The Good Allies, Tim Cook
The Good Allies, Tim Cook
List: $30.00 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $15.00

The Good Allies
How Canada and the United States Fought Together to Defeat Fascism during the Second World War

Author: Tim Cook

Narrator: David Ferry

Unabridged: 16 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Allen Lane

Published: 09/17/2024


Synopsis

From our country's most important war historian, a gripping account of the turbulent relationship between Canada and the US during the Second World War. The two nations entered the war amidst rivalry and mutual suspicion, but learned to fight together before emerging triumphant and bound by an alliance that has lasted to this day.

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, it set in motion a deadly struggle between the Axis powers and the Allies, but also fraught negotiations between and among the Allies. On questions of diplomacy, economic policy, industrial might, military capabilities, and even national sovereignty, thousands of lives and the fate of the free world depended on back-room deals and desperate trade-offs between soldiers, diplomats, and leaders.

In North America, Canada and the US strained to forge a new military alliance to guard their coasts and fend off German U-boats and the menace of a Japanese invasion. Wartime economies were entwined to produce a staggering contribution of weapons to keep Britain and other allies in the war. The defence of North America against enemy threats was essential before the US and Canada could send armies, navies, and air forces overseas.

In his trademark style, Tim Cook employs eyewitness accounts to vividly lay bare the brutality of combat and the courage of North Americans under fire. Behind the fighting fronts, the charged and often secret communications between national leaders Churchill, Roosevelt, and King reveal how their personalities shaped the outcome of history’s most destructive war, the fate of the British Empire, and the North American alliance that lives on to this day.

The Good Allies is a masterful account of how Canadians and Americans made the transition from wary rivals to steadfast allies, and how Canada thrived in the shadow of the military and global superpower. In exploring this complex and crucial dimension of the Second World War and its legacy, Cook recounts two nations’ story of cooperation, of sacrifice, and of bleeding together to save the world from the fascist threat.

About The Author

TIM COOK is Chief Historian and Director of Research at the Canadian War Museum. His bestselling books have won multiple awards, including four Ottawa Book Awards for Literary Non-Fiction and two C.P. Stacey Awards for the best book in Canadian military history. In 2008 he won the J.W. Dafoe Prize for At the Sharp End and again in 2018 for Vimy: The Battle and the Legend. Shock Troops won the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. His most recent book, Lifesavers and Body Snatchers, won the 2023 Ottawa Book Award and was shortlisted for the 2022 Templer Medal for Best Book. Cook is a frequent commentator in the media, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada and the Order of Canada.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brendan on August 24, 2024

What about Canada, eh? I've read many books about World War II. References in most of these books to the people from the Great White North usually amount to, "Oh, yeah and the Canadians were there, too." Tim Cook seeks to address these historical gaps in The Good Allies. Cook is very successful when......more

Goodreads review by Kristi on March 25, 2025

*************** If any Canadians happen to read this review, all I can do is apologize for the narcissistic SOB who is our current second in command to Sturmführer Musk. The stupidity and lack of empathy is appalling. Weeks ago in the notes below I said that I could never imagine a President who wou......more

Goodreads review by Felicia on March 24, 2025

clock that tea !!!......more

Goodreads review by James on April 27, 2025

A fascinating read from start to finish. Deeply researched, very well written, insightful, informative. Most remarkable is that the author wrote much of the book while battling cancer.......more

Goodreads review by (Michelle’s version) on February 18, 2025

I just finished reading this book and it’s an automatic 5 star ⭐️ book. Not just because I love history, but because of the monumental and crucial parallels between the WW2 world and of ours today. This book mainly focuses on the relationship of Canadas & the US as Allies to defeat fascism. Canada’s......more


Quotes

One of The Hill Times’ Top 100 Best Books in 2024
Shortlisted for the 2025 Lionel Gelber Prize


“[Cook] takes on arguably his most ambitious topic yet—and succeeds brilliantly. . . . One of Cook’s many strengths as a military historian is that he equally understands political battlegrounds and the people and tactics involved. . . . Remarkably detailedand wise.”
Policy Magazine

“Tim Cook[’s] new and acclaimed work of nonfiction. . . . If you want to hear the riveting true tale of how Canada and the US united in mutual sacrifice and victory for the free world like you’ve never heard it before, make sure you treat yourself to a copy of Tim Cook’s The Good Allies.”
Ottawa Life Magazine

“[Tim Cook’s] writing is lucid and . . . intelligent. . . . Refreshingly blunt. . . . The Good Allies will certainly give readers a greater appreciation of the United States’ good fortune in having a healthy, powerful democracy with whom to share the world’s longest international border. And . . . it reliably documents the great importance World War II had for Canada.”
—Open Letters Review