It was announced on Monday that Tim Cook, author of Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1917-1918 Volume Two, is the winner of the 2009 Charles Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction.

Mr. Cook and the two other nominees appeared together on The Agenda this past Friday to discuss the importance of history. The other nominees are: Elizabeth Abbott, author of Sugar: A Bittersweet History; and Ana Siljak, author of Angel of Vengeance: The "Girl Assassin," the Governor of St. Petersburg, and Russia's Revolutionary World. Also joining the panel are Rudyard Griffiths, author of Who We Are: A Citizen's Manifesto, and David A. Wilson, author of Thomas D'Arcy McGee.

Here is that discussion: