History Wire

Olympic Memories

Gordeeva and Grinkov

A disappointing pairs competition brings back memories of magic in Calgary in 1988.

comments (0)   |   February 16, 2010 4:45 PM

Silence and Remembering

In this twittering world, silence and reflection are even more precious.

comments (2)   |   November 9, 2009 12:24 PM

If You Don’t Have an Identity, Who Are You?

I have sometimes used my privileged position as editor in chief of Canada's compendious reference work, The Canadian Encyclopedia , to pronounce on that enduring Canadian debate about the “Canadian identity.” True this has never happened on a national forum (I was born in Toronto but accept that the weight of my views has become lighter in proportion to my distance from the centre—I live in ...

comments (0)   |   June 30, 2009 4:36 PM

Is Biography History?

“It is perhaps as difficlt to write a good life as it is to live one"

Biography is as old as the writing of history, as the biblical stories of Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Joseph attest. Xenophon’s Memoirs of Socrates, Plutarch’s 46 Lives and Suetonius’ Lives of the Twelve Caesars are still read today. Nevertheless, for centuries historians regarded biography as a trivial poor relation to the dignified pursuit of history. While the historian dealt with lofty surveys ...

comments (1)   |   June 11, 2009 7:36 PM

Leonard Cohen

Canadian Original: Hallelujah

So it was that Leonard Cohen entered my life when I first became entangled in the tousled threads of love.

comments (1)   |   May 7, 2009 12:19 PM

First Robin

I took this picture last spring, the day after this fellow fledged from a nest in our neighbour's trough. Robins always provoke strong feelings in me, from when I was a boy in Toronto. The first robin. Robin red breast. Such a powerful reminder of the cycles that we bury in our urban lives. This April morning in Edmonton two robins appeared on our front yard and I could not help wondering if it ...

comments (2)   |   April 22, 2009 5:31 PM

Of Narrative and Beaver Pelts

Is the history that we study the history that we read?

After reading Breastplate and Buckskin in grade 7, I did not encounter another history book until I became editor of a university textbook, called Unity in Diversity , at a Toronto publishing house. The book had four authors, three of whom wrote their sections as narratives and one of whom, Fernand Ouellet, wrote a social and economic analysis. Since two editors had gotten fired trying to get ...

comments (2)   |   February 20, 2009 3:48 PM

What's Past is Prorogue

Political developments in Ottawa these days are having one “good” effect in my milieu at least. Talk and debate about Canadian politics, and yes even Canadian history, is more vehement than at any time since the days of Meech and Charlottetown. I put “good” in quotes for a few reasons, however, as I am quite astonished at how we are supposed to navigate through serious political crises with such ...

comments (0)   |   December 19, 2008 4:06 PM

Obama Invokes History

It was heartening to see the United States try to turn the page on the past eight years and impressive to watch Barack Obama invoke history in his victory speech. Personalized neatly in the lifespan of the Black voter who embodied his support, Ann Nixon Cooper, Obama described history as a process that must be made “block by block.” One sensed also in Obama (in contrast to his more ebullient ...

comments (4)   |   November 7, 2008 3:11 PM