Asymmetrical Information

je ne me souviens pas

Having trouble sleeping, eh?

peter c newman's books are interesting (not complete histories, but does grasp some very interesting key figures)

company of adventurers, the canadian establishment, and titans give an overview of canadian history and the driving figures behind the country

also: a brief history of canada (riendeau)

and works by pierre berton...

but why not just read (or re-read) virgil, homer, sophocles, aristotle, plato, aenid... much better and more interesting

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0086373
This URL will take you to complete information about "Strange Brew," one of the finest films ever made about Canada and Canadians. It's a good shortcut in case you don't have enough time to read about our friends in the Frozen North.

Beauty, eh?
/f

*The Penguin History of Canada* by Kenneth McNaught was good enough to provide me with sufficient background to pass the Canadian foreign service exam.
Not too much about early natives here, it's more a political history.
And since the book is a bit old now, it's probably not good to read about the last 10 years or so.
And please don't read any Pierre Berton.

You'll have to wait for something to happen there first.

No need to waste any time reading Canadian history. This statement represents they entire cultural background of Canada: Canada is like the United States but nicer.

While Strange Brew is a classic of Canadian cinema, for serious history viewing the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) put out a 17 episode miniseries in 2000 called "Canada: A people's History" which is a complete history from 15,000 B.C. to 1990. Indexed and divided by era it ran on TV to rave reviews.

The library might have it or you can order from http://history.cbc.ca/histicons/

There isn't one. (I got a bachelor's degree with a history major at a Canadian university in the 80s.) The aforementioned Penguin History of Canada by McNaught isn't that bad, and it's short. There are very few recent efforts, probably indicating that Canada is in danger of being cancelled for lack of interest. Regarding what does exist, there is major problem of bias toward the federal Liberal Party's view of Canada. They fund the social studies jukebox, and they get the songs they want. If you want to read some online stuff, there's a good page of links at http://www.civilization.ca/orch/www04b_e.html. The best French-language works are probably those by Fernand Ouellet, but he's unfashionable in modern Quebec.

You really don't want to spend too much time on the history of 18th and 19th century Canada. Life is short. For a concentrated insta-course on how today's Ottawa actually works, you can't beat this article. (Sorry for the somewhat odd link, but the Citizens Centre website appears to be under some sort of reconstruction right now.)

http://culturecanada.gc.ca/chdt/interface/interface2.nsf/engdocBasic/8.html

I can tell your prior comments are by non-Canadians, or at least, by non real Canadians. Pierre Burton?! Like, go on, take off, eh?

Charlie Farquharson's histry [sic] of Canada

The best political history (overview) is Michael Bliss' Right Honourable Men. McNaught's Penguin History is adequate, as is the multi-volume The People's History, commissioned by the CBC, our national taxpayer supported, broadcaster. Avoid all Pierre Burton and Peter Newman.
Donald Creighton wrote a number of specialized histories. The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence is an excellent look at the influence of Canada's geography on our economy. His two-volume biography of our first prime minister Sir John A. MacDonald rates among our best biography (and examines not just the life of MacDonald but Canada at its founding). And Creighton's Toward the Discovery of Canada is a good history of pre-Confederation (pre-1867).

I visited the Tower of London a few years ago, and went on the obligatory Yeoman Guard-led tour of the premises. This particular Beefeater was a retired Sergeant-Major with the Royal Marines, and had a razor-sharp wit. Near the beginning of the tour, he stopped the group, turned to everyone and said,

"When a building has a thousand years of history behind it, there's far too much to tell in one little twenty minute walkaround. So tell me what you'd like to hear."

A guy down the front pipes up: "All of it!"

The Beefeater looks down his nose at this guy- "Where are you from, sir?"

"Canada."

"Canada, eh? I can't tell you all the history associated with the Tower, but I will take a few moments to give you all a thorough run-down of the history of Canada..."

*5 second pause*

"There. Did you like it?"

Needless to say, the Canadian didn't speak up again for the remainder of the tour.

The late novelist Mordechai Richler, a Canadian, once speculated that Canada had derived its name from an early Spanish explorer who, upon surveying the landscape, pronounced, "Aqui, nada."

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