Forging the Prairie West

by John Herd Thompson

This second volume in the Illustrated History of Canada series relates the eventful, occasionally violent history of the three "prairie" provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta). Covering exploration as well as economic, political, and social history, it presents a detailed account of the region's importance in Canadian history.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195410491
• ISBN13: 9780195410495
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Captivating, riveting, spellbinding!!!!

This book is an absolute must-read!!! The story of the pioneers' unwavering impetus to conquer all the elements of the West was very compelling, I thought. When I read of how North American politicians and other citizens were so preoccupied with an easy election victory of William Aberhart and his Social Credit Party, I questioned what all the contention was about. Perhaps they perceived the Social Credit Party as some radical, left-wing party, and sympathizers to the Communist cause. I read this literature when I was twelve, and at that age I felt an odd obligation to study Western history, for some reason...

How informative this book was

I thought this book was very informative, although I did not find the history of the political parties during the Depression years that interesting. This book is very in depth about the Prairies political and economic history.I became annoyed at how Prairie residents are so arrogant. Toronto will always be the financial capital of Canada, not Calgary, as quoted in this book.Generally I could summarize this book as a story of the Fur Trade, western migration and farming, farmer political parties, and economics.