning 150 years, Wars of Conviction explores who fought, why they did so, and what they experienced during and after battle. Canadians' decisions to take up arms in the Papal Zouaves, the Spanish Civil War, the Sino-Japanese War, Vietnam, Syria, and Ukraine provoked both admiration and outrage, invited state scrutiny, and sparked enduring debate over how such fighters should be commemorated.
A deftly sketched portrait of the fighters that committed to making foreign wars their own, this volume unsettles military history to better understand an uncertain present.
The stories of transnational fighters complicate Canada's familiar war narrative, illuminating the motivations and passions that drove people to fight abroad and the legal and political legacies that followed them home. Spanning 150 years, Wars of Conviction explores who fought, why they did so, and what they experienced during and after battle. Canadians' decisions to take up arms in the Papal Zouaves, the Spanish Civil War, the Sino-Japanese War, Vietnam, Syria, and Ukraine provoked both admiration and outrage, invited state scrutiny, and sparked enduring debate over how such fighters should be commemorated.
A deftly sketched portrait of the fighters that committed to making foreign wars their own, this volume unsettles military history to better understand an uncertain present.
Reviews / Votes
"This volume is fantastic. It marshals an excellent cast of contributors and will appeal broadly to Canadian, military, and public historians, as well as those studying transnational movements." - Asa McKercher, co-author of Canada First, Not Canada Alone: A History of Canadian Foreign Policy"One of the more remarkable strengths of this ambitious book is how it explores the great variety of motivations and experiences of Canadian individuals involved in transnational fighting." - John MacFarlane, author of Triquet's Cross: A Study of Military Heroism
"This original volume is the first to draw together the histories of Canadian transnational fighters across numerous conflicts. It will interest those curious about Canadian history, the history of modern warfare, and how states and non-state fighters interact." - Jennifer Wellington, author of Exhibiting War: The Great War, Museums, and Memory in Britain, Canada, and Australia
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Montreal
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Cloth
Illustrations
15 photos, 2 diagrams
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
581 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-2280-2782-9 (9780228027829)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Tim Cook (Editor)
Tim Cook (1971-2025) was chief historian and director of research at the Canadian War Museum.
Adrian Shubert (Editor)
Adrian Shubert is professor emeritus of history at York University.
Marcel Martel (Editor)
Marcel Martel is professor of history at York University.
Tim Cook (1971-2025) was chief historian and director of research at the Canadian War Museum.
Adrian Shubert (Editor)
Adrian Shubert is professor emeritus of history at York University.
Marcel Martel (Editor)
Marcel Martel is professor of history at York University.
Content
Figures vii
Tribute and Acknowledgments ix
Wars of Conviction: A History of Canadian Transnational Fighters, an Introduction 3
Tim Cook, Adrian Shubert, and Marcel Martel
Part One: Getting Started
1 A Tradition Without National Boundaries: The Legacy of Foreign War Volunteering 27
David Malet
2 Canada's Transnational Fighters 45
Tim Cook
Part Two: Fighting Abroad
3 Fighting in His Father's Shadow: Lance Corporal Richard Paul Dextraze, Canada's Highest-Profile Foreign Volunteer Casualty in the Vietnam War 79
Sean J. McLaughlin
4 A Revolutionary in Spite of Herself: Jean Ewen in China, 1938-1939 94
Larry Hannant
5 Feminizing Foreign Fighters? Canadian Nurses Serving Foreign Forces 111
Kathryn McPherson
6 Canada's Foreign Fighter Laws in Historical Perspective 130
Tyler Wentzell
7 God's Army: The Story of the Canadian Pontifical Zouaves 146
Jean-Philippe Warren
8 Orwell's Children: Canadian Volunteers Who Fought Fascism in Spain and the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq 160
Michael Petrou
9 Canadian Jihadist Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq: What Happened, Who Are They, and What Now? 176
Amarnath Amarasingam and Morgan Fox
Part Three: Remembering and Commemorating
10 "A Struggle Between Beautiful Right and Ugly Wrong": How Its Canadian Veterans Viewed the American Civil War 193
Scott A. MacKenzie
11 We Were Not Mercenaries; We Were Fighting for Democracy: Canadian Veterans of the Spanish Civil War and Their Long Quest for Public Recognition 208
Margrethe McKoen and Marcel Martel
12 Remembering the "Forgotten Wars": An Experimental Survey on Canadian War Memorials 226
Eun Seon Bae
13 Telling Canadian Stories of the American Civil War: Exhibition Development at the Canadian War Museum 243
Timothy Foran and Claire Champ
14 A Virtual Museum for the Spanish Civil War, and Beyond 260
Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez and Adrian Shubert
Contributors 277
Index 283
Tribute and Acknowledgments ix
Wars of Conviction: A History of Canadian Transnational Fighters, an Introduction 3
Tim Cook, Adrian Shubert, and Marcel Martel
Part One: Getting Started
1 A Tradition Without National Boundaries: The Legacy of Foreign War Volunteering 27
David Malet
2 Canada's Transnational Fighters 45
Tim Cook
Part Two: Fighting Abroad
3 Fighting in His Father's Shadow: Lance Corporal Richard Paul Dextraze, Canada's Highest-Profile Foreign Volunteer Casualty in the Vietnam War 79
Sean J. McLaughlin
4 A Revolutionary in Spite of Herself: Jean Ewen in China, 1938-1939 94
Larry Hannant
5 Feminizing Foreign Fighters? Canadian Nurses Serving Foreign Forces 111
Kathryn McPherson
6 Canada's Foreign Fighter Laws in Historical Perspective 130
Tyler Wentzell
7 God's Army: The Story of the Canadian Pontifical Zouaves 146
Jean-Philippe Warren
8 Orwell's Children: Canadian Volunteers Who Fought Fascism in Spain and the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq 160
Michael Petrou
9 Canadian Jihadist Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq: What Happened, Who Are They, and What Now? 176
Amarnath Amarasingam and Morgan Fox
Part Three: Remembering and Commemorating
10 "A Struggle Between Beautiful Right and Ugly Wrong": How Its Canadian Veterans Viewed the American Civil War 193
Scott A. MacKenzie
11 We Were Not Mercenaries; We Were Fighting for Democracy: Canadian Veterans of the Spanish Civil War and Their Long Quest for Public Recognition 208
Margrethe McKoen and Marcel Martel
12 Remembering the "Forgotten Wars": An Experimental Survey on Canadian War Memorials 226
Eun Seon Bae
13 Telling Canadian Stories of the American Civil War: Exhibition Development at the Canadian War Museum 243
Timothy Foran and Claire Champ
14 A Virtual Museum for the Spanish Civil War, and Beyond 260
Antonio Cazorla-Sanchez and Adrian Shubert
Contributors 277
Index 283