The first comprehensive, in-depth history of Canada’s war in Afghanistan, written largely in real time over several years by a military historian, was quietly (some might say reluctantly) published last summer by a federal government printer.
Average Canadians, the soldiers who fought there and the families of those killed in action will have a hard time getting their hands on a copy, however.
The history was commissioned by the Canadian Army and the Department of National Defence (DND), and written while the war was still raging by Royal Military College historian Sean Maloney.
Only 1,600 copies of the history (800 English and 800 French) have been produced — much to the dismay of veterans and the retired general who initiated the project.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The first comprehensive, in-depth history of Canada’s war in Afghanistan, written largely in real time over several years by a military historian, was quietly (some might say reluctantly) published last summer by a federal government printer.
The history was commissioned by the Canadian Army and the Department of National Defence (DND), and written while the war was still raging by Royal Military College historian Sean Maloney.
But publication was held up for almost a decade by reviews and debates within DND and the Canadian Forces about Maloney’s often blunt assessments — his criticism of Canada’s allies and other government departments, his questioning of some decisions by senior commanders.
Eventually, he said, the project was shuffled within the military to the Canadian Defence Academy Press, an internal government printer that publishes scholarly and professional works.
“There are a number of people that tried to step in and interfere with my editorial prerogative,” said Maloney, who pointed out that Leslie, the commander who commissioned his work, had left the army by the time he finished his first draft.
Maloney said that several years ago, he took the list of specific complaints about his work from within the department and the Canadian Forces to the chief of the defence staff at the time, now-retired general Jonathan Vance.
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