Why read In the Province of History?

Book cover of In the Province of History: The Making of the Public Past in Twentieth-Century Nova Scotia

Book description

Using archival sources, novels, government reports, and works on tourism and heritage, Ian McKay and Robin Bates look at how state planners, key politicians, and cultural figures such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, long-time premier Angus L. Macdonald, and novelist Thomas Raddall were all instrumental in forming "tourism/history." The authors argue…

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Why read it?

1 author picked In the Province of History as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Gordon Campbell

Author

This book is an eye-opening account of how the history of Nova Scotia became distorted in the interest of attracting tourists. This manufactured history exalts whiteness and masculinity, and quietly excludes ethnic minorities and women. The Yarmouth runestone, which is adduced as evidence that the Norse landed in Yarmouth, is an important artefact in this ideological history, and the authors give an excellent account of its history and its place in tourist history.

From Gordon's list on the Norse in Canada.