Posts by Ken McGoogan
A writer friend made me do it, honest!
Parks Canada should revive Battlefield site
Today in the Globe and Mail, Page O8. Ken McGoogan is writing a book whose working title is The Yanks Are Coming: A Neverending Story of Invasions, Shakedowns, and Canadian Resistance. In late October, Parks Canada announced 11 “new designations of national historic significance” across the country. These included persons, places and events, among them…
Read MoreArctic Focus chases me through History
Ken McGoogan and the Quest for Arctic Truths By Melody Wren / October 30, 2025 (Note from Ken: I rarely publish pieces here by other writers. But I like this one well enough to try to preserve it. To see the original in Arctic Focus, an online magazine published by the Arctic Research Foundation, and…
Read MoreDafoe Book Prize finalist? Best. Q&A. Ever.
October 1, 2025 by Ariel Gordon Q&A with Ken McGoogan, author of Shadows of Tyranny What was your goal while writing this book?One early title for this book was Awakening to Invasion: A Resistance Narrative Ranging from Hitler and Stalin to Donald J. Trump. You can see why we toned it down. It does have the virtue of…
Read MoreSHIPWRECKED IN AFRICA!
Otherwise known as Going Down in History, a panel discussion featuring moi and Eve Lazarus in Moose Jaw at the Saskatchewan Festival of Words. Orchestrated by impresario Amanda Farnel, the whole interaction is fabulous. It encompasses polar bears, a crash course in the virtues of CNF, and the sinking of the Empress of Ireland. But…
Read MoreCanada Day arrives early at The Toronto Star
The most Canadian journey ever undertaken? While the United States threatens once again to subsume us, Canadians have embraced a new nationalism. But beyond the cliches about politeness and maple syrup, what is this Canadianness we seek to preserve? We asked six of our compatriots to pick a story from our country’s past — a…
Read MoreBig Franklin Book makes waves in Alaska
“Searching for Franklin: New Answers to the Great Arctic Mystery” By Ken McGoogan; Douglas & McIntyre; 364 pages; 2023; $29.95 Review by David James, Anchorage Daily News A detail from English artist Edwin Landseer’s 1864 painting “Man Proposes, God Disposes,” depicting ship’s wreckage in the Arctic, human bones, and two polar bears having their way…
Read MoreEvan Solomon takes on the Digital World
Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Information . . . Evan Solomon! Let me be among the first to cry CONGRATULATIONS! Three years ago, I gave a shout-out to the veteran broadcaster for his brilliant coverage of the convoy occupation of Ottawa. Today I double down and say yes! The perfect portfolio! This man is…
Read MoreWhy Canada will never be the 51st state
(Nice to see this piece turn up in today’s Globe and Mail) Not long ago, playing tourist in my native Montreal, I visited the historic Château Ramezay. Built in 1705 for the city governor, Claude de Ramezay, it later served as headquarters for the American Continental Army during its brief occupation of Montreal. And in…
Read MoreGreat Lakes disaster turns time capsule
Here’s a small-press book that sets out to revitalize the history of Canada’s Great Lake steamships – and proves wonderfully successful. Frightful Disaster! by Douglas Hunter treats the mysterious disappearance in 1879 of the steamer Waubuno. The book turns that Georgian Bay catastrophe — and the deaths of 20 to 28 people – into a…
Read More