The Promised Land
Settling the West 1896-1914
1st Edition
Published on 10. August 2011
400 pages
978-0-385-67366-2 (ISBN)
Description
"Berton has made an invaluable contribution, rendering the grand Canadian adventure more readable than any detective story." -The Vancouver Sun
This is the final chapter in Pierre Berton's epic retelling of the opening of the Canadian West in the years following Confederation. After the pioneers, surveyors and entrepreneurs came the settlers-a million people lured by government propaganda, ruthless boosterism and Utopian visions of a Promised Land. The West that we know today, with its distinctive personality, its unorthodox politics, its suspicion of Central Canada, was formed in the crucible of these tempestuous years.
The reader is plunged in the centre of the action, mingling with Nellie McClung, the flamboyant suffragette; R.B. Bennett, the future prime minister; Mackenzie and Mann, railway builders; J.S. Woodsworth, the socialist saint; and other colourful characters. Above all, the author looks objectively at the record of Clifford Sifton, the Liberal Minister of the Interior and the man responsible for the country's immigration policy. Using neglected archival sources, Berton questions the accepted view of Sifton's sudden resignation from the cabinet and provides, for the first time, a wealth of material detailing the major scandals within Sifton's department.
This is the final chapter in Pierre Berton's epic retelling of the opening of the Canadian West in the years following Confederation. After the pioneers, surveyors and entrepreneurs came the settlers-a million people lured by government propaganda, ruthless boosterism and Utopian visions of a Promised Land. The West that we know today, with its distinctive personality, its unorthodox politics, its suspicion of Central Canada, was formed in the crucible of these tempestuous years.
The reader is plunged in the centre of the action, mingling with Nellie McClung, the flamboyant suffragette; R.B. Bennett, the future prime minister; Mackenzie and Mann, railway builders; J.S. Woodsworth, the socialist saint; and other colourful characters. Above all, the author looks objectively at the record of Clifford Sifton, the Liberal Minister of the Interior and the man responsible for the country's immigration policy. Using neglected archival sources, Berton questions the accepted view of Sifton's sudden resignation from the cabinet and provides, for the first time, a wealth of material detailing the major scandals within Sifton's department.
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09/2002
Random House USA Inc
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Person
Pierre Berton was one of Canada's most popular and prolific authors. From narrative histories and popular culture, to picture and coffee table books to anthologies, to stories for children to readable, historical works for youth, many of his fifty books are now Canadian classics.
Born in 1920 and raised in the Yukon, Pierre Berton worked in Klondike mining camps during his university years. He spent four years in the army, rising from private to captain/instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston. He spent his early newspaper career in Vancouver, where at 21 he was the youngest city editor on any Canadian daily. He wrote columns for and was editor of Maclean's magazine, appeared on CBC's public affairs program "Close-Up" and was a permanent fixture on "Front Page Challenge" for 39 years. He was a columnist and editor for the Toronto Star and was a writer and host of a series of CBC programs.
Pierre Berton received over 30 literary awards including the Governor-General's Award for Creative Non-Fiction (three times), the Stephen Leacock Medal of Humour, and the Gabrielle Leger National Heritage Award. He received two Nellies for his work in broadcasting, two National Newspaper awards, and the National History Society's first award for "distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history." For his immense contribution to Canadian literature and history, he was awarded more than a dozen honourary degrees, is a member of the Newsman's Hall of Fame, and is a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Pierre Berton passed away in Toronto on November 30, 2004.
Born in 1920 and raised in the Yukon, Pierre Berton worked in Klondike mining camps during his university years. He spent four years in the army, rising from private to captain/instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston. He spent his early newspaper career in Vancouver, where at 21 he was the youngest city editor on any Canadian daily. He wrote columns for and was editor of Maclean's magazine, appeared on CBC's public affairs program "Close-Up" and was a permanent fixture on "Front Page Challenge" for 39 years. He was a columnist and editor for the Toronto Star and was a writer and host of a series of CBC programs.
Pierre Berton received over 30 literary awards including the Governor-General's Award for Creative Non-Fiction (three times), the Stephen Leacock Medal of Humour, and the Gabrielle Leger National Heritage Award. He received two Nellies for his work in broadcasting, two National Newspaper awards, and the National History Society's first award for "distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history." For his immense contribution to Canadian literature and history, he was awarded more than a dozen honourary degrees, is a member of the Newsman's Hall of Fame, and is a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Pierre Berton passed away in Toronto on November 30, 2004.
