Dr. Tim Cook

Tim Cook is Chief Historian and Director of Research at the Canadian War Museum. His bestselling books have won multiple awards, including three Ottawa Book prizes for Literary Non-Fiction and two C.P. Stacey Awards for the best book in Canadian military history. In 2008 he won the J.W. Dafoe Prize for At the Sharp End and again in 2018 for Vimy: The Battle and the Legend. Shock Troops won the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.

Educated at Trent University (BA Hons), Royal Military College of Canada (MA) and the University of New South Wales (Ph.D.), Tim was an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University and has contributed to numerous journals including Canadian Military History, Journal of Military History, International History Review, and others. He has also contributed to The Canadian Encyclopedia and writes regularly for Legion magazine and Canada’s History where he is a member of the board. 

Tim is a frequent commentator in the media with regular appearances on programs like CBC Radio’s The Current, As It Happens and Ideas, as well as TVO’s The Agenda and CTV’s Canada AM and Your Morning. 

His writing has been published in Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, National Post, and Toronto Star. Since 2017 he has been an on-air contributor and co-host of CBC TV’s national coverage of Remembrance Day ceremonies from Ottawa. 

For his contributions to Canadian history, Tim has been awarded the Governor General’s Award for Popularizing History (The Pierre Berton Award), the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and he is a member of the Royal Society of Canada and the Order of Canada.

Awards and Honours

  • Member of the Order of Canada, 2014

  • Member, Royal Society of Canada, 2019

  • Pierre Berton Award (Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media), 2013.

  • Charles Taylor Award for Literary Non-Fiction for Shock Troops (2009)

  • Three-time winner of the City of Ottawa Book Award 

    • At the Sharp End (2008)

    • Fight to the Finish (2016)

    • The Secret History of Soldiers (2019)

    • Lifesavers and Body Snatchers (2023)

  • Two-time winner of the J.W. Dafoe award for Literary Non-fiction

    • At the Sharp End (2008) 

    • Vimy: The Battle and the Legend (2018)

  • Two-time winner of C.P. Stacey award for most distinguished book in Canadian military history

    • No Place to Run (2000)

    • The Necessary War (2014)