War Photographer

The war of 1870-1871, largely forgotten and eclipsed by the two World Wars, was nonetheless a decisive conflict that changed the balance of power in Europe.

Ypres, the Somme, Vimy, Passchendaele, Amiens — to many, these are the names of battles far away and long ago. To thousands of soldiers, now gone, the battles were hard-fought and costly campaigns fraught with danger, pain, and tears. Today, these combat zones are trod by tourists in search of a connection with the past. Canadians at War follows the route of the Canadian Expeditionary Force from its first encounter with German forces at Neuve Chappelle to the site of the 1915 gas attack at St. Julien, from the Somme to Vimy and Passchendaele. In this informative guide, Susan Evans Shaw provides an historical overview of each battlefield as well as maps, photographs, and information on the memorials and cemeteries.

Sergeant Bill Bee is the Marine in one of the defining images from the War on Terror. He responded to gunfire without protective gear when a Taliban sniper shot hit a sandbank just a few inches from his head in Garmsir, Helmand Province. When his world plunged into darkness, he thought his luck had run out. But he somehow survived, and his brush with death on May 18, 2008, was captured by a Reuters photographer. The images were broadcast around the world and became an iconic display of bravery at a time when support for the war in Afghanistan was low. People remember the reckless Marine who risked his life, but the story of the man reeling behind that cloud of dusk is one of an invisible war he is still fighting to this day.

A "vividly narrated" portrait of Margaret Bourke-White, Martha Gellhorn, and over ninety other female reporters who covered WWII combat (Robert Caro).