Book review: Polar Imperative by Shelagh D. Grant
History
Norman Bethune: Stepping forward to revolution
Extraordinary Canadians: Norman Bethune
(Penguin Canada,
2009;
$26.00)
When Norman Bethune left Montreal for Spain in 1936 to help the Republicans in their doomed effort to hold back Franco's fascists, he spoke no foreign languages and had no fixed role waiting for him. But he was among a group of determined individuals who believed "if fascism could be stopped in Spain, a larger war would not break out," and he wasted no time making himself useful. When Bethune left Madrid less than a year later, he had created and implemented a mobile blood transfusion unit, the first of its kind, that treated soldiers right at the front and drastically reduced fatalities. He was also on the verge of collapse, drinking heavily and making enemies on all sides.
History lessons: Resource management means reclaiming our environmental and fiscal futures
| May 23, 2012The Time We All Went Marching spins tales from On to Ottawa
The Time We All Went Marching
(Goose Lane Editions,
2011;
$19.95)
The last spike was driven in the transcontinental railway in 1885, satisfying a commitment made to British Columbia by the Canadian federal government. The railway would unite the Confederation, open up new lands for colonization, and provide greater access for industry and trade. Fifty years later, in June 1935, hundreds of unemployed men took to those same rails in what was dubbed the On to Ottawa Trek.
New May Day graphic novel retells old stories of struggle
May Day: A Graphic History of Protest
(Between The Lines,
2012;
$6.95)
An announcement of spring, dancing around a pole, crowning a queen, fertility rituals, assorted festivities -- joyful community celebrations of the month of May can be traced back through the ages.
Confronting Canada's colonialist past
Orienting Canada: Race, Empire, and the Transpacific
(UBC Press,
2011;
$34.95)
In Orienting Canada, John Price, professor of history at the University of Victoria focuses on 20th century racism and on Canada's role as junior partner in British and U.S. imperialism. This is a work of scholarship and an engrossing narrative that should be widely read.
Anti-Asian racism in Canada in the first half of the 20th century has been well documented. Immigrants from China, Japan, and India faced head taxes and outright prohibitions. Laws excluded Canadians of Asian origins from neighbourhoods, post-secondary education and professions. Japanese Canadians were forcibly removed from coastal areas during World War II.
