Tragedies and Discoveries

Book Review: Working in a time and in occupations dominated by men, Nellie was a successful businesswoman and prospector. From Canada’s Far North to the southern United States, she had an eye for opportunity

Book review: Language haunts us still. It is a proxy for Canada’s continuing stresses around unity and identity. The country’s latest language conflicts, focused on Quebec’s Bill 86, have distressing parallels with past English-French arguments. The modern grandfather of such policy debates was the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1963 to 1971). A central figure from that commission, Frank Scott, kept a personal diary that has now been published, casting new light on many characters and historic choices from that time.

Book Review: Geoff Mynett’s Pinkerton’s and the Hunt for Simon Gunanoot tells the story of an accused double murderer who evaded capture for thirteen years in northern British Columbia in the early 1900s.

Book Review: In Masters and Servants, Parks Canada historian Scott Stephen examines how the Hudson’s Bay Company constructed its labour force during the firm’s “long first century.”