The book, Lost in the Crowd: Acadian Soldiers of Canada’s First World War, by Gregory M.W. Kennedy, was recently named a winner of the 2025 Canadian Historical Association Clio Book Prize (Atlantic).
Lost in the Crowd explores the experiences of Acadian soldiers who served during World War One in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, with a particular focus on those within the 165th Battalion, a distinctly Acadian unit.
Drawing on an impressive array of French and English sources, including official military collections, newspapers, census data, personal papers and private correspondence, and addressing issues such as disease, discipline and desertion, Mr. Kennedy offers a nuanced account of Acadians’ lives before, during and following World War I, and the ways these were shaped by a distinctive, but far from monolithic, Acadian culture. While adding in a substantial way to the historiography about Acadians in the 20th century, Lost in the Crowd also demonstrates how social history methodologies deepen our understanding of wartime experiences.
The author shows that Acadians were just as likely to enlist as their English-speaking counterparts across the Maritimes, though the backgrounds of the volunteers were quite different. He tackles controversial topics often missing from the previous historiography, such as underage recruits, desertion, and army discipline. With the help of the 1921 Canadian Census, Mr. Kennedy explores the factors that influenced post-war outcomes, both positive and negative, for soldiers, families, and communities.
Lost in the Crowd was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press and is available from Indigo.
