Desmond MortonRezensionen

Does what a history is supposed to do. Put you in the middle of the action surrounded by the main characters on both sides. Mission accomplished.

A book of essays and political speeches by prominent Canadians on a huge variety of Canadian values, subjects, problems and quirks. Every one was a gem. If I wasn't already proud to be a Canadian, I would feel pride at the end of this book. Almost every name was familiar and every subject close to my heart. This was a book passed to me from my book club and I broke into my fanfiction reading this month to read it because I was the fourth person to take the book and the first three readers raved about it.

Sucks all the fun out of learning Canadian history.

A workable description of the Canadian military experience in the Second World War. It is getting dated, and contains perhaps too many myths even for the time it was written. I'd recommend it as a survey book.½

It's a history book , of course and one which I believe acknowledges the American and English jingoisms. My favourite theme of Morton, however is his assertion that North Americans lost heavily in various wars until they learned to fight like Indians using terrain and surprise instead of massed attacks. One example was when the American infantry in Vietnam doggedly learned to fight in the countryside. I also picked up gems of the skirmishes between the Quebec French and what we used to call the Iroquois. A little light on the War of 1812 but as we know this is covered heavily by other authors.Swing Easy -30-

A very readable description of the Canadian soldier in the First World War, how he lived, died, fit into the big picture, and how he returned to civilian life.

An excellent brief history of the military, social and to some extent economic impacts of the First World War upon Canada. It is strongest on the military dimension, as one would expect from two military historians. It is weakest on the political and economic dimensions. It suffers from a lack of footnotes and references.½

Fight or Pay is a social history of the Canadian effort to support CEF families while their breadwinners were away in Europe during the Great War. Though all soldiers fighting overseas were eligible for a small monthly separation allowance for their families, as well as the option of providing part of their pay, typically this was not adequate support wives with children or dependent mothers. This is the story of the Canadian Patriotic Fund, a private charitable source of money that was paid out according to need by community organizers. It is also a study of how the Canada cared for its pensioners and invalids in the early part of this century.

I'll confess, I didn't finish the book, despite putting up a good fight. Morris has done some first-rate research, and lavished incredible detail on this social history. However, it was a slog to read. Maybe just the wrong time for me to do so, and as an American, perhaps just a step beyond my immediate interest. It would be more interesting, however, to contrast what Canadians and Americans created to serve their military families, invalids and pensioners.½

It's not really accessible for beginners. Morton talks to much about prime ministers and forget all about the Canadian people and their daily lives. I found it a bit biaised in favor of anglophones

A good overview of Canadian history.