Great Forests and Mighty Men: Early Years in Canada's Vast Woodlands.

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

From the earliest days of European settlement until approximately 1920, logging was integral to life in eastern Canada. The Maritimes, Quebec, and Ontario had vast, seemingly inexhaustible coniferous forests. All those trees represented enormous wealth as, in a pre-steel age, timber was needed to build cities in the U.K., U.S., and Canada. The industry produced two main products: squared timbers for ship masts and heavy construction, and saw logs for lumber. Each made unique demands on the harvesting process.

Lee’s work divides historic forestry operations into three logical chunks: in the bush, on the river, and at the sawmill. He gives a well-researched, detailed description of each, touching on the skills needed for the work, living conditions, food, labour conventions (e.g., 10 to 14 hour days, six day weeks), the ever-present dangers—accidents and deaths were commonplace—and the employers’ attitudes. One employer gave a 12 year old child, who lost both an arm and a leg in a sawmill accident, $10 for his suffering.

The book strives to capture the aura of larger-than-life strength, skills, and bravery that helped romanticize the early shantymen, river drivers, and raftsmen. Seventy-five photos, archival and modern, supplement and support the well-organized, well-researched text. For readers interested in further study, a listing of relevant sites, museums, and festivals adds the finishing touch.

Stylistically the text is professional but rather impersonal, with objective data outweighing the very few human-interest stories. The photo captions are meagre, often with the most basic information (such as location) missing. These minor weaknesses only slightly detract from the value of the work as a summary of an important but little-understood industry central to the history of the development and growth of Canada.