The East Asian War of 1592 to 1598 was the only extended war before modern times to involve Japan, Korea, and China. It devastated huge swathes of Korea and led to large population movements across borders. This book draws on surviving letters and diaries to recount the personal experiences of five individuals from different backgrounds who lived through the war and experienced its devastating effects: a Chinese doctor who became a spy; a Japanese samurai on his first foreign expedition; a Korean gentleman turned refugee; a Korean scholar-diplomat; and a Japanese Buddhist monk involved in the atrocities of the invasion. The book outlines the context of the war so that readers can understand the background against which the writers' lives were lived, allows the individual voices of the five men and their reflections on events to come through, and casts much light on prevailing attitudes and conditions, including cultural interaction, identity, cross-border information networks, class conflict, the role of religion in society, and many others aspects of each writer's world.

The East Asian War of 1592 to 1598 was the only extended war before modern times to involve Japan, Korea, and China. It devastated huge swathes of Korea and led to large population movements across borders. This book draws on surviving letters and diaries to recount the personal experiences of five individuals from different backgrounds who lived through the war and experienced its devastating effects: a Chinese doctor who became a spy; a Japanese samurai on his first foreign expedition; a Korean gentleman turned refugee; a Korean scholar-diplomat; and a Japanese Buddhist monk involved in the atrocities of the invasion. The book outlines the context of the war so that readers can understand the background against which the writers' lives were lived, allows the individual voices of the five men and their reflections on events to come through, and casts much light on prevailing attitudes and conditions, including cultural interaction, identity, cross-border information networks, class conflict, the role of religion in society, and many others aspects of each writer's world.

"A hilarious and timely little book that had me laughing out loud on almost every page--though as a Canadian I find it curious and even disturbing that Craig's publisher is...American."
--Ian Ferguson, author of "Village of the Small Houses,"
co-author of "How to be a Canadian."

In these troubled times, the CIA decided to send Avery Beckett--one of its veteran spies--to the Canadian capital of Ottawa to find out why there are so many Canucks infiltrating American society, particularly Hollywood. After Beckett's mysterious death, the emails found on his computer could shatter Western diplomacy for decades.

Fergus, Ontario-born medical student Norman Craig wasn't yet 20 when he went to Egypt in 1915 with the Royal Army Medical Corps. He soon transferred, however, to the Royal Naval Air Service, finishing the war as a flight commander, leading a squadron of Sopwith Camels stationed in Mudros. By war's end, most of his boyhood friends had been killed. In 1932, after the town council he described as "a group of unreasoning pacifists" had again put off the construction of a war memorial in Fergus, Craig took matters into his own hands. He wrote "You're Lucky If You're Killed," and produced it in June, 1933, using a local cast and crew. It took another two years but finally came Craig's Dawn Parade unveiling the monument--which represents "any small town in Canada."

The play itself--one of Canada's first--has never been seen again, despite some attempts in the early 1950s to resurrect & publish the work. Craig wanted people to remember the war dead, not his own actions, which he described as a "a small, overdue payment on a large debt."

In this book, Dr. Craig's grandson--a Hollywood-based writer and film director--makes public for the first time in 70 years the original text &music of the play, as well as an overview of the events that sparked its creation.

Fergus, Ontario-born medical student Norman Craig wasn't yet 20 when he went to Egypt in 1915 with the Royal Army Medical Corps. He soon transferred, however, to the Royal Naval Air Service, finishing the war as a flight commander, leading a squadron of Sopwith Camels stationed in Mudros. By war's end, most of his boyhood friends had been killed. In 1932, after the town council he described as "a group of unreasoning pacifists" had again put off the construction of a war memorial in Fergus, Craig took matters into his own hands. He wrote "You're Lucky If You're Killed," and produced it in June, 1933, using a local cast and crew. It took another two years but finally came Craig's Dawn Parade unveiling the monument--which represents "any small town in Canada."

The play itself--one of Canada's first--has never been seen again, despite some attempts in the early 1950s to resurrect & publish the work. Craig wanted people to remember the war dead, not his own actions, which he described as a "a small, overdue payment on a large debt."

In this book, Dr. Craig's grandson--a Hollywood-based writer and film director--makes public for the first time in 70 years the original text &music of the play, as well as an overview of the events that sparked its creation.