Canada: A Celebration. Rev. ed.

Hans B. Neumann is a history lecturer at Scarborough College, University
of Toronto.

Even the most highbrow disdainers of coffee-table souvenir books of
Canada would have trouble turning their noses up at this one! What
similar hardcover book boasts a text by none other than Robert Fulford
and most of the photographs by John de Visser! And as if that were not
enough, it is one of the few in the genre that offers more than token
coverage to the Prairies and our Northern regions. Such a balanced and
thorough presentation of our vast and varied lands is a definite point
of recommendation.

This book offers lavish, superbly reproduced color photographs along
with many interesting historical black-and-white illustrations. It is
divided into seven major chapters, each corresponding to a region of our
home and native land. Each is preceded by a bouquet of photographs
representative of the region to be treated by the text. Urban, rural,
and natural settings receive more than their adequate due from de
Visser’s professional eye.

But it would be unfortunate if readers devoted their attention only to
the dazzling photographs. The real heart of this book resides in the
text. Fulford has certainly put more than a token effort into its
composition. He paints a colorful, up-to-date, informed, sensitive, and
thought-provoking interpretation of the historical background of each of
Canada’s blocs of regional unities. Every literate Canadian would
surely take delight in this eloquent discussion (though the visitor to
our shores might well find this text too taxing in its depth and assumed
background knowledge of Canadian history). Rarely has any country
received such elegant and evocative homage in book format! This book
will long stand as a benchmark against which other books in this
category will be measured.