The Century That Made Us: Canada 1814-1914

This is a fascinating series of reflections on the changing attitudes of Canadians that accompanied the many political, social, technological, and cultural developments in the hundred years between the War of 1812 and the Great War. Drawing fresh perceptions of the period from the immense amount of reading he did for this book, George Woodcock discusses the War of 1812 in myth and actuality; class; the effects of both Tory and radical trends in thought and action; attitudes to women and to the native peoples; relations between English and French; immigration; transportation and the experience of the land; and finally the mystique of the land and how it led painters and writers towards a genuine Canadian tradition. His observations and insights are firmly related to people of the time by means of vivid quotations from contemporary writings.