A book written by a Carleton professor in the department of history is a finalist for this year’s Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for political writing.
The book, entitled The Madman and the Butcher, was written by Tim Cook and could win $25,000 in the annual contest, according to the Writer’s Trust of Canada, the organization presenting the award.
“History books need to elbow their way forward through a lot of other good writing, and being a finalist for a national award can help an author do that,” Cook said, who previously won the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, the Ottawa Book Award, and the 2009 John Wesley Dafoe Book Prize for non-fiction.
The contest rewards a non-fiction title about politics that expands Canadians’ understanding of the topic, according the the Writer’s Trust of Canada’s description of the award.
Upon studying the First World War for over 15 years and the completion of his two-volume history, At the Sharp End and Shock Troops, Cook said he wanted to “delve deeper into the lives of Sir Arthur Currie and Sir Sam Hughes,” as each played a key role in shaping Canadian history.
The Madmen and the Butcher looks at the “clash of [these] two titanic figures” and how Hughes eventually sets out to destroy Currie, Cook said.
Because Currie was Canada’s corps commander and regarded as one of the finest generals of the war, and Hughes was the minister of militia and defence for the first half of the war, The Madman and the Butcher is a “work of history” and looks to retell the “story of their battle,” Cook said.
Cook also said he hopes his book has the potential to shape Canadian political life by connecting Canadians to their history in an engaging manner.
He said he is always thrilled when he receives emails from readers thanking him for helping them better understand their country and its trials.
The award finalists will be judged on their literary merit, and if the book can combine “new insights with a depth of research and help to illuminate a political topic of interest to Canadians,” said Amanda Hopkins, program co-ordinator for the Writer’s Trust of Canada.
Cook said it is humbling to stand in the company of other finalists such as Anna Porter, Laurence Martin, Doug Sounders and Shelagh D. Grant, who taught Cook as an undergraduate student at Trent University.
He added he is also proud that jurors recognized “value in the compelling story of Currie and Hughes” and he hopes his book can be revealed to a broader audience.
According to the Writer’s Trust of Canada, the winner will be announced on Feb. 16, 2011, at the Politics and the Pen Gala in Ottawa.