My Country: The Remarkable Past

Pierre Berton presents a series of eighteen biographical vignettes from Canada's past. Some of these names are still widely known (Joshua Slocum, Billy Bishop, John Franklin, Blondin, etc.), others not so much but all were intriguing picks. This is the fourteenth book I've read by Berton and it feels like I inadvertently saved one of his best for nearly the last.

The Great Cross-Canada Hike: I'm sure many people have walked across Canada since just to prove something to themselves, but they'll never build up national coverage like this again.

The Pirate of the St. Lawrence: a compelling case that questions why there's a historical plaque to remember a murdering thief and arsonist instead of the woman who ratted him out to show more authorities.

Sailing Alone Around the World: I've already read Joshua Slocum's full story about his trip. This is a decent summary, plus it adds a lot of background that Slocum's memoir didn't provide.

Samuel Hearne's Epic Trek: one of the very earliest European explorers who learned valuable lessons about learning from the Inuit, a lesson that very few of his fellows would learn from him.

Billy Bishop: The Lone Hawk: the man whose record outshines even that of the Red Baron, but who somehow never achieved the same legendary status. Also, evidence for the idea that some men really do need a war in order to find their purpose.

The Strange Case of the Brother, XII: a con man who fed on his victims' almost unbelievable gullibility, winning and retaining their sanction. This message is as old as time, it's only the medium that changes.

The Last of the Red Indians: the story of the Beothuk genocide in Newfoundland. Our own European ancestors were as horrific as any other people we can name, and we'd best not forget it.

The Zeal of Charles Chiniquy: 19th century televangelist equivalent, a man banking on fame who would willingly switch religion, province or country if it served his purpose.

The Franklin Mystery: Berton revisited this story as often as the Klondike. This is perhaps his most concise coverage; for his fullest, see "The Arctic Grail".

Bloody Sunday in Vancouver: the story of Steve Brodie, who invented the "sit in" for Vancouver's unemployment protest of 1938. It lasted a month before they were violently forced out.

Ned Hanlan and the Golden Age of Sculling: Canada's first international sports hero, in the first sport to win a 'worldwide' following (Canada/USA/UK/Aust).

The First Commando Raid: story of the perfectly executed French capture of three British forts on James Bay, late 1600s.

The Mysterious Safari of Charles Bedaux: an American millionaire's nutty cross-country trip through northern British Columbia; see the documentary 'Champagne Safari' (1995).

The Man Who Invented Dan McGrew: better coverage of Robert Service than what Berton did later in "Prisoners of the North"; this time I'm tempted to go read the poetry.

The Search for Gun-an-noot: the man who successfully evaded authorities for thirteen years in a northern BC wilderness to escape a false murder charge.

Blondin Walks Niagara's Gorge: another story that Berton covers more extensively later, in "Niagara", but does a fine version of here.

The Overlanders: describing the overland route to the Cariboo gold strike in British Columbia, thirty years before the Klondike.

The Ordeal of Francois Xavier Prieur: the story of a man's Australian penal colony exile following the 2nd Lower Canada Rebellion of 1838. show less

Short descriptions of remarkable Canadians.