A Canada 150 Reading List (part 2 - books)

If you want more in-depth discussion than you've found in articles, check out these books on commemoration, Canada 150, and reconciliation. I have not yet read all of these - this is my own reading list as well! Part 3 will be up in a couple of days. As always, suggestions and reviews are welcome.

What a peculiarly nationalist text...

Books Published For Canada 150

Gray, Charlotte. The Promise of Canada: 150 Years--People and Ideas That Have Shaped Our Country. 1st edition. Simon & Schuster, 2016. Available at the Vancouver and Burnaby public libraries.

Johnston, David. The Idea of Canada: Letters to a Nation. Signal, 2016. Available as a book or e-book at the Vancouver public library, or at the Burnaby public library.

Russell, Peter H. Canada’s Odyssey: A Country Based on Incomplete Conquests. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017. Available at the Vancouver public library.

Tait, Myra, and Kiera Ladner, eds. Surviving Canada: Indigenous Peoples Celebrate 150 Years of Betrayal. Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2017. Available at the Vancouver and Burnaby public libraries.

Urquhart, Jane. A Number of Things: Stories About Canada Told Through 50 Objects. 1st Edition edition. Toronto, Ontario: Patrick Crean Editions, 2016. Available at the Vancouver and Burnaby public libraries.

Analyses of commemoration in historical context

These texts are not specific to Canada150, but provide historical context to our celebrations. Note that most of them are written by settlers of European ancestry. I can also recommend readings on specific incidences of commemoration and representations of the past in Canadian history.

Conrad, Margaret, Gerald Friesen, Jocelyn Létourneau, D. A. Muise, Peter C. Seixas, David A. Northrup, and Kadriye Ercikan. Canadians and Their Pasts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013. At SFU and BPL.

Gordon-Walker, Caitlin. Exhibiting Nation: Multicultural Nationalism (and Its Limits) in Canada’s Museums. Vancouver ; Toronto: UBC Press, 2016. SFU e-book.

Hayday, Mathew, and Raymond B. Blake, eds. Celebrating Canada: Holidays, National Days, and the Crafting of Identities. University of Toronto Press, 2016. SFU e-book and at VPL.

MacMillan, Margaret. The Uses and Abuses of History. Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2009. At SFU, VPL, and BPL.

Morgan, Cecilia Louise. Commemorating Canada: History, Heritage, and Memory, 1850s-1990s. Themes in Canadian History 14. Toronto ; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 2016. At SFU and VPL.

Neatby, Nicole, and Peter Hodgins. Settling and Unsettling Memories: Essays in Canadian Public History. Toronto ; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 2012. At SFU library.

Sandwell, Ruth, ed. To the Past: History Education, Public Memory, and Citizenship in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. At SFU and BPL.

Truth and Reconciliation, Indigenous histories, and Decolonization

This is a small selection of the available books on this topic; I've chosen the four that I'm most excited to read this year. 

Manuel, Arthur. Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call. Toronto: Between the Lines, 2015. At SFU, VPL, and BPL.

Simpson, Leanne, ed. Lighting the Eighth Fire: The Liberation, Resurgence, and Protection of Indigenous Nations. 1 edition. Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2008. At SFU and VPL.

Sinclair, Murray, Chief Wilton Littlechild, and Dr Marie Wilson. What We Have Learned: Principles of Truth and Reconciliation. Original edition. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015. Available online through SFU.

Vowel, Chelsea. Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Issues in Canada. HighWater Press, 2016. At SFU, VPL, and BPL.

Just for Fun

Fun fact: A surprising number of cookbooks turn up in the search results for "Canada 150" on Amazon. None of them have anything to do with Canada 150.

Covello, Paul, and Leor Boshi. Canada 150 Colouring Book. Collins, 2016. No drawing in library books! But you can buy your own copy.

Sherk, Lawrence C., and Ian Coutts. 150 Years of Canadian Beer Labels. Victoria, BC: TouchWood Editions, 2016. At VPL and BPL.