By the Ghost Light by R.H. Thomson

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, Wildyand 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, Wildyand 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.

InBy 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 Lightis a truly original book that will challenge the way we approach our history. (From Knopf Canada)

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Robert Holmes Thomson, known as R. H. Thomson, is a Canadian television, filmand stage actor.By the Ghost Lightis his debut book.

Interviews with R.H. Thomson

The Homestretch10:05R.H. Thomson

Canadian author R.H. Thomson joins us to talk about his new book "By The Ghost Light".

The Current24:38We must remember the fallen on all sides of war: R.H. Thomson

The First and Second World Wars had a profound effect on R.H. Thomsons family, beginning with the deaths of five of his great-uncles. The Canadian actor tells Matt Galloway about his new memoir, By the Ghost Light: Wars, Memory, and Families, and why the way we talk about war and remember the fallen matters, as conflict rages on in the world around us.

Mainstreet PEI10:07R.H. Thompson

Actor R.H. Thomson is well known to audiences for his work on screen and on stages across Canada. Now he's written his first book, a memoir called By the Ghost Light, about family's history and how we understand war. He joins us to talk about that and to tell us about a special project to honour the legacy of veterans around the world.

The Next Chapter6:35Canadian actor and Anne With an E Star R.H. Thomson answers the Proust questionnaire

The celebrated stage, film and TV actor takes The Next Chapters version of the Proust questionnaire and shares his thoughts on everything from dealing with his six-year-old self to his love for maple syrup. The Ontario-raised Thomson also discusses the irreversible damages of war, a topic he writes about in debut novel By the Ghost Light.