Welcome to Litsy!

this book was very good in its second half. It starts new stories and finishes the old ones. Even though it is an anthology book, it does have a theme. Its theme is exploration. Each story is about different people exploring the unknown in Canadas wilderness. If you enjoy historical books or adventure books then this is the boat for you.

A history of Canada in ten maps is very good in its first half. It tells the story of the Vikings first travelling to Canada, Cartier's first expedition to Canada, and Champlain founding Quebec. The book is told in first person, with the author telling you about the history in his own words. If you like books that teach you history or you just want to learn more about the discovery of Canada, then this is the book for you.

After the disappointment that was Icebound, this book delivered. Shoalts charts the history of Canadian exploration from the Vikings in Newfoundland, Europeans like Cabot and Cartier searching for the northwest passage to fur traders mapping the interior and Alexander Mackenzie and finally, Sir John Franklin‘s first overland expedition to map the arctic coast. He also touches on the American invasion of Canada in 1812, something not oft discussed.

“Canada” is a changing thing, something that exists in our imaginations. It could be home to frost giants or sasquatchs, to unicorns or ostriches.

Minor factual inaccuracies like this bother me (Nova Scotia is latin), and kind of make me wonder about the rest of the information in this book, which I was really enjoying. #argh

That last land, Norumbega, didn‘t technically exist. But when planning grand colonizing ventures, one must not let minor details about whether such and such a place actually exists stand in the way of history.