The Penguin History of Canada

This version of Canada`s story moves at a brisk, entertaining pace through the ages of colonization, nation-forming, and the perils of the twentieth-century. Bothwell shows a keen eye for irony, noting, for example, how French Canada`s loyalty to its British conquerors was bolstered when 50 priests from Old France arrived, fleeing the French Revolution to preach devotion for church and king. The choice of narrative details is objective, but often gives scope for critical humor: ``Pearson signed the North Atlantic treaty, creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Washington on April Fool`s Day, 1949, while the U.S. Marine Band played a selection of popular tunes including ``I`ve Got Plenty of Nothin`.`` The book gives substantial treatment to recent history, with its battles over free trade, NAFTA, the attempted Meech Lake revision of the constitution, the Quebec independence referendum of 1995, and Canada`s role in global issues of genocide or the war on terror. In the hindsight of recent events, Bothwell points out developments which drew little attention when they occurred: ``St. Laurent stoutly defended to the skeptical and neutralist Indians the good intentions of the United States, even when it meant that the Americans were arming India`s neighbor Pakistan -- in the interest of anti-communism.``