Envisioning the mysterious land that would eventually be called
"Canada" through the eyes of the explorers who first set foot on these
shores, A History of Canada in Ten Maps brings our stories to life.
Every map tells a story, and every map has a purpose: inviting us to go
somewhere we've never been. It is an account of what we know, but also a
trace of what we long for. Like a story, a map is never completely
objective. It records special interests and agendas. It leaves important
things unsaid even as it purports to lay things out clearly and
indisputably. We can know our history by our maps.
That is what A History of Canada in Ten Maps will do. This book
chronicles not just the centuries of Canada's existence; it conjures the
world as it appeared to those who were called upon to map it. What would
the new world look like to Jacques Cartier, who could see no farther
than the treeline? What would the north have looked like to Martin
Frobisher, confronting a sea of ice but imagining that Cathay lay just
beyond? What would the vastness of the country look like to a surveyor
or railroad engineer (or an investor in Great Britain)? And what rival
claims to the land were left off all these maps?
Historical maps may tell only part of the story, but they also tell us
volumes about what we didn't know, and hint at what we may have
preferred go unrecorded. A History of Canada in Ten Maps will tell the
story of the creators of these maps, and also recount how they used the
maps for their own ends. It is a book that will surprise readers, and
reveal the Canada we never knew was hidden. It will bring to life the
characters and the disputes that forged our history, by showing us what
the world looked like before it entered the history books. Combining
storytelling, cartography, geography, and of course history, this book
will show us Canada in a way we've never seen it before.