

The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost, 1915–1919 brings to light the correspondence between two officer brothers and their family at home from 1915 to 1919. Despite wartime censorship, Leslie and Cecil wrote frank and forthright letters that show how the young men viewed the war, as well as what they observed both during training and from the trenches in some of the war’s bloodiest battles. The letters also deal with the war’s political context, including conscription and the Union government, as well as social issues such as the emerging role of women, the role of the growing middle class, nativism, and the use of liquor overseas.
R.B. Fleming, the collection’s editor, contends that Leslie Frost’s military experiences and hospitalization affected his policies as premier of Ontario (1949–1961), especially those related to medicare and liquor control laws. Frost’s government was the first to pass laws providing penalties for racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination on private property, creating a movement that led to the Ontario Human Rights Code.
The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost, 1915–1919 makes a significant contribution to military history and social history. Fleming places the letters in context and shows the value of their commentary. This book will be of interest to the general reader as well as scholars of military history and social history.
- Price: $48.99
- Pages: 420
- Carton Quantity: 1
- Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
- Imprint: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
- Series: Life Writing
- Publication Date: 4th July 2007
- Trim Size: 6.35 x 9.3 in
- ISBN: 9781554580002
- Format: Hardcover
- BISACs:
POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Policy
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Military
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical
A wonderful collection of correspondence--frank, perceptive, and witty....This book is a delight for anyone who is interested in the First World War or who simply wants to read an insightful and informed series of letters.- Jonathan Vance
- David Staines"The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost is a remarkable document of its times and for our times. Superbly edited by R.B. Fleming and complemented by maps and and nearly fifty original photographs from the era, the letters capture a young and close-knit family's patriotic commitment to the Allied cause in the Great War, which gives way slowly tot he constant recordings of the deaths of their friends.
In the two brothers' growing perceptions and insights into the war come the political attitudes that sent them later into the Ontario Conservative Party, which they reshaped along more progressive lines. In this way, the letters form the intellectual basis for forty years of Tory rule in Ontario.
Table of Contents for
The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost, 1915–1919, edited by R.B. Fleming
List of Illustrations
Foreword | Dr. Thomas H.B. Symons, C.C., F.R.S.C.
Memorandum | The Honourable Leslie M. Frost
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviatons
Introduction
R.B. Fleming
The Letters
1. Training in Canada
2. From Orillia to England
3. Training and Touring in England and Scotland
4. Leslie Frost Arrives in France
5. Cecil Frost Arrives in France
6. Leslie Frost Wounded
7. Cecil Frost Wounded
8. Armistice
Appendix 1: Unit Sizes and Designations
Appendix 2: Electoral Ridings
Appendix 3: Soldiers Mentioned in Letters and Commentary
Endnotes
Selected Bibliography
Index
The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost, 1915–1919 brings to light the correspondence between two officer brothers and their family at home from 1915 to 1919. Despite wartime censorship, Leslie and Cecil wrote frank and forthright letters that show how the young men viewed the war, as well as what they observed both during training and from the trenches in some of the war’s bloodiest battles. The letters also deal with the war’s political context, including conscription and the Union government, as well as social issues such as the emerging role of women, the role of the growing middle class, nativism, and the use of liquor overseas.
R.B. Fleming, the collection’s editor, contends that Leslie Frost’s military experiences and hospitalization affected his policies as premier of Ontario (1949–1961), especially those related to medicare and liquor control laws. Frost’s government was the first to pass laws providing penalties for racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination on private property, creating a movement that led to the Ontario Human Rights Code.
The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost, 1915–1919 makes a significant contribution to military history and social history. Fleming places the letters in context and shows the value of their commentary. This book will be of interest to the general reader as well as scholars of military history and social history.
- Price: $48.99
- Pages: 420
- Carton Quantity: 1
- Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
- Imprint: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
- Series: Life Writing
- Publication Date: 4th July 2007
- Trim Size: 6.35 x 9.3 in
- ISBN: 9781554580002
- Format: Hardcover
- BISACs:
POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Policy
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Military
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical
A wonderful collection of correspondence--frank, perceptive, and witty....This book is a delight for anyone who is interested in the First World War or who simply wants to read an insightful and informed series of letters.– Jonathan Vance
– David Staines"The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost is a remarkable document of its times and for our times. Superbly edited by R.B. Fleming and complemented by maps and and nearly fifty original photographs from the era, the letters capture a young and close-knit family's patriotic commitment to the Allied cause in the Great War, which gives way slowly tot he constant recordings of the deaths of their friends.
In the two brothers' growing perceptions and insights into the war come the political attitudes that sent them later into the Ontario Conservative Party, which they reshaped along more progressive lines. In this way, the letters form the intellectual basis for forty years of Tory rule in Ontario.
Table of Contents for
The Wartime Letters of Leslie and Cecil Frost, 1915–1919, edited by R.B. Fleming
List of Illustrations
Foreword | Dr. Thomas H.B. Symons, C.C., F.R.S.C.
Memorandum | The Honourable Leslie M. Frost
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviatons
Introduction
R.B. Fleming
The Letters
1. Training in Canada
2. From Orillia to England
3. Training and Touring in England and Scotland
4. Leslie Frost Arrives in France
5. Cecil Frost Arrives in France
6. Leslie Frost Wounded
7. Cecil Frost Wounded
8. Armistice
Appendix 1: Unit Sizes and Designations
Appendix 2: Electoral Ridings
Appendix 3: Soldiers Mentioned in Letters and Commentary
Endnotes
Selected Bibliography
Index