“Canadians rightly balked at American President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Canada become the 51st state. Fortunately, Victoria historian Graeme Menzies has sidelined that suggestion with his latest history of Captains James Cook, George Vancouver, and others who sailed to our shores in the late 18th century. Thanks to them, he explains, we remain thoroughly Canadian.” Ron Verzuh reviews Trading Fate: How a Little-Known Company Stopped British Columbia from Becoming an American State, by Graeme Menzies (Victoria: Heritage House, 2025) $29.95 / 9781772035483
“Its politicized association with the federal Liberals caused the policy’s death in British Columbia, the jurisdiction which had initially been a global pioneer in action against climate change. What had initially been a philosophically conservative motion spurred on by the visible dangers of climate change was cynically adopted to offset the distrustful image of an unpopular prime minister.” Matthew Downey reviews The Carbon Tax Question: Clarifying Canada’s Most Consequential Policy Debate, by Thomas F. Pedersen (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2024) $26.95 / 9781990776977
Please take a moment to contribute to our annual fundraiser at The British Columbia Review. In our 2024 campaign we raised $14,000 from 158 donors, which represents about a quarter of our income, the rest coming from grants, advertising, and partnerships. I hope we can equal that amount again this year. A big thank you to those who have already donated.
“Over and over, Joseph reminds us that reconciliation is not a vague or amorphous concept that can only be resolved through the judicial system. It is a process which can be realized by taking tangible, definite steps towards recognizing and respecting Indigenous peoples’ right to make decisions about their own communities.” Kate Gunn reviews 21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government, by Bob Joseph (Vancouver: Page Two Books, 2025) $24.95 / 9781774586273
“In Humans, Finkel leads us through a breathtaking sweep of 300,000 years of human history. He starts with early hunter and gatherer societies that, being egalitarian, co-operative, and peaceful, reflected intrinsic human nature. Those societies, he continues, have much to teach us.” Robin Fisher reviews Humans: The 300,000-Year Struggle for Equality, by Alvin Finkel (Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 2025) $25.95 / 9781459419544
“The challenge in creating the exhibition Eating Bitterness: The Canadian Journey from Exclusion to Inclusion was to develop a temporary travelling exhibition which tells the story of the Chinese Exclusion Act in an original, more hopeful way. At the same time, we wanted to raise awareness of the barriers that are faced by the Chinese Canadian community and other communities that need to be overcome.” Christine Cheung reflects on the Eating Bitterness: The Canadian Journey from Exclusion to Inclusion exhibition, currently at the Victoria Chinatown Museum until October 26.
“As an educator and researcher, I see Indigenomics as a necessary text for anyone working in reconciliation, governance, business, or education. Hilton challenges us to move beyond tokenism and toward meaningful economic inclusion. ‘Indigenomics is an invitation to align economic practice with understanding how the universe and humanity interact.'” Doctoral candidate Amy Tucker reviews Indigenomics: Taking a Seat at the Economic Table, by Carol Anne Hilton (Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers, 2021) $21.99 / 9780865719408
“Author George Abbott meticulously researched this disturbing political past to shed light on that legacy as governments and First Nations continue the quest for truth and reconciliation partly through land claims negotiations.” Ron Verzuh reviews Unceded: Understanding British Columbia’s Colonial Past and Why It Matters Now, by George M. Abbott (Vancouver: UBC Press [Purich Books], 2025) $29.95 / 9780774881159
“In his debut memoir, A Precarious Enterprise: Making a Life in Canadian Publishing, Scott McIntyre invites readers into the various corners of Canadian publishing. He revisits his early days at McClelland & Stewart … before outlining the tumultuous beginnings, storied ups and downs of growth, and eventually the ending of his own publishing house—Douglas & McIntyre.” Natalie Virginia Lang reviews A Precarious Enterprise: Making a Life in Canadian Publishing (Toronto: ECW Press, 2025) $39.95 / 9781770418196
“The strength of Martin’s book, and its value as an analysis of the Canadian experience in Afghanistan, is in the way that he personifies the political experience of the Afghan war through his anecdotes. There is a point where he elucidates the three circles of power in Afghanistan – the first being the local power brokers and warlords, the second being the government of the democratic regime, and the third being the international forces.” Matthew Downey reviews Unwinnable Peace: Untold Stories of Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan, by Tim Martin (New Westminster: Tidewater Press, 2024) $24.95 / 9781990160349
“Catherine Clement’s new book, The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act, and the commemorative exhibition that preceded it, takes an unflinching look at the inter-generational impact of the ‘…fanatical documentation [which] reached its apex with the passing of the federal 1923 Chinese Immigration Act.'” May Q. Wong reviews The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act, by Catherine Clement (Oakville: Plumleaf Press, 2025) $59.95 / 9781069093516
“Her garments are not mere adornments; they are declarations of cultural pride, visual manifestations of a living tradition.” Amy Tucker reviews Dorothy Grant: An Endless Thread, by Dorothy Grant (in collaboration with the Haida Gwaii Museum) (Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2024) $50 / 9781773272412
“It identified approximately where Frederich Trump’s Arctic Hotel/restaurant/brothel had been located in 1901. The Arctic had originally been built in Bennett, BC, but when the railroad was completed to Whitehorse in 1900, he dismantled the hotel, moved the lumber to Whitehorse along with all the fixings and rebuilt on a waterfront location facing the White Pass depot and the Yukon River.” Yukon Story Laureate John Firth writes about the connection between an old BC/Yukon business venture and the current president of the United States
“Pentecostal Preacher Woman is meticulous in historical detail, with 31 pages of end notes, a bibliography, and index. Each chapter begins with a summary and ends with an analysis of the chapter. Ambrose’s introduction is thorough: she provides the overview of Gerard’s trajectory from her early life in a dysfunctional (her words) family to her death as a respected and honoured Pentecostal.” Wendy Burton reviews Pentecostal Preacher Woman: The Faith and Feminism of Bernice Gerard, by Linda M. Ambrose (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2024) $37.95 / 9780774870245
“Mather, who has worked at Fort Edmonton and Barkerville and in 1984 became manager and curator of the Historic O’Keefe Ranch, is well placed to write on his subject. He is able to draw on the O’Keefe archives and his O’Keefe family contacts, including the Indigenous descendants, to assemble a highly detailed account.” Ian Pooley reviews The O’Keefes of O’kanagan: The Families of O’Keefe Ranch, by Ken Mather (Victoria: Heritage House, 2025) $34.95 / 9781772035377
“But make no mistake—the incorporation into federal and British Columbia laws of the principles of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the recent recognition of Haida title and the Heiltsuk establishment of a constitution are not merely rumblings. They and other recent events represent a tectonic shift that will have profound legal and social implications. The results need not be catastrophic, as some might fear, but they will certainly be disruptive.” Richard Butler reviews Indigenous Intellectual Property: An Interrupted Intergenerational Conversation by Val Napoleon, Rebecca Johnson, Richard Overstall and Debra McKenzie (eds.) (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2024) $32.95 / 9781487558222 & Creating Indigenous Property: Power, Rights and Relationships by Angela Cameron, Sari Graben and Val Napoleon (eds.)(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020) $45.95 / 9781487523824
“Milk Into Cheese brings cheesemaking to life, with Asher’s passion for teaching and his engaging style. Whether or not one agrees with his approach, these pages offer plenty of fodder for contemplation, especially regarding the politics of cheese, ideas that will hopefully spark discussion.” Trish Bowering reviews Milk Into Cheese: The Foundations of Natural Cheesemaking Using Traditional Concepts, Tools, and Techniques, by David Asher (New York: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2024) $75 / 9781603588874
“This book is a tool kit, neither poetry, nor the story inversions that alleviate the pain of living in post-colonial society, but a logical overview from a sympathetic perspective.” Linda Rogers reviews Indigenous Rights in One Minute: What You Need to Know to Talk Reconciliation by Bruce McIvor (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, Nightwood Editions, 2025) $22.95 / 9780889714885
“Adam Jones’s book can help each of us in reaching a principled position, in articulating it, and in understanding why others might rationally have arrived at and articulated a different view.” Richard Butler reviews Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction (4th ed.), by Adam Jones (New York: Routledge, 2024) $61.99 / 9781032028101
“The newspapers of our day seem to be in disarray, crumbling from lack of readers and funding. Struggling to continue while the government attempts to step in and help. There is always apprehension when a powerful organization steps in offering financial assistance since news organizations know there is usually a caveat.” Jeffrey Stychin reviews Tomorrow’s News: How to Fix Canada’s Media, by Marc Edge (Vancouver: New Star Books, 2024) $21 / 9781554202140
