[2] The display case for the first book was designed by John A. Pearson, architect of the Peace Tower, and made by Bromsgrove Guild Limited (Great Britain) and Robert Mitchell Company in 1928.

[2] During the First World War on July 1, 1917, Prime Minister Robert Borden announced a Memorial Chamber would be included in the soon-to-be constructed Peace Tower, part of the rebuild of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings after a 1916 fire.

He said that it would be a "memorial to the debt of our forefathers and to the valour of those Canadians who, in the Great War, fought for the liberties of Canada, of the Empire, and of humanity".

[4] On August 3, 1927, while in Ottawa, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) unveiled an altar, a gift from the British government, upon which the book of the First World War would rest.

The stone for the steps came from quarries in Flanders Fields and the brass nameplates were cast from spent shell casings from the war.

[4] All the books have some illumination; those for the two world wars having the most, with each page having a wide border at the top decorated with plant motifs, usually leaves, and a unit badge.

A series of delays, however, slowed the progress of the book – notably after the government decided that work should be restarted in 1951, to re-write all the names, this time including the abbreviations of individual regiments.