2 comments about Pierre Berton's Canada: The Land and the People.

1. "Canada: The Land and Its People" is a lavish and informative volume.

   Pierre Berton examines Canda's past through the stories of twenty-five diverse historical characters.

   Berton also presents the country's vast and often stunning geography through the lenses of over thirty Canadian photographers.

   Just a few of the excellent pictures/stories include a modern diesel-powered train making its way through a Rocky Mountain stretch of track that was first envisioned by 19th-century railway pathfinder, Walter Mosberly; the East Block of the Parliament Buildings, where Prime Minister John A. MacDonald (a "likeable rogue") had his office in the 1870s; and the rustic though beautiful Yukon cabin of poet Robert Service.

   There are over 125 color and b/w photos and illustrations in this mammoth work.




2. "Canada boasts the longest coastline in the world. If it were straightened out it could wound around the equator three and a half times and there would still be a bit left over." - a fitting topic of immense proportions portrayed by the splendid photography of André Gallant and the always readable prose of Canada's late lamented historian journalist, Pierre Berton accompanied by a series of fascinating archival photographs and drawings from the 18th, 19th and early 20th century.
   
   Unlike most dining room table books that, having been opened at random pages and skimmed, are examined only for the quality of their presentation and the beauty of their photographs, Berton's essays, designed to accompany the photographs and embellish and enrich them as only Pierre Berton can, make this book enjoyable as a stand-alone read from cover to cover. The topics which he has chosen to cover are as widely varied as Canada's maritime geography - the Queen Charlotte Islands, the history and social customs of the Haida, the Potlach people; the demise, over-hunting and myopic mismanagement of the west coast salmon, the arctic bowhead whale and the east coast cod fishery; the absurdly mistaken romantic notions of the life of a lighthouse keeper; a brief history of the search for the elusive Northwest Passage; some stories of the golden age of sail; and a history of Sable Island, the wrecking yard of the Atlantic located in the mouth of the St Lawrence River.
   
   What a wonderful way for any Canadian to take a brief tour of the outer edges of this fascinating country of ours and to dip their toes into that ocean of wisdom that Pierre Berton has provided for interested readers of Canada's history, geography, politics and social life and customs.
   
   Highly recommended.
   
   Paul Weiss

No comments about Hoffa.: An article from: Labour/Le Travail.

No comments about A. Y. Jackson A Love for the Land (The Quest Library).

No comments about Life in the Canadian/American Old West: Early Life of Fredrick Henry Turner.

No comments about Minding the House: A Biographical Guide to Prince Edward Island MLAs, 1873-1993.

No comments about Harold Innis in the New Century: Reflections & Refractions.

1 comments about The Cabin: A Search for Personal Sanctuary.

1. I was really excited when The Cabin showed up in my mailbox and started reading it right away. The next few weeks (yes, weeks) of getting through the book became a mission. In general, the story is good with satisfying stories set in the Temagami wilderness area of Ontario, the passion (almost freakish obsession) of a canoeist, and a little coming-of-age story of the author and primary character. But, key geographic locations within the stories become muddied with inexact detail or a lack of explanation. Unless you are personally very familiar with the territory, you become lost quickly. The author spends an inordinate amount of time discussing these locations, rivers, portages, and you find yourself referring to a basic map that has little detail included on the back cover. And it's curious how the author uses an absolute thesaurus full of adjectives and adverbs throughout the book. Keep a dictionary handy while reading this, you'll need it. This particular aspect of the book bothered me most as the spectrum of linguistics the author uses hardly complement the back-to-nature, simplistic and uncomplicated world of the Temagami wilderness. Instead of impressing the reader with his arsenal of unique words (which is what is seems the author is trying to do), it serves as a distracting paradox to the simplicity of the story and really reduces the enjoyment and of the read.

No comments about A Letter to Lawrence.

1 comments about High Blue Battle.

1. High Blue Battle is an annotated and edited reprint of the War Diary for No.1/401 Squadron, Canada's longest serving and most successful fighter squadron of World War II. No. 1 squadron was formed several years prior to the outbreak of war. Following Canada's decleration of war against the Germans, the squadron--at the time equipped with Hurricanes--was sent to England. After serving gallantly in the Battle of Britain, No. 1 (RCAF) was transferred from airfield to airfield with frustrating regularity. With the formation of more exclusively-Canadian squadrons, the RAF began assigning RCAF squadrons 400 numerals, hence No. 1 (RCAF) became No. 401 for the duration of the war. From the end of the Battle of Britain until the invasion in 1944, No. 401 participated in numerous fighter sweeps and escort missions. Shortly after the invasion, No. 401 was transferred to France, and until the end of the war operated out of airfields close to the front.

   As Dave McIntosh, author of the fabulous book Terror in the Starboard Seat, indicates in the introduction to High Blue Battle, the War Diary for No. 1/401 Squadron is exceptional in that, unlike other war diaries, it provides an anecdotal account of the squadron's day-to-day activities. Not only do we read about what pilots were lost or claimed victories during a given day, we learn more about the pilot's non-combative engagements (with booze and women) and, surprisingly, although somewhat infrequently, what the respective diarist's opinion was of some big-wig or new military regulation.

   On the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and really wish that if possible more of such works be resurrected from the depths of the National Archives. The only matter of complaint that I have is that the editor apparently deleted number of entries that were repetative or provided no information of value. This no doubt made the book more accessable and practicle to publish, but for those people (such as myself) who revel in such minutiae, this is somewhat of a disappointment.

No comments about Letters from Windermere 1912-1914 (Recollections of the Pioneers of British Columbia, Vol 5).