Canada Rediscovered

Gerald J. Stortz is an assistant professor of history at the University
of Waterloo.

This is a beautiful book. The physical design alone will attract
readers, with its many readable maps and illustrations. It is, however,
much more than a coffee-table book. McGhee, an archaeologist, has
provided a revisionist history of the exploration of Canada that
incorporates the most contemporary scholarship.

Exploration history has often been hagiographic rather than historical.
The result has been that students become quickly bored with it. There
will be no such problem with this volume. The standard exploration
voyages are discussed (Cabot, Cartier, etc.) but with new twists added.
There are also discussions of the oft-ignored Scandinavian and Basque
efforts.

One of the more remarkable aspects of this book is that although it is
full of very detailed information and could easily be used in a
lower-level university course, McGhee’s writing style is sufficiently
clear and coherent that this book should be a “must purchase” for
all schools from the junior-high level on up. This volume is a credit to
both its author and its publisher, the Canadian Museum of Civilization.