The Fog of War: Censorship of Canada's Media in World War II

The Canadian government censored the news during World War II for two main reasons: to keep military and economic secrets out of enemy hands and to prevent civilian morale from breaking down. But in those tumultuous times - with Nazi spies landing on our shores by raft, U-boat attacks in the St. Lawrence, army mutinies in British Columbia and Ontario and pro-Hitler propaganda in the mainstream Quebec press - censors had a hard time keeping news events contained. Now, with freshly unsealed World War II press-censor files, many of the undocumented events that occurred in wartime Canada are finally revealed. In Mark Bourrie's illuminating and well-researched account, we learn about the capture of a Nazi spy-turned-double agent, the Japanese-Canadian editor who would one day help develop Canada's medicare system, the curious chiropractor from Saskatchewan who spilled atomic bomb secrets to a roomful of people and the use of censorship to stop balloon bomb attacks from Japan. The Fog of War investigates the realities of media censorship through the experiences of those deputized to act on behalf of the public and reveals why press censorship in wartime Canada was, at best, a hit-and-miss game.

About the Author :
Mark Bourrie is a writer, historian, and former Concordia University lecturer. He is the author of several books, including By Reason of Insanity: The David Michael Krueger Story, Flim Flam, and Many a Midnight Ship. His work has also appeared in Toronto Life, Canadian Business, the Globe & Mail, the Toronto Star and the National Post.

Review :
Mark Bourrie's most recent tome, The Fog of War: Censorship of Canada's Media in World War Two is an exhaustive researched and fascinating study of the Government of Canada's censorship during World War II.--bookpleasures.com, Nov 17, 2011 Mark Bourrie has given us a useful perspective on persisting issues of media freedom, as well as on how Canada fought on the home front -- with consequences that shaped the last 70 years.--The Tyee, Oct 19, 2011 Bourrie give us an in-depth study of Canadian censorship during the Second World War.--Sideroads of Simcoe Grey, Oct 12, 2011 ...Bourrie's book provides a fascinating account of World War Two censorship and the relationship between government, bureaucrats, the military and journalists who all helped shape the Canadian story of the war....It is quite clear from the text that the author sifted through piles of microfiche and government documents in order to create this historical record. The result is a text that should prove enlightening to any journalist or public affairs officer interested in this pivotal period for controlling the narrative of the war.--Espirt de Corps, Sep 15, 2011 Veteran freelance journalist Mark Bourrie has plowed through newly unsealed World War II files to get at a hidden battlefield in The Fog of War: Censorship of Canada's media in World War II.--Toronto Star, Aug 13, 2011 Mark Bourrie...writes well, he has done yeoman archival research and he presents much excellent material. What is important and new is his account of how the censors...were prepared to argue against government and the military in an effort to get news out during the Second World War...Bourrie's book, written in good journalistic prose, is an entertaining one to read.--Globe & Mail, Aug 12, 2011 Fog of War deals with a fascinating aspect of Canada's Second World War history and is packed with anecdotes and examples of key information the military kept from Canadians, the tensions and suspicions between Quebec and the federal government -- and the anomaly of Newfoundland, which was not yet part of Confederation but certainly affected by war off its coastal waters...Bourrie has done an excellent job with what could easily have emerged as a dry treatise.--Ottawa Citizen, Aug 7, 2011 [Fog fo War] is a well-researched chapter in Canadian history that has not been widely studied up to now. It raises important questions about how journalists should react when faced with difficult obstacles to their primary mission of reporting the truth. --Winnipeg Free Press, Aug 6, 2011