A vast and diverse country whose very legitimacy is questioned by some of its people, under constant threat of cultural assimilation by an extraordinarily powerful neighbour, yet deemed by the U.N. to be one of the best places on the planet to live, Canada at times seems a paradox even to itself. For anyone wanting to understand its contradictions, A Little History of Canada offers innumerable clues. From the First Nations that had to adapt to a challenging physical environment to French and British invaders who, in the course of their competition for control, established colonies across a vast continent; through integration of those colonies into a national federation; and down to the volatile political order that has emerged in the last sixty years, Nelles describes a dynamic country that is constantly emerging, adjusting, and redefining itself.
This lively and opinionated little history is an indispensable introduction to the nation that is Canada today.