A History of Canada in Ten Maps: Epic Stories of Charting a Mysterious Land

An outstanding book by Canada's modern-day explorer Adam Shoalts.
Told in chapter fashion focused on ten significant maps and the "map makers" who created them, this book provides a unique overview of the scope of Canada's geography, First Nations hereditary lands, the European and Canadian adventurers and map makers that charted the breadth of this fantastic land.
As a dedicated student of history, I knew of many of these stories, but they are told compellingly by Shoalts who packs significant detail and insights into each story and taught me a great deal that I did not know.
I found the book very interesting and it compelled me to power through in a few evenings. It also led me to make notes and consult the excellent bibliographic show more notations that he provides to create a list of further reading adventures.
One example is the brief but tantalizing mention of Dr. John Rae, the Orkney-born Hudson's Bay Company surgeon who worked ten years in the Arctic and discovered the fate of the Franklin crew and reported it back to England. Although the mention is brief, it struck a note of inquiry with me and sent me off to further explore the work of this little-publicized (in Canadian History at least) explorer who adopted many methods of the Inuit to ensure his survival in Canada's punishing north.
Shoalts' writing shines new light on little-known aspects of this nation's history for those that are hungry enough to follow the trails of the many facts that he so beautifully seeds his chapters with.
A terrific book about Canada! show less

Who would have thought that a history of Canada told through its geography and cartography would be so compelling. The history of Canada is told from the Vikings to Sir John Franklin with each chapter concentrating on a particular map and its history. Well known
explorers such as Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Samuel Hearne and David Thompson inhabit the stories. The hardships these men faced, their collaboration with indigenous peoples, the physical exertion, starvation and other deprivations in order to map the country is fascinating. A favourite would have to be Champlain whose leadership, intelligence, map making skills and willingness to work with indigenous peoples allowed for major inroads into the Canadian interior.
I read show more the e-book version which really limited my ability to reference the maps in the annexes. show less

Shoalts' book is the story of the explorers who braved the most incredible dangers and hardships to travel through the early Canadian wilderness and document what they saw in their journals and maps. Some of the names such as Champlain, Cartier and David Thompson are well known. Not so much are Samuel Hearne and Peter Pond.

The opening chapter is about the Vikings and their many voyages to the west that eventually led them to set up a colony in Newfoundland. This is followed by the incredible trips of Champlain followed by the rise and fall of New France. After covering the attempts by the USA to take British North American at the end of a gun, Shoalts tells us of the incredible trek by Samuel Hearne up the Coppermine River. Following show more chapters cover Alexander Mackenzie's trips up the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean followed by his voyage to the Pacific Ocean making him the first white man to cross North America about eight years before the more famous Lewis and Clarke did it. He follows this with chapters that tell the story of David Thompson, the effect on Canada's borders of the War of !812 and the disastrous expeditions of John Franklin.

Each chapter is centered on a map that was made in the period being describe copies of which are included for the reader to decipher. This is an extremely readable account of the early explorers expeditions. It is also a major tribute to the contributions of the Indigenous people who traveled with these explorers often saving them from starvation and freezing to death. Most of these men were successful because they recognized the extraordinary knowledge the Indigenous were willing to share and took their advice and learned the native languages. One exception was John Franklin who looked down on the natives as savages and he and his men paid with their lives. show less

I love exploring and this was a great read to see how early explorers made Canada what it is!

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