Archana Cini, Lookout Newspaper

  • Reading can become an act of remembrance when sacrifice is honoured through story and reflection.
  • Discover powerful books to read that preserve the voices of Canada’s veterans, from memoris to historical accounts.

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The service and sacrifice that shapes Canada lives not only through monuments and medals, but also within books. Reading, like remembrance, invites reflection.

Whether told through the lens of history, fiction, lived experience, or artwork, the books below preserve the voices of our veterans. Together, they ensure that their sacrifices continue to shape our understanding of duty, peace, and what it means to serve. They are told by our veterans, historians, and storytellers alike. Importantly, the suggested material below reminds us that war and service extend far beyond the battlefield. They travel into our homes, hearts, communities, and collective history. They will never leave. This Remembrance month, Canadians are encouraged to read and revisit the layered reading list below as a powerful act of remembrance.

And No Birds Sang by Farley Mowat: A powerful Second World War memoir by a Canadian infantry officer grappling with loss and the human cost of war.

A History of Women in the Canadian Military by Barbara Dundas: A sweeping exploration into over a century of women’s service in the Canadian military from the 1885 Northwest Rebellion to today.

A Sailor’s Life by Peter Godwin Chance: A naval memoir chronicling over three decades of service in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) recounted by one of the country’s most distinguished sailors.

Warriors & Nations: Voices from the Original Peoples by Jean Miso: A collection of Indigenous veteran narratives from across Canada on the intersections of service, identity, and community from the Boer War to the present day.

The Naval Service of Canada 1910‑2010 (ed. Alec Douglas): A comprehensive centennial history of Canada’s naval force, origins, wartime operations, and ongoing modern transformation.

The Wars by Timothy Findley: The story of 19-year-old Canadian soldier Robert Ross as he grapples with grief and duty in the chaos of trench warfare during the First World War.

Atrocity on the Atlantic: Attack on a Hospital Ship during the Great War by Nate Hendley: A gripping account of how the Canadian hospital ship Llandovery Castle was torpedoed by a German submarine in 1918 in a tragic moment of Canadian naval history.

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden: The story of two Cree snipers and the aunt who carries one of them home through the wilderness in a tale that explores the toll of war, Indigenous tradition, and healing.