Reviews for Who Killed Canadian History?

The average rating for Who Killed Canadian History? based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-11-07 00:00:00 Stacey Doucet 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.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-06-29 00:00:00 Willena Robey "Do not turn immigrants loose to fend for themselves, to struggle alone to master the strange ways of a new and bewilderingly complex society. Do not tell them, do not eve imply, that they can stay East Indian, Somali, Jamaican, German, Chinese, or Chilean and succeed in Canada." (86) Occasionally having some interesting facts around Canadian History, most of the book with written by a grumpy old historian who wants to have his say on why Canada's Multicultral attitude is some sort of shield for the fact we can't write history. There was never a moment in this book where Granatstein feels the need to tell us why Canadian History is important, when, as he repeats, we are a mosaic of other cultures. I'm left with this tiny volume ranting off about unrelated subjects, then coming back in the end to tell us that Canadian history is important because what else do we have better to do? If you want to look for Canadian history, use all the sources you have. Always be aware that there are biased people and there are ways of cutting corners with the whole, entire, and complete, truth. If this book had actually been about Canadian history, or if it hadn't given up with giving statistics and other sources for bloody song lyrics for examples...maybe it could have brought back a point about the Canadian Education system and what we need to do to actual improve people's views on a country which has hardly been around long enough to dedicate one's life to. Read a history book if you want to learn. This book wont tell you anything to better yourself.