Historical Atlas of Canada, Vol. 3: Addressing the Twentieth Century

J.L. Granatstein is a professor of History at York University and author
of Pirouette: Pierre Trudeau and Canadian Foreign Policy.

This book is a superb demonstration of the mapmaker’s art. Like the
first volume, which appeared two years ago, Vol. III of the Historical
Atlas of Canada aims to change the way Canadians perceive their country
and its past; like Vol. I, it succeeds admirably.

The emphasis throughout is heavily on social history—too much so,
perhaps, for those who think that politics and government and foreign
policy still have some importance. For example, the treatment of World
War I shows the course of the fighting in which the Canadian Corps
participated primarily through the location of military cemeteries in
France. An innovative device, and one that makes a point, but ultimately
less than helpful for someone seeking information. Much more useful, and
astonishingly graphic, is a map of St. John’s, Newfoundland, that
shows the war’s impact through the location of houses of the men who
enlisted and were subsequently killed or wounded—scarcely a house was
spared. Such an illustration, the product of painstaking research, more
than justifies the whole project. Teachers of Canadian history all over
this country will use that map to make an important point. And, of
course, virtually every page in this multicolored volume has similar
utility.

More to the point for nonspecialist readers, the Historical Atlas is
simply fun to browse through. Every page turns up fascinating
revelations—the number of farm households on relief in Saskatchewan
during the Depression, for example, or charts of provincial
migration—though the pages are sometimes too crowded. Still, the
scholarly data are hidden at the back and do not interfere with
browsing. All in all, a superb job.