“History in B.C. grows profusely and luxuriantly, but with odd undergrowth,” observed historian J.M.S. Careless many years ago.
This claim is fully borne out in Home Truths: Highlights from BC History—an impressive anthology co-edited by Richard Mackie and Graeme Wynn.
Drawing from some of the province’s most distinguished historians, geographers and writers, the articles featured in the book have been gleaned from over forty years of British Columbia’s leading scholarly journal, BC Studies.
The Museum at Campbell River will host author and editor Mackie on Saturday, March 9, from 1-3 p.m. Mackie will discuss the book ‘Home Truths’.
This collection includes eleven fascinating articles from prominent historical authors with a deep appreciation of British Columbia history, including Jean Barman, George Bowring and Cole Harris.
The “truths” uncovered in the essays are often unpleasant but undeniable realities that have become a part of B.C.’s historical tapestry.
These articles cover a broad array of subjects from exploring life in a logging camp to failed utopias to fly fishing and colonialism on Pennask Lake to race relations in Victoria’s Chinatown and the eviction of the Sto:lo people from Kitsilano and Stanley Park.
Human geography has profoundly influenced the evolution of the province, particularly our understanding of “home”.
Mackie is the author of Trading Beyond the Mountains: The British Fur Trade on the Pacific, 1793-1843 (UBC Press, 1997), Island Timber: A Social History of the Comox Logging Company, Vancouver Island (Sono Nis Press, 2000), and Mountain Timber: The Comox Logging Company in the Vancouver Island Mountains (Sono Nis Press, 2009). Mackie lives in Vancouver, B.C., where he is Associate Editor of BC Studies.
The cost for the talk is $6.
Call the Museum at 250-287-3103 to register.