Canada: A People's History, Vol. 1 [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

CBC (Author), Don Gillmor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2000

How can we know where we’re going if we don’t know where we are coming from? This question applies as much to nations as it does to travellers, and it rings especially loudly in the ears of Canadians. Canada: A People’s History doesn’t tell us where we are going, but it shows us where we have come from
This richly illustrated book, the first of two volumes, tells the epic story of Canada from its earliest days to the arrival of the industrial age in the 1870s. Here is the story of the people who created this vast nation. The courageous explorers who tracked the vast wilderness; the adventurous settlers, many of them exiles from their homelands; the native peoples, crucial allies in the Europeans’ wars for possession of this land; the visionary politicians, and the shortsighted ones; but most of all the ordinary people who rose to the extraordinary challenge of building Canada. These people are all given voice here, their stories blending with accounts of the major events of the day.

This is the story of Canada for the new millennium, one that draws on solid scholarship and presents the human drama and excitement of days gone by, one that makes past times memorable.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

How can we know where we?re going if we don?t know where we are coming from? This question applies as much to nations as it does to travellers, and it rings especially loudly in the ears of Canadians. Canada: A People?s History doesn?t tell us where we are going, but it shows us where we have come from
This richly illustrated book, the first of two volumes, tells the epic story of Canada from its earliest days to the arrival of the industrial age in the 1870s. Here is the story of the people who created this vast nation. The courageous explorers who tracked the vast wilderness; the adventurous settlers, many of them exiles from their homelands; the native peoples, crucial allies in the Europeans? wars for possession of this land; the visionary politicians, and the shortsighted ones; but most of all the ordinary people who rose to the extraordinary challenge of building Canada. These people are all given voice here, their stories blending with accounts of the major events of the day.

This is the story of Canada for the new millennium, one that draws on solid scholarship and presents the human drama and excitement of days gone by, one that makes past times memorable.

About the Author

An award-winning journalist and writer, Don Gillmor is the author of the highly acclaimed 1999 story of his family’s roots, The Desire of Every Living Thing.

Achille Michaud, co-author of Richard Hatfield: Power and Disobedience, is a producer with Radio-Canada in Montreal.

Pierre Turgeon is a well-known Québécois editor and writer, who won the Governor General’s Award for his 1991 book La Radissonie: le pays de la Baie James.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart; illustrated edition edition (October 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0771033400
• ISBN-13: 978-0771033407
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,901,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hmmmm, June 1, 2001

By 

Pepi "popper-pete" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canada: A People's History, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)

Hmmmm, well, a comme-çi-comme-ça kind of book. A lot of good stuff here, but also a lot of stuff missing. Yes, the book was done by a committee, which doesn't help. But it's surprisingly good for a book done by committee, but that doesn't mean it's a surprisingly good book, because, unfortunately, it isn't. It's an OK book, which is too bad, since it would be really nice to have a Canadian history book which not only was easy to read, but provided good history. It's drawbacks? It's biggest drawback — remember, this is supposed to be a history book — is it's lack of maps. The maps provided are few and far between, and even those provided are small and pathetic. All good history books need maps. From Francis Parkman to Fred Anderson (Crucible of War), they all have plenty of good, detailed maps. Secondly, for a book billed as "A book for every Canadian home", it is way over-priced. Sixty bucks?! Give me a break. Thirdly, from an editorial point of view, there are many holes. Just to mention one, the book mentions the corruption of the English officials in the early nineteenth century which basically, led to the impetus for confederation (although the example provided by the U.S. is given way too short shrift), and then glosses over the corruption that was running rampant among the ‘fathers' of Canadian confederation. The sad reality is that the corrupt English officials were replaced by corrupt Canadian politicians, and this tradition has continued down to this day. But it's probably expecting too much from a book produced by the CBC to highlight this fact. [what happened to louis riel?]

It's good points? Fairly good organization of events, although there is some disconcerting jumping around from time to time. As a summary, it's a decent summary for the time period covered (basically, the three hundred years up to and including confederation). Good side-bars throughout the book as well, and good and plentiful pictures/illustrations.

In the end, I guess the book gets three out of five stars. But if the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) is prepared to put it's money where it's mouth is, and provide a real book for ALL Canadian homes, they've got to do two things. First, produce a paperback edition that sells for $...(Canadian $, please, as Canadians only get paid in Canadian dollars) or less. Secondly, the number and size of the maps has to be quadrupled. Without better maps, all you really have is a coffee-table book. If you want a real history book, add bigger, better, and more maps. There's a challenge for, you, CBC!