Writing the history of a war is never easy. But what happens when the war is recent, the records are complicated, and the story itself remains contested? Canada's war in Afghanistan presents some unique challenges for historians trying to document what happened and why. Historian Sean Maloney has taken on that challenge, producing a monumental work examining the Canadian Army's experience in Afghanistan. But even getting that history into the hands of the public has proven difficult. And despite Maloney’s personal experience embedded with units, and the depth and breadth of his work, some still question whether a true history of this war can be written when so many documents are classified. Others are concerned that much of the research material used by Maloney may be lost to future scholars. So, why is writing the history of this war so complicated, and what does that tell us about how Canada remembers its military past?
Peter Kasurak is a Fellow of the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University. He has taught military history at the Canadian Forces College and defence policy, foreign policy, terrorism and the profession of arms at the Royal Military College. His newest book, The Unequal Dialogue: Canadian Civil-Military Relations, 1950-2025, will be published by UBC Press in November 2026.
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