Who Killed Canadian History?

by J.L. Granatstein

[brokentune]

Who Killed Canadian History? was my airplane read on the the way home from a course the other week. I don't know why but I always manage to read non-fiction much better when stuck on a plane or in an airport.

The title raised a couple of interested looks from passers-by. Unfortunately, none commented. Unfortunately because the book has the interesting topic of whether Canadian history is at risk of being forgotten because of the prevalence of the US media and its focus on US history as well as a tendency within the Canadian education system to focus on the history of minorities or specialist aspects in history rather than on a general history of Canada.

Of course, my knowledge of Canada and its history is pretty non-existent and I have no intention to weigh in on Granatstein's argument. However, I did find his book interesting in that it is easy to follow, thorough, and provoking thoughts about how history, not only in Canada, is recorded and taught.

Parts of it reminded me of Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death but this was more in relation to the style of argument which is easy to follow but still conveys a lot of information.
I loved that I actually learned a few things along the way, too.

So, in short I have no idea whether Granatstein's argument is valid but it did make for entertaining and educational reading.