A Short History of Quebec. 3rd ed.

Gratien Allaire is a professor of history at Laurentian University in
Sudbury, Ontario.

Quebec’s distinctiveness is a central theme of this excellent history
of the province. “Quebec has a singular past,” the authors write,
“with institutions and culture that set it forcefully apart.”
Moreover, they contend that Anglophone community’s culture and
institutions are “critical to an understanding of the history of
Quebec” and “an essential part of Quebec’s collective
experience.”

Moving away from the “traditional, political orientation” of other
English-language textbooks, the two historians adopt a socioeconomic
orientation, which is “concentrated on the concerns of social
historians, who regard material condition, social class, gender,
ethnicity and race as the prime determinants of Quebec history.”
Following a chapter on the First Nations and the beginning of New
France, they identify a set of turning points different from the usual
dates: the 1650s mark the beginning of preindustrial Quebec, the 1810s
the starting point of the transition to industrial capitalism, the 1890s
the first years of industrial capitalism. The decades after the 1930s
are treated somewhat differently; periods are shorter and politics have
a much greater influence on their designation.

This updated, more user-friendly edition of Dickinson and Young’s
book will be welcomed by college and university students.