A Soldier First by General Rick Hillier

So I picked this up at a good Boxing Day price and due to exams I was only just able to finish it recently. I'll admit that the book was not entirely what I had expected, I was kind of expecting a bit more tearing at politicians throats. What the book is is a look at General Hillier's military life from enlistment to retirement.

Some of the interesting topics brought up by General Hillier include the dismal status of the military during the 90's (the "decade of darkness") due to budget cuts, over deployment, and a loss of public awareness due in large part to the Somalia incident and the negative effect that the Peacekeeper mentality had on the morale of the Canadian Forces.

The book further goes on to talk about how Canada went from a "can't do it" nation in the former Yugoslavia to one of the leading contributors of NATO's ISAF mission and how the Canadian public began to regain the respect and admiration for its military that it so deserves (and unfortunately, to sway policy, needs).

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the military's recent public opinion turn around or a look at the politics of Canada's military.