Tim Cook (historian)

Tim Cook
Tim Cook at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2017, medium shot of a caucasion male in their 40s, with greying hair, and Shure Brothers SM58 microphone in front of him.
Cook in 2017
BornNovember 10, 1971
DiedOctober 25, 2025(2025-10-25) (aged 53)
Known forMilitary history of Canada
AwardsC.P. Stacey Prize (2000)
Charles Taylor Prize (2009)
Pierre Berton Award (2013)
C.P. Stacey Prize (2015)
Academic background
Education
Academic work
DisciplineMilitary history
InstitutionsCanadian War Museum

Timothy Raleigh Brown Cook CM FRSC (November 10, 1971 – October 25, 2025) was a Canadian military historian and author. Cook was a historian at the Canadian War Museum and the author of thirteen books about the military history of Canada. Having written extensively about World War I, Cook's focus shifted to Canada's involvement in World War II with the 2014 publication of the first volume in a two-volume series chronicling Canada's role in that war. He won the Charles Taylor Prize in 2009 for his book Shock Troops. He was a two-time recipient (2000 and 2015) of the C.P. Stacey Prize, a two-time recipient of the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize, and a three-time winner of the Ottawa Book Prize. He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2019. He was a member of the Order of Canada.

Early life and education

Timothy Raleigh Brown Cook was born on November 10, 1971. His birthplace was Kingston, Ontario, and he was raised in Ottawa. His parents were Terry Cook, a noted archivist, and Sharon Anne Cook, a history professor and author. He studied history at Trent University in Peterborough, and later obtained a master's degree at the Royal Military College of Canada and a doctorate at the University of New South Wales.

Career

He became an in-house historian at the Canadian War Museum, in Ottawa, specializing in the history of the First World War in 2002. In 2020, he was named the museum's chief historian and director of research.

He was a prolific writer on Canadian military history. His 2000 book, No Place to Run, was awarded the C.P. Stacey Prize for best written work in Canadian military history. In 2006, he published Clio's Warriors, which explores the writing of the world wars in Canada. At the Sharp End: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1914–1916, won the 2007 J.W. Dafoe award for literary non-fiction and the 2008 Ottawa Book award. His 2008 book Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1917–1918 won the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize. The Madman and the Butcher: The Sensational Wars of Sam Hughes and General Arthur Currie was a finalist for the 2011 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, the 2011 J.W. Dafoe prize, and the 2011 Ottawa Book Award. His 2012 book Warlords: Borden, Mackenzie King, and Canada's World Wars was a finalist for the 2013 Charles A. Taylor award for Literary Non-Fiction and the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award.

In 2014, his first book of a two volume set on the Second World War,The Necessary War, was published. It won the 2015 C.P. Stacey Prize for best book in Canadian Military History. Fight to the Finish received the 2016 Ottawa Book Award. In 2017, Cook published Vimy: Battle and Legend and in 2018 he published The Secret History of Soldiers: How Canadians Survived the Great War. Both were national best-sellers. Vimy received the 2017 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize and The Secret History received the Ottawa Book Prize. Almost all of these books have been national best sellers.

In June 2020, Cook and J.L. Granatstein edited Canada 1919: A Nation Shaped by War Hardcover (UBC Press) and in September 2020, he published The Fight for History: 75 Years of Forgetting, Remembering, and Remaking Canada's Second World War Hardcover (Allen Lane). In 2022, he published Lifesavers and Body Snatchers: Medical Care and the Struggle for Survival in the Great War. It was long-listed for the Templer prize; his Vimy book was a finalist for the same prize.

Cook was the recipient of the 2013 Pierre Berton Award (Governor General's History Award for Popular Media), which is awarded by Canada's National History Society. The award was given to Cook for his work making military history "more accessible, vivid and factual", both in his role as an author and as the First World War Historian at the Canadian War Museum.

Cook was a member of the Royal Society of Canada and the Order of Canada.

Death

Cook died on October 25, 2025. He was 53. The Canadian War Museum announced Cook's death after he lost his 14-year battle with Hodgkin's disease.

Published works

Books

Academic articles

Chapters in Books

Tim Cook, ""Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Canadian Medical Officers in the Great War," in Stephen Craig and Dale C. Smith (eds.) Glimpsing Modernity: Military Medicine in World War I (Brill: Publication 2016) 34–59

References

  1. 1 2 "Timothy Cook Obituary". The Globe and Mail. Toronto: The Woodbridge Company. November 1, 2025. p. B19. ISSN 0319-0714. Archived from the original on November 9, 2025. Retrieved November 9, 2025 – via Legacy.com.
  2. 1 2 Gessell, Paul (Fall 2010). "Mucking About in the Trenches of History". Carleton University Magazine. Ottawa: Carleton University. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Death Notice: Terry Cook". The Globe and Mail. Toronto: The Woodbridge Company. May 16, 2014. p. S5. ISSN 0319-0714. Retrieved November 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 Edwards, Frank B. (November 8, 2025). "Public historian Tim Cook told compelling stories about Canada's soldiers". The Globe and Mail. Toronto: The Woodbridge Company. p. O12. ISSN 0319-0714. Retrieved November 9, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ↑ Quill, Greg (March 2, 2013). "Compassionate voice for soldier's words". Toronto Star. Toronto: Torstar. p. E8. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved November 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Quill, Greg (March 5, 2013). "Revered book tackles war, religion". Toronto Star. Toronto: Torstar. p. E3. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved November 9, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Medley, Mark (September 23, 2014). "Going the distance to chronicle Canada's necessary war". The Globe and Mail. Toronto: The Woodbridge Company. ISSN 0319-0714. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Bowers, Alex (May 15, 2024). "American versus Canadian bravado: The Devil's Brigade on the silver screen". Legion Magazine. Kanata, Ontario: Canvet Publications Ltd. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  9. ↑ "2013: Tim Cook". Canada's History. Canada's National History Society. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Governor General Announces 95 New Appointments to the Order of Canada" (Press release). Governor General of Canada. December 26, 2014. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  11. ↑ Tran, Paula (October 27, 2025). "Tim Cook, Canadian War Museum chief historian, dies at 54". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa: Postmedia Network. ISSN 0839-3222. Archived from the original on November 15, 2025. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  12. ↑ Crawford, Blair (December 29, 2014). "Ottawa historian Tim Cook: An Order of Canada and a new lease on life". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa: Postmedia Network. ISSN 0839-3222. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  13. ↑ Pritchard, Trevor (October 26, 2025). "Tim Cook, chief historian at Canadian War Museum, dies at 54". CBC News. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved October 26, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  14. 1 2 CU Staff (2014). "Tim Cook – Adjunct Research Professor". Department of History. Carleton University. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
  15. ↑ Legion Magazine (2016), Our Back Pages: 1999-2016, archived from the original on 18 November 2023