Steve started the "Books" tag with the short review of Break all the Rules. So, I thought I'd continue the theme. It's long been one of my favorite interview questions - "So, what have you read lately?". It's very telling, I find. One time, I was interviewing a guy for a intermediate .Net developer role. He was not that engaged until I asked him this question at which point he positively exploded about his interest in German literature; I think he was working on a Masters in the area. That completely changed the interview in such a positive way...
Some interesting facts (more detail here):
- Vimy Ridge is in France (I'm just sayin'....)
- Some 100,000+ Canadian troops fought in the Battle for Vimy Ridge in April 1917. 3, 598 were killed.
- The defeat at Vimy was a critical blow to the Germans on the Western front
- In total, Canada lost 60,661 soldiers in WWI.
- Over 700,000 Canadians served out of a population of 8,000,000 -> That's almost 1 in 10. Wow!
- The Canadian effort at Vimy and WWI is seen as a key part of our nationhood, leading to the Statute of Westminster in 1931 which gave Canada control of its foreign policy (now that, I didn't know)
| The Canadian effort at Vimy is remembered at the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France, on "Hill 145" which is the high point of Vimy Ridge at 145 metres. It looks to be a spectacular memorial (note to self - do not go to France again, and not visit the memorial) |  |
Now I didn't get through the whole book with my child, but I was asked the most troubling question "What do you get when you win a war?" (zeesh!), and more pragmatically "What's longer, a battle or a war?".
This is a proud part of Canadian history - I'm glad my child's library trip in primary school gave me occasion to be reminded.