Description
Book SynopsisCanadian soldiers returning home have always been changed by war and peacekeeping, frequently in harmful but unseen ways. The Invisible Injured explores the Canadian military's continuous battle with psychological trauma from 1914 to 2014 to show that while public understanding and sympathy toward affected soldiers has increased, myths and stigmas have remained. Whether diagnosed with shell shock, battle exhaustion, or post-traumatic stress disorder, Canadian troops were at the mercy of a military culture that promoted stoic and manly behaviour while shunning weakness and vulnerability. Those who admitted to mental difficulties were often ostracized, released from the military, and denied a pension. Through interviews with veterans and close examination of accounts and records on the First World War, the Second World War, and post-Cold War peacekeeping missions, Adam Montgomery outlines the intimate links between the military, psychiatrists, politicians, and the Canadian public. He dem
Trade Review" In writing an excellent work of history, Montgomery has done a public service by connecting developments over more than a century, from the time of shell shock to that of battle exhaustion and then to post-traumatic stress disorder and its Canadian military variant of operational stress injury. It has been said that in the 1990s the Canadian people were at peace but the Canadian forces were at war. The searing Croatia inquiry showed this to be true, and Montgomery has used the moving testimonies given at the inquiry to great advantage. One of the many strengths of this book is that it brings to the fore names that will have a secure place in the annals of Canadian military history - in particular those of Rome o Dallaire, Joe Sharpe, Greg Passey, and Ste phane Grenier." Peter Neary, University of Western Ontario
