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202 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW A Historyof Alberta.JAMES A.MACGREGOR. Edmonton, Hurtig, x97e.P. 335, maps,illus.$xo.oo. Asa readerof Dr MacGregor's previous histories mightexpect, thisisa workmanlikeand competent history of Alberta,a history from the daysof white discovery oftheregion to x97x.It isfrequently morethanmerely workmanlike, for it doesquietlygivethe colour,movement, and restless aspiration of that mostdifferentof theprovinces of Canada. In thisreview,however, it isnecessary toexpress regretthatthebookentirely lacksfootnotes andbibliography. No doubttheauthorandpublisher discounted that criticism. Butit ismorethanan academic criticism, it istheexpression of regretat a failure to makea goodbookall it might havebeen.It is surely timeto discard theoldfearthat thepublicdislikes scholarly apparatus. I suspect the publicis far more criticaland sophisticated than publishers know. Certainlythisbookwill bereadby manywith thecarethatwoulddeserve to knowthe evidence and opinionfrom whichthe authorwrote.By contrast, Lillian Wonders' mapsareclear,strong, andinformative. The Historyis written with insightaswell ascare.It revealsto thisreader that the difference that makes AlbertaAlbertais that it possesses, unlikeany otherCanadianprovince,a north-south, and not an east-west, axis.From that simple,basicfact muchof its historyderives, and perhaps its maverickcharacter .The Historyin a naturaland unforcedway givesadequateplaceto the Indian in Albertanhistory, todayaswell asyesterday. Albertans redandwhite havealwaysbeenconscious of that place,and are fortunatein recallinga past unmarked by neglectand,evenworse,forgetfulness. Lastly,the Historygives a domestic version, intimate,kindly,and serenely cynical,of the fifty yearsof apoliticalpolitics Albertachose to have,an experience whicharoseout of its pastand no doubtwill conditionits future. Dr MacGregor hasa notable measure of success in tracingthe greatand rapidtransformation of a fluid society from an economy essentially primary to onebecoming moreandmoresecondary, andfroma society predominantly ruralto oneevermoreurban.It isa greatstory, welltraced,andof manyimplications for Canadian history. The perception of thenorth-south axisandtheconsequence of thequizzical Albertan viewof politics makethishistory alsoa book.The latterisperhaps the final comment on the natureof Albertanpolitics, completely populistic, withoutcheck of tradition or constitution. The publicattitudetowardpolitics andpoliticians becomes sosceptical thathonesty andcompetence in a politician areheldto berare,leading, byinversion, tosomething notremote fromsecular canonization, as in Dr MacGregor'swell-warrantedassessment of Mr Manning . Viewed as a provincialhistorywhichis alsoa goodbook,the Historyo[ Albertapointsto the needto complete the rosterof histories of the Canadian provinces-at leastof thosewhichare truly provinces and not, asare Ontario REVIEWS 203 and Quebec,provinces withoutprovincialhistories because eachliveswith a visionof the past,cloudedby cultural and economic imperialisms that have little to dowith provincehood, orwith today. W.L. MORTON Trent University The Twentiesin WesternCanada.Papersof the WesternCanadianStudies Conference, March •972. Editedby s.M.TROFIM•.N•ZOFF. Ottawa,HistoryDivision ,NationalMuseumof Man, I972. PP.vi, 259.$2.95. This publication is a testimony to the rapid expansion of Canadianhistorydepartments overthelastfewyears. Eachof thetenpapers dealswith thedecade of the •92os;sevenof themare on topicsfrom the historyof the prairieprovinces .Sucha concentration on a decadeof regionalhistorywould have been impossible a few years ago. This volumealsoattests to the highlevelof scholarship of junior historians. The sources rangewidely,theresearch isthorough, andtheanalysis clear.Politicalhistory isstillthemajorinterest, if these papers arerepresentative, but the scope of politicalhistoryhasbeenbroadened to includepressure groupsand socialstructures. It would be misleading to fall backon the reviewer's clichd aboutthequalitybeinguneven because thedifferences areless remarkable than the consistently highlevelof scholarship. It isalsopossible, however, to discern someof the limitations of the trainingin moderngraduateschools. Eachpaper dealswith a limited topic- the One Big Union, the Co-operative Union, the PeaceMovement,the defeatof prohibitionin Manito,ba,the Ku Klux Klan in Saskatchewan, French-language education,politicalregionsin Alberta, the career of T.A. Crerar, the western farmer in Canadian literature, and antiOriental prejudicein BritishColumbia.The authorsknowa greatdeal about their subject, but theyare lessconfident whentheytry to placetheir topicin the perspective of westernCanadiansociety, in the decade.The meticulous footnoting ofevery detail, somuch apartofour•,HI• training, seems to'inhibit generalizations. Readerswill missthe stimulatingcomments of an Underhill on Jeffersonian democracy or of a Macpherson on a quasi-colonial community. It is not easy to seeanypatternwhichencompasses theaberration of theo}•t•andthenaivety of thepeacemovement with the pragmatism of the Wheat Poolsandthe ModerationLeague ,or with the nativismof the Klan and the attackson Frenchlanguage schools. Obviously the westwasnot a homogeneous regionand the decade wasnot a clearly-defined era.Thesepapersdo undermine over-simplified generalizations and soare a significant contribution to westernhistory. Thereislittle to suggest, however, that youngscholars areconcerned with more sophisticated interpretations of thewestasa region.Theyavoidanyassessment of the significance of theirtopicfor western history or theyacknowledge the problem almost asan afterthought in the finalparagraph. If thisisto be the ...

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