During the Second World War, Canadian factories produced mountains of munitions and supplies, including some 800 ships, 16,000 aircraft, 800,000 vehicles, and over 4.6 billion rounds of ammunition and artillery shells. However, the end of hostilities in 1945 turned the leftover assets into peacetime liabilities. Alex Souchen provides a definitive account of the disposal crisis triggered by Allied victory and shows how Canadians responded to the unprecedented divestment of public property by reusing and recycling military surpluses to improve their postwar lives. War Junk recounts the complex political, economic, social, and environmental legacies of munitions disposal in Canada by revealing how the tools of war became integral to the making of postwar Canada.
- ISBN10 0774862939
- ISBN13 9780774862936
- Publish Date 31 August 2020 (first published 26 June 2020)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country CA
- Imprint University of British Columbia Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 304
- Language English