A World Inside: A 150-Year History of the Canadian Museum of Civilization

Frits Pannokoek is president of Athabasca University in Alberta.

Vodden, a professional writer/communications officer, and Dyck, a plains
archaeologist, have written a book that does little to enlighten readers
as to how the national museums have shaped Canadians’ views of
themselves through both their exhibitions and the kind of research they
support. The meagre bibliography includes no references to recent
discourse in museum studies, including the depiction of Aboriginal
peoples in Euro-Canadian-dominated institutions.

Instead the book functions mainly as a piece of shameless
self-promotion. Past directors are invariably “visionaries,” each
adding a building block to what has culminated in the stupendous
successes of the current president and CEO. If the book has a central
theme, it is that central agency intervention—whether from the
Geological Survey, from Treasury, or from the thankfully ill-fated
National Museums of Canada Corporation—has been a key impediment to
“progress.”

A World Inside is recommended only for those who require a basic
chronology and brief profiles of past directors (Richard Glover, William
Taylor, George MacDonald, etc.) or key curators such as Marius Barbeau
and Diamond Jenness.