Canadian soldiers became "one of the most elite fighting forces" along the entire Western Front during the final and most explosive years of the First World War. In the last two years of fiery attacks, the Canadians never lost a single battle.

But that wasn't always the case, said Tim Cook, a Canadian War Museum historian.

"In the first two years of the war Canadians stumbled quite badly in a couple places," said Cook, author of "Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War 1917-1918."

Canadians earned worldwide recognition as "one of the most elite fighting forces" starting with the battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 and later cemented the title with the 100 Days Campaign which led the war's end, Cook said.

The First World War saw more than 650,000 Canadian soldiers, mostly young men in their teens and early twenties march off into battle. Roughly 68,000 never returned and another 170,000 suffered injuries that would change their lives forever.

The fact that these "regular guys" could become the most feared ensemble in the war is remarkable, Cook told CTV.ca in a telephone interview from Ottawa.

"It wasn't like today where we have professional soldiers. These were regular guys -- farmers, bankers and everything else."

From the front lines

Canada's contribution to the Great War is seen by many historians as Canada's coming of age story.

At the start of the war, Canadian troops held little status among military circles and were typically treated as merely infantry. They were sent to live, fight and die in the disease ridden trenches, which Cook aptly refers to as "No Man's Land" in the book.

But by the war's end in 1918, the Canadian Corps -- a fighting formation nearly 100,000 strong -- had changed all that.

The elite group was once referred to by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George as the Empire's best "shock troops."

"It's quite clear that they saw themselves as elite soldiers and that may have led to them risking their lives more often."

But bravery alone can't explain their victories at Vimy Ridge, Hill 70 or Passchendaele, Cook said. There were many less glamorous reasons for their astonishing success.

"Sort of like a hockey team gelling together, over time, the Canadians learned how to fight the enemy but also how to work together."

The Canadian Corps had four highly structured fighting divisions. Each was a self-contained fighting unit and bigger than most British units, Cook said.

"The British didn't have that consistency...and so they relied increasingly on the Canadians as shock troops."

During the 100 Days Campaign, the Canadians showed incredible endurance as they spearheaded one offensive after another.

"They put it together," Cook said. "There is no exaggeration to say the Canadians never lose a battle in the last two years of fighting."

Defining a nation

And although the war was widely considered a just cause at the time, it was also a highly divisive event for Canadians. It shaped the country in many ways still visible today, Cook said.

The war effort saw the introduction of income taxes in 1917. The new taxes were supposed to be temporary, but continued long after the war ended and to this day.

That same year, women were extended the right to vote. The enfranchisement of women was in part due to so many of them becoming primary breadwinners of the family while their husbands fought across the Atlantic.

Increased government intervention also enraged many Canadians culminating in heated conscription nationwide debates.

"The most devastating government intervention was of course the forcing of young men to fight against their will," Cook said.

The First World War also saw Canadians step out from beneath the shadow of the British Empire. On the other hand, it represented the biggest slaughter in the country's short history. Many people questioned whether the newfound independence was worth it, Cook said.

90 years later

This Remembrance Day will mark exactly 90 years since the Armistice that officially ended The "War to End All Wars."

Cook tells the story of Canada's valiant Great War effort using historical texts from Canadian, British, French and German sources.

But it was the first-hand accounts hidden away in dusty library corridors that really drove Cook to write the book.

Passages from these cherished diaries and letters offers a glimpse into every aspect of soldiers' lives -- from a simple desire for a hot meal, to seeing their comrades' bodies blown to bits, to developing some of the most sophisticated attack strategies of the entire war effort.

"I think the First World War continues to haunt us," Cook said.

Cook's "Shock Troops" is the second volume of a two-part series. Volume one, "At the Sharp End" was the winner of the 2007 J.W. Dafoe Prize.