Colour certainly brings the immediacy of the Great War to the reader. Modern eyes regard colour as normal and current and so the colourisation of these old B&W photos makes the images more accessible. Hopefully the reality that gives makes the subject more relevent and interesting.
I wanted to read this book based on my own visits to France and Belgium as part of the centennial remembrances of World War I. I was fortunate to visit Ypres on one occassion and before that Arras. That first time led me to see the Canadian cemetery at Vimy Ridge and learn of the sacrifice made when the allies led by Canadian forces took this strategic hill.
I am now just about to start Vimy Ridge by Alexander McKee and I am interested to learn have Canada grew as a nation through this furnance of struggle and sacrifice.
Many Canadians will not be able to visit the Western Front as easily as I can popping over the Channel. This book will therefore go a long way to bringing that conflict to them.
I loved the various chapter headings and the introductions shared, these measures words complimented the pictures so well.
Hopefully this book will enable many more Canadians to grasp their debt to a generation and be at peace with their heritage and Remember, to this end The Vimy Foundation should be very proud of this book.

This is an interesting little work on the often overlooked subject of Canada's involvement in the First World War. The story doesn't have the flair of other Commonwealth contributions such as Gallipolli, Palestine, of Africa. Canadians largely fought and died in the bloody quagmire that was the Western Front, and their story certainly deserves to be told.

The book is written in a series of short essays by various author's and historians. The quality of these essays vary, but they are all at least competently done. My favorites were the ones that delved specifically into Canadian aspects of the war. Conversely, my least favorites were those that simply rehashed the general narrative of the First World War. If this book were simply about the writing then I would have probably only given it three stars...

However, as the title suggests, this book includes a good number of color pictures from the First World War. I was initially a bit dismissive of this "gimmick," but I was fortunately mistaken. The color does add depth to the individuals depicted, making them seem more familiar and less alien to a modern audience.

All in all, the pictures make this book rise above it's generally average writing.

I received an advance copy of this book from netgalley.

There has always been one image of the great war that stands out for me. It is of a soldier, sitting with his back to a ruined building, pipe clenched between his teeth, writing to some unknown loved one. It has always struck me as a modern image, perhaps because of the way his hair is cut, or perhaps it's because you can't see much of the distinctive First World War uniform. Now colourized, I find its modernity even more striking.

"They fought in colour: a new look at Canada's First World War effort" is a powerful bilingual collection of historical images and brief essays, the latter provided by a number of noted Canadians. Images have power; they are a visible link to our past. In black and white, though, we are removed from "that time" and the experiences people went through. Colour provides a bridge between the past and the present, allowing us to see small details - such as the gold glint of a wedding ring - that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

The essays touch on a range of typical subjects which would normally feature in a collection such as this: life in the trenches, medicine, technology, home life, etc.. While there are many Canadian war historians featured, such as Tim Cook, Timothy Winegard and Hugh Brewster, there are other authors who you wouldn't normally see - Margaret Atwood, Rick Hansen, and sports broadcaster Stephen Brunt, for instance. Other contributors include Peter Mansbridge, Paul Gross, Charlotte Gray, politician Serge Joyal, actor R. H. Thomson, and Lee Windsor. Some of the essayists recount their personal connections - grandparents who served or memories from relatives who lived through the experience.

The real strength of this publication lies with the photos. I've read plenty of military histories, and while there are some images I have seen before, many are new to me. Expertly colourized, they give new life to Canadians who lived more than a century ago.

This is a book I will definitely be purchasing for my personal collection and I recommend it for any Canadian - history geek or not!

"Each Remembrance Day we unfurl a banner...that reads: 'Lest We Forget'. Many of us have come to think of those three words as a call, to remember those who gave their lives so we could live the way we do... But [it] has another clarion call, [that] we should never forget that war is brutal, and we should always look for a better solution to the differences that bring us to the brink of such horror." - Peter Mansbridge, Afterward

Because World War I is so far in the past and all of the Canadian soldiers who fought in it are now dead, it's hard to put that history into perspective. Black & White photos from that era somehow make the people seem less real, separating us from them. So the Vimy Foundation has colorized photographs of Candadian forces from 1914-1918 to bring them to life. This book gives information on Canadian forces in the war, the battles they fought in, the roles of soldiers and nurses, training, trench warfare, field hospitals and other aspects of The Great War.

The photographs in this book are amazing. I read this book on my Ipad just so I could zoom in on pictures to better see the faces of the troops. So many gave their lives....and now are almost forgotten. This book serves as a remembrance to all of those who gave their lives. They aren't just historical notes from 100 years ago that don't matter anymore.....they were women, men, sons, daughters, spouses, sweethearts.....people. The colorized photos bring these faces and places back to life. I found myself wondering what each person was like, did they miss the family and friends they left behind, and did they survive the war or not.

The information is presented tastefully. There are no photos of deceased troops, graphic injuries or mistreatment of POWs. Most of the photos are of troops, events, trenches between battles and training events. Everything presented in this book is respectful to the individuals involved. The text is in English and in French.

I can't even imagine how scary trench warfare was for the troops...or the new perils soldiers faced like tanks and poison gas. Not to mention the illness and physical toll it took on them.....trench foot, the flu epidemic, battle related injuries. It must have been pure hell. This book reminded me to be thankful of the sacrifices of all soldiers....those in the past and those still serving today.

I very much enjoyed this book. The photographs are accompanied by interesting information about Canada's overall participation in the war. Any history buff or those who had a family member who fought in The Great War will love this book. Beautiful photos and great information.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Dundurn via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Peter Mansbridge, former anchor of the CBC National, says in best in the afterward, about the need for such a book.
<blockquote>Colour is a powerful thing. What the pages of this book have shown is the vividness, the detail and the reality of what was a very brutal war. Many of us have seen the black and white originals before, but adding colour really does seem to bring those historic moments closer to us. Closer in time. The colour makes the troops, the trenches, the battlefields look more like yesterday, than a hundred years ago. But one thing doesn't change, whether in black and white or colour. Look at the eyes. Look into the eyes of those who lived the First World Ware. Look deep. They've seen things no one should ever see.
</blockquote>

Here are a few of these said photos, below.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-702" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screen-Shot-2018-07-04-at-5.40.00-PM.png" alt="They fought in color" />
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-701" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screen-Shot-2018-07-04-at-5.41.59-PM.png" alt="They fought in color" />
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-700" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screen-Shot-2018-07-04-at-5.51.52-PM.png" alt="They fought in color" />

Although you can tell these are old photos, it is true that the color makes it more now, more modern. It is an amazing collection of photos, with commentaries about each of them groups of photos. Not quite a coffee table book, but a book that one would pour over just the same, to see a glance of those lives that were often cut far too short. It is 100 years since the end of World War I, the war to end all wars. Doesn't seem to have worked.

Great book, if for nothing else, to get a glimpse of the lives of those on the ground.

#TheyFoughtInColour/laGuerreEnCouleur #NetGalley

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.