A Short History of Canada“Canadians believe that their history is short, boring and irrelevant. They are wrong on all counts.” – Desmond Morton, from the Introduction Most of us know bits and pieces of our history but would like to be more sure of how it all fits together. The trick is to find a history that is so absorbing you will want to read it from beginning to end. With this completely revised and expanded edition of A Short History of Canada, Desmond Morton, one of Canada’s most noted and highly respected historians, shows how the choices we can make at the dawn of the 21st century have been shaped by history. Morton is keenly aware of the links connecting our present, our past, and our future, and in one compact and engrossing volume he pulls off the remarkable feat of bringing it all together – from the First Nations before the arrival of the Europeans to the failure of the Charlottetown accord and Jean Chretien’s third term as prime minister. His acute observations on the Diefenbaker era, the effects of the post-war influx of immigrants, the flag debate, the baby boom, the Trudeau years and the constitutional crisis, the Quebec referendum, and the rise of the Canadian Alliance all provide an invaluable background to understanding the way Canada works today. |
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Alberta allies American Bennett bleu Borden Bourassa Britain British Columbia British North campaign Cana Canada West Cartier Catholic cent colony Confederation conscription Conservatives defence Depression dians Diefenbaker Diefenbaker's Duplessis economic election English English-speaking farmers federal finance force French Canadians gave governor Halifax huge imperial Indians industry insisted issue John King's labour Lake land Laurier leaders Liberals Lower Canada Loyalists Macdonald Mackenzie King majority Manitoba Maritimes Meighen ment Métis million Montreal Mulroney nationalists Newfoundland Nova Scotia numbers officials Ontario Ottawa Papineau Parliament Parti Québécois party Pearson political politicians post-war prairie premiers prime minister programs promised prosperity Protestant provinces Quebec City railway Red River reform René Lévesque Riel Robert Stanfield seats seemed settlers Social Credit tariff thousand tion Toronto Tory trade Trudeau union United Upper Canada victory voters votes wartime West western wheat workers young