A Little History of Canada

Geoff Hamilton is a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of
British Columbia.

This concise history of Canada, by award-winning historian H.V. Nelles,
is intended as a kind of refresher course for those who studied Canadian
history in the past, or as an accessible introduction for those learning
about the country for the first time.

The book is, as Nelles explains, “a personal interpretation, not a
textbook,” and the author’s “goal throughout is to provide the
reader with an essential understanding of the main themes of Canadian
history.” Nelles takes as his guiding metaphor the “Transformation
Mask” of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Coast, and organizes
his discussion around the “series of metamorphoses” that have
defined the nation’s history.

Nelles is a remarkably clear and charming writer, and this is a
first-rate, highly accessible introduction to Canadian history. His
analysis of broad themes and specific events is uniformly astute. He is
particularly effective in interpreting the nation’s evolving
relationship with America over several hundred years, and his
contentions about the persistent character of Canadian attitudes toward
“revolutionary” enterprise are memorable and persuasive: “The
Rebellion of 1837 was a classic Canadian revolution. The poorly
organized rising failed to arouse popular support; the forces of
repression, authority, and loyalty prevailed. The vast majority of the
population remained indifferent to the rebel appeal or believed that the
issues could be better addressed through ordinary means within the
existing political framework. In Canada revolutions fail as action, but
triumph in recollection and history.” This is appealing and forceful
scholarship, and it is representative of the quality of Nelles’s
writing throughout.

Oddly, no maps or other illustrations are included in the book—a
rather startling and regrettable omission, since this work is intended
for readers assumed to have a shaky sense of the shifting political
boundaries of the continent.

Nevertheless, the book is highly recommended.