The Island: A Twentieth Anniversary Anthology from The Island Magazine

John D. Blackwell is co-ordinator of information services, Arthur A.
Wishart Library, Algoma University College, Sault Ste. Marie.

Forging ahead into its third decade, The Island Magazine is a publishing
miracle. Most popular-regional-history journals are fated to an
ephemeral existence in Canada. The Island Magazine, however, has been
fortunate in having had a dedicated editorial staff and the financial
support of the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation.
Since 1976, this journal has provided readers with engaging vignettes of
the Island’s heritage by leading authorities, contributing to the
recent rich harvest of writing on local history. By blending text and
illustrations, The Island Magazine attempts to negotiate a balance
between the “academic” and the “popular.” The result is a
magazine format that is free of pedantic jargon. The journal’s
simplicity and sincerity have been integral to its broad appeal.

For this anthology, Edward MacDonald has culled 21 articles from the
magazine’s first 40 issues. In his editorial selection, he opted for
articles that illuminate such central themes as religion, culture,
industry, and demography. Exploring the realities of land, sea, and
people, these contributions include such specialized topics as Island
prehistory, the Acadian diaspora, Scottish settlement, land politics,
shipbuilding, fox farming, outmigration, and fiddling contests.
Predictably, there is an article on L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green
Gables. Each essay is enhanced by a bibliographical note that guides the
reader to supplementary sources.

Admittedly, anthologies are inherently restrictive in format and
fragmented in coverage. This volume, for example, gives scant attention
to the civic history of Charlottetown or to the role of transportation.
Other shortcomings include some irregular pagination and the absence of
an index. But these minor detractions are far outweighed by the
volume’s assets.

In this anthology, one learns about the genius of Thomas Hall, who
exported threshing machines; the early colonization ventures of Lord
Selkirk (of Red River fame); the exodus of Islanders to New England; and
the golden age of Island ships that circumnavigated the globe. Clearly,
these are not stories of microscopic dimensions. They touch on the
national and the international, showing that the periphery can also be
at the centre. The Island Magazine’s editors, past and present, should
be congratulated for having found a successful formula that makes Island
history accessible to both the scholar and the popular reader.