Stand on Guard for Whom?

Thousands of books detail different aspects of the Canadian military and warfare. We Stand on Guard For Whom?? A People?s History of the Canadian Military is the first general overview to tackle the subject from the perspective of those harmed or disenfranchised by Canadian wars, repression and military culture. Rooted in a British force that brutally dispossessed First Nations, the Canadian Forces regularly quelled labour unrest in the decades after Confederation. We Stand on Guard For Whom? also discusses wars in Sudan, South Africa, Europe, Korea, Iraq, Serbia, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as Canadian gunboat diplomacy and UN deployments that ousted elected governments. The book details the military?s role in chemical and biological weapons development and nuclear weapons proliferation. It also outlines the CF?s immense ecological footprint, patriarchy, racism and anti-democratic culture. Far and away the largest federal government department, there are approximately 125,000 active soldiers, reservists and DND employees spread across 20,000 square kilometres of land. DND has the country?s largest PR machine and intelligence-gathering capacities. The military?s vast operations are linked to a large weapons industry as well as technology sector that?s benefited from arms procurement. Despite its substantial power, We Stand on Guard For Whom? shows that militarism has always been contested.