The Big Book of Canada: Exploring the Provinces and Territories

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

As Janet Lunn’s brief yet comprehensive introduction puts it, Canada
is like a collection of neighborhoods, each with its own personality.
Lunn sees the book as “a good gazetteer” of provinces and
territories, “informative and entertaining.”

The Oxford Universal Dictionary on Historical Principles (rev. ed.
1964) defines “gazetteer” as a geographical index or dictionary.
Both students and the average reader will find Moore’s “big book”
a refreshing source of information, ideas, and (as Lunn observes)
entertainment. How many of us know that when Joseph Smallwood, premier
of Newfoundland, decided to take his province into Confederation, some
outport houses were put on barges and towed to new locations? Or that
Prince Edward Islanders opened the “fixed link,” a bridge to join
the island to the mainland, only in 1997? Or that Nunavut, Canada’s
newest territory, is the only part of Canada where Aboriginal peoples
form the majority of citizens and voters?

Moore is perhaps Canada’s most popular and versatile historian. An
earlier partnership with Janet Lunn led to their award-winning book The
Story of Canada. Moore also co-authored the Illustrated History of
Canada. The information he presents in The Big Book of Canada is
well-selected, nicely organized, and a pleasure to read. Students and
general readers who may find history difficult to learn will love
Moore’s lively approach. Bill Slavin’s comical illustrations add
fun. A “Reading About...” section offers students a list of further
readings, including fiction. Highly recommended.