Canadian Naval History Reading Lists
Marc Milner

Maritime Affairs asked several naval historians to give us their interpretations of what might constitute a good reading list for either a specific theme within Canadian naval history or just for general reading. The first view is that of Professor Marc Milner of the University of New Brunswick who provides what he describes as the ten most useful books on "the first half of Canadian naval history." In future issues we will publish other lists and eventually we might try to find consensus on what the well-stoked Canadian naval library should hold.

Milner's Top Ten

These are the books which I find myself returning to again and again, and so I suspect form something of a corps of texts on the history of the RCN from 1910 to 1950. The list reflects this historian's interest in policy, politics, and operations, and in the small ship A/S war. As a result, it leaves out much of the colour and memoir literature, and much more besides -- all of which is useful and adds to the field. Indeed, I can think of only a couple of books on RCN history that I would not recommend. The only order reflected here is the randomness of the texts on my desk.

  1. Gilbert Tucker, The Naval Service of Canada, 2 vols. Is still the best source for much basic information. Although much new material has emerged on the formation of the RCN and World War I era, Tucker's Vol. 1 has some wonderful material, while Vol. II with its emphasis on policy, ship acquisition and shore developments remains alone in its field.
  2. Joseph Schull, Far Distant Ships. For all its shortcomings -- popular, superficial, lack of analysis and context -- this remains the only comprehensive history of the RCN in World War II. Much of the colour and detail is simply found nowhere else; and it does cover everything.
  3. Michael Hadley and Roger Sarty, Tin Pots and Pirate Ships. A comprehensive, scholarly account of the Navy up to 1918. Given the limits of the documentary evidence for World War I and the knowledge these scholars possess of the documentation and work done on the Navy prior to 1914, this will remain the standard text on the Navy for the 1910-1918 period for my lifetime and probably longer.
  4. Ken Macpherson and John Burgess, The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces, 1910-1981. An indispensable source, and I use it constantly. The information it contains is incredible, both in the brief ship histories and equally importantly in the appendices in the back. The single most important reference work ever published in Canadian naval history. My only complaint is that I wish it was small so that it would be easier to use.
  5. Jim Boutilier, ed., The RCN in Retrospect. This is a marvellously useful collection of essays covering a broad range of issues, in this case largely -- although not exclusively -- by Old Salts with some excellent insights.
  6. W.A.B. Douglas, ed., The RCN in Transition. As per Boutilier, except this collection is primarily by academics working in the field. Good stuff, handy reference.
  7. Michael Hadley, U-Boats Against Canada. The World War II inshore war in all its facets: a periscopic view of the war, the inshore operational and strategic responses to the assault, and the wider political context as well. It's all here -- and what is not I tried to cover in The U-Boat Hunters.
  8. Alan Easton, 50 North. The only Canadian naval memoir that rates the distinction of a "classic". While other Canadian memoirs tend to have "how I grew up in the Navy during the war" as their theme, Easton's is a literate and mature reflection on how the war was fought.
  9. Mac Johnson, Corvettes Canada. A collective memoir of the small ship war, based on over 200 interviews. More importantly, it is based on a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the existing literature on the Atlantic war and on its phases. That understanding informs and shapes the material in a way which most such collections miss entirely. An excellent place to start reading about RCN history and a very useful reference for any library.
  10. Michael L. Hadley, Rob Huebert, and Fred W. Crickard, A Nation's Navy; In Quest of Canadian Naval Identity. The third in a wonderfully useful and interesting collection of essays covering a broad spectrum of activity. Excellent material in a handy reference -- again.
Editor's note: Professor Milner didn't include his own two books on the RCN's role in World War II; we think they belong in the list. They are:
  1. Marc Milner, North Atlantic Run; intended to fill in the gaps and address the unanswered questions from Tucker and Schull about mid-ocean operations and the battle against the wolf packs.
  2. Marc Milner, The U-Boat Hunters; covers the last two years of the Canadian war in the Atlantic -- the "offensive" phase of antisubmarine operations.

© Copyright NOAC 1998