Award-winning author Donald Creighton was a Red Ensign nationalist and firm supporter of the British Empire. At the time of writing this book, in 1970, he had come to believe that Canada was a lost cause. When everyone else was celebrating Canada's centennial, he was busy writing his own lament for a nation. Canada's First Century paints a large and complex canvas of historical rise and fall: a great transcontinental nation is built, but it is eventually
undone as Canada turns its back on the British Empire and embraces a continental role alongside the United States. A courageous and contentious book for its day - Creighton is intensely anti-American and highly
critical of Quebec nationalism - it was met with criticism, but, as Donald Wright points out, Canada's First Century initially outsold Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex and, for a time, even the Bible.
A beautifully written, in-depth introduction by Donald Wright explores Creighton's larger understanding of Canadian history, his preoccupation with Canada's role in the Empire, and his major contribution to economics and geography as a key
feature of history.
Table of Contents:
Introduction to the Wynford Edition List of Illustrations 1: Confederation and Expansion 2: National Decisions 3: Time of Troubles 4: A Nation on Trial 5: The End of Colonial Security 6: The Consequences of Success 7: The Great Divide 8: Unrest and Dissent 9: The Mackenzie King Millennium 10: The Crash 11: The Politics of Evasion 12: The Return to Colonial Status 13: The Rule of the Professionals 14: Point of No Return 15: Obscure Destiny Epilogue: Ottawa, 1967 Books for Further Reading Index
