Forts Of Canada

Fortification - Canada - History - Battles.

Fortification - Canada - History - Battles.

The forts at Point Levy, across from Quebec City, bear witness to the transition from classic to modern military construction, when military engineers abandoned the continuous rampart in favour of d̀etached forts'. These forts also illustrate the colonial past of Canada. Built just as the country was becoming independent, they exemplify the work of British strategists on the North American continent. This document describes the construction of these forts and thus tries to understand the ideas of their designers and builders. To accomplish this, it puts the building site in its political context, describes the working conditions of the military and civilian labourers, and outlines the repercussions of such an enterprise.

While the extent of Canada's war production effort, 1939-1945, is fairly well known to Canadians, one aspect of it has largely escaped notice. This is the construction in Canadian shipyards, from a standing start in 1941, of 402 merchant ships, most of them 10,000-ton cargo ships. On a comparative scale, it was a feat rivaling that of the United States. This book describes the technical factors involved in the design of these ships, their construction and operation. A Great Fleet of Ships explains how and why this potential merchant fleet existing at the war's end was so quickly dispersed, with Canada's merchant marine all but vanishing after 1950. Heal discusses the reasons and methods of its disposal, and also provides an insightful look at the complex subjects of marine underwriting and chartering. These are aspects of merchant shipping seldom discussed in this light.

The story of the expansion of civilization into the wilderness continues to shape perceptions of how Aboriginal people became part of nations such as Canada. Patricia McCormack subverts this narrative of modernity by examining nation building from the perspective of a northern community and its residents. Fort Chipewyan, she argues, was never an isolated Aboriginal community but a plural society at the crossroads of global, national, and local forces. By tracing the events that led its Aboriginal residents to sign Treaty No. 8 and their struggle to maintain autonomy thereafter, this groundbreaking study shows that Aboriginal peoples and others can and have become modern without relinquishing cherished beliefs and practices.

History of the settlement and development of Canada beginning with migration in prehistoric ages from Asia through to the middle of the 20th century. Links historic sites and buildings of Canada with historic themes.