Canada's Mechanized Infantry explores the largely ignored development of the infantry in the Canadian Army after the First World War. Although many modern studies of technology and war focus on tanks and armour, soldiers from the Second World War onward have discovered that success really depends on a combination of infantry, armour, and artillery to form combat teams. Peter Kasurak demonstrates how the army implemented successful infantry vehicles and doctrine to ultimately further its military goals during the Second World War. In the postwar period, however, progress was slowed by a top-down culture and an unwillingness to abandon conventional thinking on the primacy of foot infantry and regimental organization. This insightful book is the first to examine the challenges that have confronted the Canadian Army in transforming its infantry from First World War foot soldiers into a twenty-first-century combat force integrating soldiers, vehicles, weapons, and electronics.

About the Author
Peter Kasurak is a retired public servant who led the defence and national security sections of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada until 2007. He is also the author of A National Force: The Evolution of Canada's Army, 1950-2000 and of many articles on Canadian-American relations, the Canadian Army, counter-terrorism, Parliamentary oversight of defence, and police governance. He is currently a part-time instructor in history and political studies at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario.

Reviews

... a book about what the Canadian Army wants to be and how it has gone about trying to achieve this vision.

-- Robert C. Engen, Canadian Military History.



Book Information
ISBN 9780774862738
Author Peter Kasurak
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press