Sean Maloney

First of all, don’t let the Library Thing ‘Reading Dates’ throw you off. I had a few too many commitments during this time and had to delve into Chances for Peace – Canadian Soldiers in the Balkans, 1992-1995 when time was available.

Once again (surely this is starting to sound repetitious) Sean M. Maloney, this time along with New Brunswicker John Llambias, has brought forth an important historical tomb involving Canada’s military.

Now, if you’re looking for a brief history of Canadian Army operations in the Balkans, this isn’t it. It is quite evident that a huge amount of research went into the creation of these pages and for the military historian or someone who wants the ‘rest of the story’ this book is for you.

Breaking from tradition, I will include a quote from the book’s back page which is attributed to Major-General J.O.M. Maisonneuve, Chief Operations Officer of UNPROFOR; March 1993 to March 1994:

‘The pride I felt and the bursts of elation I could barely contain while witnessing Canadian soldiers’ dedication and performance were enormous. Canadians were never above any task in the former Yugoslav Republics.’

That sums up the troops part quite nicely and Sean Maloney and John Llambias have done an equally great job in laying their story out for us.

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Canada and UN Peacekeeping – Cold War by Other Means 1945-1970 shows again why Seam M Maloney is the ‘go to’ guy for information on the past and present of Canada’s military. This volume, as does his previous books, debunks a lot of the assumed ‘facts’ Canadians hold near and dear to their hearts.

The assumption that the men and women of Canada’s Armed Forces have done little more than prance around in blue berets after we invented the concept of peace keeping is quickly laid to rest in this 2004 release (well worth hunting down on amazon.ca).

The extensive research Maloney has done in the creation of this title is evident throughout and he includes comprehensive foot-notes for the historian wanting to dig deeper still into the subject. Most fascinating are the various personalities, both civilian and military, who appear sprinkled amongst the politics which drove everyone during this period.

Many of today’s ‘issues’ especially in the Middle East and Africa have their roots in this time frame as they pertain to the UN and the reader is shown how conflicts that have raged for centuries were ‘fine tuned’ by UN member countries, almost assuring that they would never end.

As usual, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Canadian politics, military history and the players involved in both.

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Being familiar with Canadian military historian Sean Maloney’s work, I was looking forward to devouring Enduring the Freedom: A Rogue Historian in Afghanistan. Where others would bore you to death with a ‘historian’ style of writing, Maloney keeps your interest peaked with his poignant ‘call a spade a spade' writing style. Sean is indeed a ‘Rogue Historian’.

The book is very informative and covers the early years of the Afghan conflict to 2006, which will help you to understand the ‘mechanics’ of the conflict and the events that brought it to where it is today.

No subject is sacred within these pages – politicians and military leaders alike are fair game for Sean’s no-holds-barred recording of history. I wish he wrote for the evening news so we wouldn’t have to try and read between the lines of every story as to what really happened.

It is very easy to sum up this book; prepare to be informed and amused!

www.daniellittle.com… (altro)