Atlantic Canada: A Region in the Making

Anthony A. MacKenzie is an associate professor of history at St. Francis
Xavier University in Nova Scotia.

Two of every three pages of this profusely illustrated history of
Atlantic Canada have photos, cartoons, maps, or artwork of some kind;
the illustrations are well-chosen, admirably suited to strengthen the
effect of the printed work. In recounting the story of the region from
prehistoric times to the end of the 20th century, the authors rightly
emphasize the amazing diversity to be found among the peoples of a
relatively small and thinly populated territory. Social and economic
developments and changes are skilfully treated, and politics and
politicians are given their just due. Hiller and Conrad are trying to
portray “regions of the mind.” “[W]e do not argue for a
quintessential Atlantic Canadian regionalism,” they write. “Instead
we chart formal and functional regional identities and take into account
the imagined sense of place that has evolved over time among a diverse
people.” They do this with a praiseworthy avoidance of academic
jargon.

Minor flaws have crept in. The economic and recreational value of
wildlife and man’s pursuit thereof is scarcely mentioned. What of the
extermination of caribou and the decimation of moose in mainland
provinces? The introduction of white-tailed deer? The gallant and maybe
hopeless fight to save the Atlantic salmon is not mentioned at all. The
wholesale destruction of forest resources by the use of heavy and
expensive machinery is treated very briefly. Finally, I noted two minor
peccadilloes: “wreaked” is used instead of “wrought,” and Sam
Langfroid, the great boxer, has apparently become a relative of the Iron
Duke’s biographer, Elizabeth Longford. But these are only fleabites
that do not alter my opinion this is the best history of Atlantic Canada
written up to now; it is admirably suited for general reading and for
use as a text.