Canadian History for Dummies

I've been exploring Canadian history quite a bit over the past few years, starting with picking up "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Canadian History" by Ann Douglas and the CBC's "Canada: A People's Hisotry." I found Will Ferguson's "Canadian History for Dummies" to be a humorous, fact filled, and very current overview of Canadian history (I bought it six months after it came out). I find it to be a very welcome addition to my book collection.

Feeling a little embarassed that I didn't know anything about Canadian history (I am from the US), I purchased the book while on vacation in Canada. I found the book very informative. Remember it is a Dummies book, don't expect in depth analysis or tons of information but it is a great read. I do think at times Ferguson is a bit anti-american. While I understand national pride and America's tendency to overlook or ignore our neighbors and allies, I didn't really understand some of the blatant anti-americanism. I found myself becoming defensive at times. If you can get over this, I would recommend it to any American.

This is a badly needed book. Canadians are woefully ignorant of their own history. It's not just that we've forgotten the embarassing bits like when we interned Japanese-Canadians in WWII (maybe OK) until three years after the war ended (definitely NOT OK!) but we've also forgotten the good bits like constructing the Canadian Pacific Railway, the battle of Vimy, and even why we wear poppies in November (hint: the last two are closely related). Ferguson also puts French Canadian history in its proper perspective, e.g. by confirming Samuel de Champlain as a true visionary and rightfully condemning Jacques Cartier as a fraudster, and reminding us how really great the Voyageurs were. He also presents one of the great injustices in Canadian history. We've forgotten that the first man to brew beer in Canada, i.e. Jean Talon, intendant (industry supremo) of New France. Montreal has a street and subway station named after him, but do we have a beer or a holiday named in his honour? We do not and we need to do something about this. Ferguson's started ball the rolling. Thumbs up, waaaaayyyy up.

Why didn't Nova Scotia become the 14th American colony?This difficult to find book is an excellent introduction to Canadian history; perfect for the American who is looking for the highlights of Canada's past, and, as for the above question, it provides wonderful information about America's past, too.