Jack Lawrence Granatstein,
OCThe Order of Canada is an honour for merit that is, within the Canadian system of honours, the highest such order administered by the Governor General-in-Council, on behalf of the Queen of Canada. Created in 1967, to coincide with the centennial of Canadian...
, FRSC (born May 21, 1939) is a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
who specializes in political and
military historyMilitary history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
.
Born in
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
,
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
, Granatstein received a graduation diploma from Le College militaire royal de Saint-Jean in 1959, his
BABachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
from the
Royal Military College of CanadaThe Royal Military College of Canada , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers. Located on Point Frederick, a 41-hectare peninsula in Kingston, Ontario, the college is a blend of...
(RMC) in 1961, his
MAA Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
from the
University of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated north of the city's Financial District on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. The university was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in the...
in 1962 and his
Ph.DDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
from
Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...
in 1966.
Granatstein served in the Canadian Army from 1956 to 1966.
Jack Lawrence Granatstein,
OCThe Order of Canada is an honour for merit that is, within the Canadian system of honours, the highest such order administered by the Governor General-in-Council, on behalf of the Queen of Canada. Created in 1967, to coincide with the centennial of Canadian...
, FRSC (born May 21, 1939) is a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
who specializes in political and
military historyMilitary history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
.
Education
Born in
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
,
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
, Granatstein received a graduation diploma from Le College militaire royal de Saint-Jean in 1959, his
BABachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
from the
Royal Military College of CanadaThe Royal Military College of Canada , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers. Located on Point Frederick, a 41-hectare peninsula in Kingston, Ontario, the college is a blend of...
(RMC) in 1961, his
MAA Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
from the
University of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated north of the city's Financial District on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. The university was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in the...
in 1962 and his
Ph.DDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
from
Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...
in 1966.
Career
Granatstein served in the Canadian Army from 1956 to 1966. After which, he taught at
York UniversityYork University is a university located in Toronto, Ontario. It is Canada's third-largest university and has produced several of the country's top leaders across the humanities and in sciences such as chemistry, meteorology and space science....
until 1996 where he is Distinguished Research Professor of History Emeritus.
Granatstein is an outspoken defender of traditional narrative history in lectures, books, print, and broadcast media. Perhaps his best known work is
Who Killed Canadian History? but he is the author of over sixty other books, including
Yankee Go Home?,
Who Killed The Canadian Military?, and
Victory 1945 (with
Desmond MortonDesmond Dillon Paul Morton, OC, FRSC is a Canadian historian who specializes in the history of the Canadian military, as well as the history of Canadian political and industrial relations....
).
The Generals won the J.W. Dafoe Prize and the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography.
The Last Good War was awarded the Canadian Authors Association's 2005 Lela Common Award for Canadian History.
He was a member of the RMC Board of Governors and is Chair of the Council for Canadian Security in the 21st Century.
Granatstein has also been involved in television coverage of political and military events. On June 6, 1994, he was part of the
CBCThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In French, it is called la Société Radio-Canada...
's coverage of the 50th anniversary of D-Day, as the network's chief correspondent,
Peter MansbridgePeter Mansbridge, OC is a British-born Canadian broadcaster and newsanchor, CBC's "Chief Correspondent" and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast.-Early life:...
got expert help in the commentary from Granatstein. Granatstein helped Mansbridge again on May 8, 1995, during the CBC's coverage of the 50th anniversary of VE Day. He reprised the same role on the 60th and 65th anniversaries of D-Day and V-E Day.
In recent years, Granatstein shifted towards the political right. In 2003, he supported Canada's involvement in the Iraq War. He defended his position in
Whose War?, which was published in 2007. In this book, Granatstein sharply critiqued
Lloyd AxworthyLloyd Norman Axworthy, PC, OC, OM is a prominent Canadian politician, statesman and University President from Manitoba. He is best known for having served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien...
's foreign policy while praising positions adopted by
Stephen HarperStephen Joseph Harper, PC, MP is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada, and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became Prime Minister after his party won a minority government in the January 2006 federal election...
. He also expressed serious reservations about
multiculturalismMulticulturalism is the acceptance of multiple ethnic cultures, for practical reasons and/or for the sake of diversity and applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g. schools, businesses, neighborhoods, cities or nations...
. A great foe of Quebec independence, he accused
Lucien BouchardLucien Bouchard, PC, GOQ is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
of being a demagogue and a liar.
Jack Granatstein served as the head of the
Canadian War MuseumThe Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the museum focuses on military conflicts that occurred on Canadian soil, involved Canadian forces, or had a significant effect on the country and its people...
in
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
from 1998 to 2001 and was the driving force behind the building of the museum's new home that opened in 2005.
Honours
The
Royal Society of CanadaThe Royal Society of Canada , now known as the RSC: Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
awarded him the J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal (1992) for "outstanding work in the history of Canada". In 1996, the Conference of Defence Associations Institute named him winner of the
Vimy AwardThe Vimy Award is an award presented by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute to the “Canadian who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to the defence and security of and the preservation of democratic values". The award has been presented annually since 1991...
which recognizes a Canadian who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to the defence and security of our nation and the preservation of our democratic values.
In 1996, he became an Officer of the
Order of CanadaThe Order of Canada is an honour for merit that is, within the Canadian system of honours, the highest such order administered by the Governor General-in-Council, on behalf of the Queen of Canada. Created in 1967, to coincide with the centennial of Canadian...
, and he won the National History Society's Pierre Berton Prize in 2004 and the Organization for the History of Canada's National History Award in 2006. He has received honorary degrees from the
University of Western OntarioThe University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario. It was founded in 1878 by Bishop Isaac Hellmuth of Bishop's University and the Anglican Diocese of Huron as The Western University of London Ontario.Huron College, established in 1863 as an Anglican...
, the
University of CalgaryThe University of Calgary is a research-intensive public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University is composed of 24,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students....
, as well as
Memorial University of NewfoundlandMemorial University of Newfoundland, is a comprehensive university located primarily in St...
,
McMaster UniversityMcMaster University is a public research university located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It bears the name of William McMaster, a prominent Canadian Senator and banker whose substantial bequeathed funds helped form the beginning of the university. The institution being incorporated under the...
,
Niagara UniversityNiagara University is a Roman Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition, located in the Town of Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. Originally founded by the Congregation of the Mission in 1856 as Our Lady of Angels Seminary, it became Niagara University in 1883. The University is still run...
, and
Ryerson UniversityRyerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Canada. It has 24,000 full-time students, and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Its urban campus surrounds Yonge and Dundas Square, with the majority of its buildings in the blocks northeast of the...
.
Books
- 4237 Dr. Adrian Preston & Peter Dennis (Edited) "Swords and Covenants" Rowman And Littlefield, London. Croom Helm. 1976.
- H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "To Serve Canada: A History of the Royal Military College of Canada" 1997 Toronto, University of Toronto Press
The University of Toronto Press is a publishing house and an independent division of the University of Toronto that engages in academic publishing. The press was founded in 1901 to print university examinations and calendars, and to repair library books...
, 1969.
- H16511 Dr. Richard Arthur Preston "Canada's RMC - A History of Royal Military College" Second Edition 1982
- H16511 Dr. Richard Preston "R.M.C. and Kingston: The effect of imperial and military influences on a Canadian community" 1968 Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, where Lake Ontario runs into the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands begin.Kingston is the county seat of Frontenac County...
.
- H1877 R. Guy C. Smith (editor) "As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember". In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876-1918. Volume II: 1919-1984. RMC
The Royal Military College of Canada , is the military academy of the Canadian Forces, and is a degree-granting university. RMC is the only federal institution in Canada with degree granting powers. Located on Point Frederick, a 41-hectare peninsula in Kingston, Ontario, the college is a blend of...
. Kingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, where Lake Ontario runs into the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands begin.Kingston is the county seat of Frontenac County...
. The R.M.C. Club of Canada. 1984
External links