By the Ghost Light

Wars, Memory, and Families

By: R.H. Thomson

Narrated by: R.H. Thomson

From one of Canada’s most beloved performing artists comes an audacious work of non-fiction that explores the stories that shape us and the reach that the past can have across generations.

Growing up north of Toronto, R.H. Thomson’s imagination was captured by romantic notions of war. He spent his days playing with toy soldiers on the carpet of his grandmother’s house, recreating the Battle of Britain with model planes in his bedroom, or sitting at the local theatre watching World War II B movies—ones that offered a very clear perspective on who were the heroes and who the villains; which side were the victors and which the vanquished.

Yet Thomson’s childhood was also shaped by the spirits of real-life warriors in his family, their fates a brutal and more complicated reminder of the true human cost of war. Eight of Robert’s great uncles—George, Joe, Jack, Harold, Arthur, Warren, Wildy, and Fred—fought in the First World War, while his great Aunt Margaret served as a wartime surgical nurse in Europe. Five of the great uncles—George, Joe, Fred, Wildy, and Warren—were killed in battle while two others—Jack and Harold—would return home greatly diminished, spending the rest of their lives in and out of sanitariums, their lungs scarred by disease and poison gas. Throughout their lives, the great uncles, as well as great aunts and cousins, were faithful letter writers, their correspondence offering profound insights into their experiences on the front lines to their loved ones back home, a somber record of the sacrifice the family paid.

In By the Ghost Light, R.H. Thomson offers an extraordinary look at his family’s history while providing a powerful examination of how we understand war and its aftermath. Using his family letters as a starting point, Thomson roams through a century of folly, touching on areas of military history, art, literature, and science, to express the tragic human cost of war behind the order and calm of ceremonial parades, memorials, and monuments. In an urgent call for new ways to acknowledge the dead, R.H. has created “The World Remembers,” an ambitious international project to individually name each of the millions killed in the First World War.

Epic in its scope and incredibly intimate in its exploration of lives touched by the tragedy of war, By the Ghost Light is a truly original book that will challenge the way we approach our history.

©2023 R.H. Thomson (P)2023 Knopf Canada

Critic reviews

“Part memoir, part history and part thoughtful exploration of the stories we tell to make sense of violent conflict, By the Ghost Light is an enlightening tour through the convolutions of history and the fickle nature of memory, both personal and cultural.” —Stephen R. Bown

“A searing exploration of how war haunts families, communities, and countries. Thomson makes visible the ghosts of the Great War, untangling themes of loss and longing, service, and grief. Millions of Canadians have a family link to the war that raged from 1914 to 1918, and this literary meditation will provide new insight into the way that war bites to the bone from generation to generation.” —Tim Cook

“Many of us of R.H.'s generation, grew up romanticizing war. That is until we were confronted with the sharp images, the gripping narratives, and the heartbreaking letters left behind by our parents and grandparents. But those touchstones of the past are only the beginning of the journey one travels in By the Ghost Light.” —Peter Mansbridge