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150 years after Confederation, Canada is known around the world for its social diversity and its commitment to principles of multiculturalism. But the road to contemporary Canada is a winding one, a story of division and conflict as well as union and accommodation.
In Canada’s Odyssey, renowned scholar Peter H. Russell provides an expansive, accessible account of Canadian history from the pre-Confederation period to the present day. By focusing on what he calls the "three pillars" of English Canada, French Canada, and Aboriginal Canada, Russell advances an important view of our country as one founded on and informed by "incomplete conquests." It is the very incompleteness of these conquests that have made Canada what it is today, not just a multicultural society but a multinational one.
Featuring the scope and vivid characterizations of an epic novel, Canada’s Odyssey is a magisterial work by an astute observer of Canadian politics and history, a perfect book to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
In Canada’s Odyssey, renowned scholar Peter H. Russell provides an expansive, accessible account of Canadian history from the pre-Confederation period to the present day.
- Imprint: University of Toronto Press
- Published: May 2017
- Pages: 544
Peter H. Russell is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto.>
"The value of Canada’s Odyssey is that it requires very little of the reader in advance. It offers an open and accessible path and, although it may appear somewhat daunting (given its length of 500 pages), it is a very enjoyable and engaging read. In its writing style, the book manages to walk a line somewhere between academic and popular history, which is a challenging line for any author. The informality of its tone combined with the sheer scope and detail of the project serves to reach and hold the attention of a diverse set of readers. … [A]nyone looking for some way to mark Canada’s sesquicentennial would do well to read this book."
Joshua Nichols
Literary Review of Canada, July/August 2017
"Peter Russell has been teaching Canadian constitutional politics since the 1950s at the University of Toronto and he has given us the benefit of a lifetime’s scholarship and engagement in this brilliant book. It is thoughtful, incisively written and as accessible an account as one will ever find about our country’s political and legal history. Many books are called ‘indispensable;’ this one certainly rates that description."
Bob Rae, Canada’s History, February-March, 2018
"Canada’s Odyssey is worth reading..."
Garth Stevenson
The Canadian Historical Review Vol 99:2: June 2018
"The political scientist Peter Russell…is known for his sensitive and searching work on Canada’s indigenous communities… "
Andrew Stark
The New York Review of Books, Vol. 65, no. 12
"In Canada’s Odyssey, Peter Russell shows a different configuration of conquest, cession, and constitutions…Historians should heed its message…"
Elizabeth Mancke
earlycanadianhistory.ca
"This is a monumental achievement – one that will undoubtedly influence the debate over the nature of Canada itself."
Nicole C. O'Byrne
earlycanadianhistory.ca
"Hopefully Russell’s work can serve as a reminder of how far historiography of politics and society in pre-Confederation Canada has come, but also, of how far it has to go."
Donald Fyson
earlycanadianhistory.ca
"Writing an odyssey is a colossal feat, which Peter Russell has indeed accomplished in Canada’s Odyssey. Russell’s most recent exploration into Canadian political history reflects his decades of experience with Canadian constitutionalism in a time when the multinational and multicultural nature of the Canadian project is propelling a necessary revision of [Canada’s] ‘myths of origin.’"
Tracie Lea Scott, Heriot-Watt University
British Journal of Canadian Studies
"Lucid and lively, Canada’s Odyssey is both a joy to read and also a provocative story about a country that has been and continues to be an unfinished project. The tone is friendly, the prose is free of jargon — but Professor Russell’s hand is firm on the tiller. This is Big History: the distillation of fifty years of scholarship written for a contemporary popular audience. The author gives the three founding peoples their due, while recognizing some of the uglier chapters in the past and also the rapidly shifting demographics of today. He explains how nothing was inevitable as Canada took shape; successive governments relied on incremental change and accommodation to absorb the complexity and diversity of this country. This has allowed Canadians to develop the institutions and compromises required to become not a homogenous nation but a mutually respectful people who, for the most part, peacefully share the grandeur of our extraordinary land"
Charlotte Gray, C.M., adjunct professor at Carleton University and author of 'The Promise of Canada: 150 Years' — 'People And Ideas That Have Shaped Our Country'
"Canada’s Odyssey is a remarkable achievement. Peter H. Russell weaves together his robust knowledge of Canadian history and government in an accessible and inviting read. Canada’s Odyssey is ideal for those scholars, students, and general readers who long to be better informed about our country."
Kent McNeil, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
"Russell's book provides a seminal and deep insight into Canada's political identity. His magisterial political analysis of how and why ‘compromise’ usurped 'conquest' makes this must read book a new and compelling take on the evolution of our nation"
The Hon. Hugh Segal, OC, O.Ont, Master, Massey College
Winner - John T. Saywell Prize for Canadian Constitutional Legal History
Winner - 2018 Donald Smiley Prize