Customer Reviews

Canada: A People's History, Vol. 1

5 star:		(0)
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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!