Douglas Hunter The Vikings are back in North America, athough in truth they’ve been with us since at least the eighteenth century, when the Vinland sagas began to fuel speculation about the lands Leif Eiriksson and his compatriots tried to colonize around 1000 AD. Their latest sighting is at Point Rosee in southwestern Newfoundland, where… Continue Reading
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Charmaine A. Nelson “A NEGRO WENCH, named Cloe, about thirty years old, pretty stout made, but not tall; speaks English and French, the latter not fluently. As she has taken all her own cloaths and some which did not belong to her, it is uncertain what dress she may wear. She is supposed to have… Continue Reading
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Daniel Laxer Historians tend to overlook the role of musical instruments in the Seven Years’ War. Few devote much attention to explaining how armies operated or battles played-out. Fred Anderson’s Crucible of War, for instance, does a terrific job explaining the origins and unfolding of events, but hardly assesses the experiences of soldiers on the… Continue Reading
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Denis McKim Donald Wright’s Donald Creighton: A Life in History is a splendid biography of one of English-speaking Canada’s greatest historians. The objective of this essay, which draws on Wright’s book, is twofold. First, it seeks to illuminate major aspects of Creighton’s writings on northern North America before the consolidation of Confederation, including the importance… Continue Reading
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Elizabeth Mancke & Scott See In the months since the 19 October election, Canadians – from Justin Trudeau to church groups preparing for Syrian refugees – are reasserting one of the most recognizable tropes about Canada, that the country is an international leader in humanitarian aid and an advocate for multilateral and conciliatory approaches to… Continue Reading
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Keith Grant Welcome to the first Borealia roundup of forthcoming books on early Canadian history. The list includes books scheduled for release in 2016, with information compiled from publishers’ catalogues and websites. I plan to post Part 2 later in the year to highlight Fall titles. What kinds of books made it into this preview? Works… Continue Reading
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Robert Englebert Well before digital humanities was a hot commodity and seemingly a must for every grant application, I was cutting my teeth as a grad student and inadvertently became involved in digital history. Working for my PhD supervisor, Nicole St-Onge, at the University of Ottawa, I helped manage a team that digitized over 35,000… Continue Reading
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Catharine Anne Wilson The opening pages of the diary of Benjamin Freure (1836-42) are full of hope, as he travels from England across the Atlantic with his family to start a new life. Upon reaching the backwoods of Wellington County, his tone changes as he tackles the serious business of clearing the land, raising a… Continue Reading
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Philippe Halbert En 1726, les biens terrestres de Philippe de Rigaud, marquis de Vaudreuil et gouverneur général de la Nouvelle-France, ont été inventoriés à Québec. Sa résidence, le château Saint-Louis, figurait parmi les plus somptueuses de la capitale. Parcourant les chambres, antichambres et cabinets du château, le notaire royal Jacques Barbel a dénombré des tentures… Continue Reading
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This response to Christopher Minty’s post on Loyalist Sources was composed collectively by the students of History 3403, a course at the University of New Brunswick devoted specifically to the Loyalists of the American Revolution. Their comments are summarized below by their professor Bonnie Huskins, followed by a brief postscript on the challenges and rewards of… Continue Reading
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