Cartoon caption: "Capture of Vimy Ridge, April 9, 1917." From The Canadian Machine Gunner, Vol. 1. No.4, November 1917. Source: Library and Archives Canada
Matthew Barrett is an historian, illustrator and managing editor for Canadian Military History. He held a SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship at the Canadian War Museum and an AMS History of Medicine postdoc with the University of Saskatchewan. He is author of Scandalous Conduct: Canadian Officer Courts Martial, 1914–45 and is illustrator and co-author of Through Their Eyes: A Graphic History of Hill 70 and Canada’s First World War. His graphic history of shell shock, titled What I Have Seen, will be published in 2027.
During the world wars, cartooning offered soldiers opportunities to express dissent and criticism that both bolstered morale and avoided overt censorship. As primary sources, these sketches, drawings and comics allow historians to see how soldiers created unique subcultures based on shared stresses, grievances and inside jokes. In this presentation, Matthew Barrett features wartime cartoons and comics to show how they could poke fun at what was the most serious business of life and death consequences.
Location: Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada, 232 King St. N., Waterloo
Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Time: 7:00 pm
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