A "good" book on Canadian history

[JamesHackerMP]

I was wondering if anyone knew a good book to read on history of Canada. I found this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NDTUD2A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=U1ZRQMFH6V5K&coliid=IZET5Z9X16F5U#nav-subnav

Alas, it's 1125 pp and of course $17 (US), for the Kindle version, mind you, that's a little pricey. But I might.

Still though, any suggestions?

[Moonlight Graham]

You can always buy a university textbook for history students:

https://www.amazon.ca/Peoples-Canada-Pre-Confederation-History/dp/0195446364/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471375538&sr=1-4&keywords=canada+a+people%27s+history

https://www.amazon.ca/Peoples-Canada-Post-Confederation-History/dp/0195446313/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471375711&sr=1-6&keywords=the+people%27s+of+canada

[JamesHackerMP]

Well, I was looking for something a little cheaper than $84.95 CDN (or $66.53 USD)...but that's a good suggestion, thx!

I found one for free on Amazon Kindle, alas, it is a little out of date (1919, lol).

Edited August 18, 2016 by JamesHackerMP

[cybercoma]

Find Bastards & Boneheads by Wil Ferguson. It's not so much a history book as it is a comedic look at the Prime Ministers up until Chrétien.

[August1991]

Mason Wade, The French Canadians - in two volumes.

[JamesHackerMP]

Was looking for something shorter than 2 volumes, lol.

[JamesHackerMP]

Well, I did download a sample of the one that cost $17 on Kindle. Interesting forward, though I think he tries to compare Canada to the US a bit too much. The author seems to have a bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to the United States, and a blind spot to his own country's faults. That said, I'm kind of hooked, because it is interesting nonetheless. I might spring the $17 and download the whole thing. In the very least, it does seem to be a "good book on Canada".

[bush_cheney2004]

Well, I did download a sample of the one that cost $17 on Kindle. Interesting forward, though I think he tries to compare Canada to the US a bit too much....

Indeed....something I have also found in many "books about Canada", at least those from their "Anglo" authors. It is a driving force and theme that is as old as the two nations' intertwined histories. An article in the Montreal Gazette called it a "neurosis"....over 50 years ago !

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19640225&id=SjsjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iJ4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6953,4994386

[JamesHackerMP]

Incidentally I went ahead and bought it. Found a copy on Alibris for $7 (plus shipping). Not bad for a book that's $17 on Kindle, $50 in print! It's hard to find them too cheap when they're quite recent, this book was published in 2015 I think.

[JamesHackerMP]

That aside, he's mostly been talking about the so-called "pre Columbian" societies present in North America at the time. It's interesting.

[August1991]

Well, I did download a sample of the one that cost $17 on Kindle. Interesting forward, though I think he tries to compare Canada to the US a bit too much. The author seems to have a bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to the United States, and a blind spot to his own country's faults. That said, I'm kind of hooked, because it is interesting nonetheless. I might spring the $17 and download the whole thing. In the very least, it does seem to be a "good book on Canada".

IMHO, it is the best book in English about Canada's history - from 1500 to 1960 or so. After that, you're on your own.

Heck, after 1896, you have to read Dafoe (doable, like Fotheringham), or Rumilly (not doable, unless you're OCD).