When you pick up this book, I am not sure that "short" will be the word that comes to mind. Desmond Morton tries to write a complete narrative of events from 1812 to the present. Interesting that he starts his "history of Canada" in the same year as the Socials 10 curriculum. I stopped reading at the half-way point when he gets to the depression, since I am more interested in the history up to 1915. It was a good refresher on Canadian history, and brought to light a few things for me that were missing from the textbook. Morton doesn't hesitate to throw in some analysis, and is fair and balanced in his approach.
However, a have a few criticisms of this book:
1) a bit too detailed on the politics that bogs down the reader, I found myself skimming these sections
2) a bit brief on the interesting stories (I know that there is a lot of ground to cover, but a few interesting asides would help)
3) often assumes previous knowledge when talking about something
I would recommend this book for someone who has a good knowledge of Canadian history and needs a refresher or wants to see if they are missing some interesting details. Maybe it has been 10 years since teaching Socials 10 and you get assigned a block. This would be a good read from a well-respected historian.
However, a have a few criticisms of this book:
1) a bit too detailed on the politics that bogs down the reader, I found myself skimming these sections
2) a bit brief on the interesting stories (I know that there is a lot of ground to cover, but a few interesting asides would help)
3) often assumes previous knowledge when talking about something
I would recommend this book for someone who has a good knowledge of Canadian history and needs a refresher or wants to see if they are missing some interesting details. Maybe it has been 10 years since teaching Socials 10 and you get assigned a block. This would be a good read from a well-respected historian.
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