A Guide to the Study of Manitoba Local History

Fay Lando was Projects Officer at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Toronto.

If you’re a student or layperson with an interest in Manitoba local history, or a teacher with a professional interest in the subject, equip yourself with this book. The authors address each group in turn, suggesting aspects and levels of study and even encouraging its documentation as a book. Perhaps the publication of this book will encourage historians to assemble similar volumes for the other provinces.

The book is divided into chapters, each covering a different subject area — for example, agriculture, business, local government, the environment. There are more than a dozen in all. Each chapter includes a survey of the subject, approaches to its study, and a list of sources to be consulted. There is even a chapter on writing a book. The illustrative material, however, has been plunked into two sections, is out of place, and is unlisted.

Appendices, which equal the text in length, include compilations of directories, archives and libraries, land record and land use information, and a select bibliography.

The authors are to be commended for assembling so much bibliographic material on Manitoba in one place, and doubly commended for writing in an informal and readable style. If only the type face were larger!